BB G2 Final: Louisiana 3, Arkansas State 13

[zeppelincajun]

If you don’t mind, and have the time, please list all of the G5 teams that lost a Preseason Conference Pitcher of the year, their best reliever, and a middle of the order 3rd year player, to injury for more than a month each, that are having a great season.

Also, please list any team that didnt have a couple of recruits or transfers that had a bad season, didn’t meet expectations, or just weren’t any good.

I can assure you, the first list will be minuscule. The second will be enormous.

And by the way, Jackson Halter is batting .276 with 2 HRs this season at Marshall. And doesn’t have a defensive position.

Also, Jack Martinez’s ability had nothing to do with why he’s no longer here. And while he moved to a P4 school, his ERA as a Cajun last year was better than it currently is at Arizona State. Would he have helped this year’s team? Absolutely. Was there any chance of him being here this season? Nope.

All the guys you mentioned played this weekend, and what did it get us? A series loss at home to a team who hasn’t made a Regional since the mid 90s.

A .276 would be the 5th best average on our team (of guys with more than 20 at bats). In stolen bases he would be tied for the lead.

Jack walked 31 hitters as a starter in the Big 12 in 75.2 innings. He walked 29 in just 45 innings for us last year.

[sportsfanatic21]

All the guys you mentioned played this weekend, and what did it get us? A series loss at home to a team who hasn’t made a Regional since the mid 90s.

A .276 would be the 5th best average on our team (of guys with more than 20 at bats). In stolen bases he would be tied for the lead.

Jack walked 31 hitters as a starter in the Big 12 in 75.2 innings. He walked 29 in just 45 innings for us last year.

Morgan and Theut aren’t their normal selves. If you don’t see that, then you haven’t been paying attention. Yuhasz didnt play this weekend.

This Arkansas State team isn’t the same Arkansas State team as recent years. If you don’t see that, you haven’t been paying attention. (And I agree that we should have beaten that team with a full roster, no suspensions, etc).

Halter is basically Mandino with a full season of ABs. Give me the sophomore that’s getting better over the senior who’s peaked.

And again, Jack Martinez’s ability has nothing to do with why he’s not still here.

[zeppelincajun]

Morgan and Theut aren’t their normal selves. If you don’t see that, then you haven’t been paying attention. Yuhasz didnt play this weekend.

This is Arkansas State team isn’t the same Arkansas State team as recent years. If you don’t see that, you haven’t been paying attention. (And I agree that we should have beaten that team with a full roster, no suspensions, etc).

Halter is basically Mandino with a full season of ABs. Give me the sophomore that’s getting better over the senior who’s peaked.

And again, Jack Martinez’s ability has nothing to do with why he’s not still here.

Are you paying attention to the other guys who have regressed? Holzhammer? McGeehee? Is the whole pitching staff hurt? Worst team ERA in over a decade doesn’t just happen from a couple injuries. You’re right about Yuhasz, but he’s not flipping this series on his own.

This is the best stAte in over a decade, but they are still sub .500. Hopefully they are ascending, as we need all the competitive teams we can in this league.

I am not saying that Jack left based on ability. He left for a $50K paycheck. I’m saying we didn’t get the most out of him when he was here. He’s dropped his W/9 by 20% this year.

I’m sure Deggs is factoring injuries in to this assessment of this team, but I still agree him that this is ultimately unacceptable.

[sportsfanatic21]

Are you paying attention to the other guys who have regressed? Holzhammer? McGeehee? Is the whole pitching staff hurt? Worst team ERA in over a decade doesn’t just happen from a couple injuries. You’re right about Yuhasz, but he’s not flipping this series on his own.

This is the best stAte in over a decade, but they are still sub .500. Hopefully they are ascending, as we need all the competitive teams we can in this league.

I am not saying that Jack left based on ability. He left for a $50K paycheck. I’m saying we didn’t get the most out of him when he was here. He’s dropped his W/9 by 20% this year.

I’m sure Deggs is factoring injuries in to this assessment of this team, but I still agree him that this is ultimately unacceptable.

I think Holzhammer was better this year, especially in the 2nd half of the season. His numbers don’t really say that but relievers numbers are pretty volatile. I hope he chooses to take advantage of the additional year of eligibility and sticks around for one more.

McGehee, in my opinion, just doesn’t have the command to pitch with what he has stuff wise…or vice versa, doesn’t have the stuff to get away with his lack of command. And the infatuation with him is mind boggling. Same with Blake Marshall in prior years. Marshall’s ability to strike guys out made that make a small bit of sense, but McGehee doesn’t have that and every time he’s out there (which is a lot) it’s basically hold your breath and hope.

But are we only pointing out who regressed? JR Tollett took a big step forward this season. Tate Hess struggled early in the year but was damn good in the 2nd half of the season. Riley Marcotte made strides.

I will certainly acknowledge that a few guys got way too many appearances that just weren’t good enough to pitch at this level. Some had the stuff to do so, but couldn’t throw strikes, some probably shouldn’t have been on the roster to begin with. But taking chances on guys with stuff, at the G5 level, is something you have to do. Some work out, many don’t. Langevin had an ERA over 4.00 in JUCO. But the stuff was there. And look what he became.

As for Martinez, another year of experience and possibly a new voice had something to do with his walk rate reducing. Maybe he would have been even better here had he stayed. There’s no way to know. But he and the program weren’t a match. Best of luck to him.

[Turbine]

If you don’t mind, and have the time, please list all of the G5 teams that lost a Preseason Conference Pitcher of the year, their best reliever, and a middle of the order 3rd year player, to injury for more than a month each, that are having a great season....

Now you are getting into my perpetual worries... who is the trainer and how tight is he getting them in the weight room?


ps I ask not recalling the specific injuries.

[babysitter]

Is everyone forgetting that the coach y’all wanna run off has been in regionals the last 3 years?

Funny no one was ever on Robe’s ass when he’d go multiple years without smelling a Regional. Deggs goes to 3 straight at a mid major during the NIL and transfer portal era and some of the baseball geniuses out there want his head on a stick. Typical.

[babysitter]

I heard him say that as well. He was ____ED and rightfully so. And when he says he’s gonna fix it, I believe him. Or at the very least think he’s earned the benefit of the doubt that he will

But, and I’ve said this many times over the last few years (when there were a bunch of negative comments even in seasons that ended with at large regional bids), the perception of what many think this program is, was, should be, etc is very much skewed.

What is the standard? Obviously being in regionals 3 straight years doesn’t give any benefit of the doubt now. Was the program under Coach Robe “the standard”?

After going to Omaha, 2 of the next 3 seasons, the Cajuns did NOT have a winning record. Getting to Omaha was amazing, but it was the outlier. And 25 years later, it still is.

Then there was a good stretch from 2005-2007…followed by a 2-year record of 57-59.

Then a great run from 2013-2016…and then Coach Robe’s last two seasons had a combined record of 62-59.

Anyone who expects to be in a regional every season is simply setting themselves up for disappointment. Even a great G5 program like ECU, who’s been to 6 straight regionals, and hosted 3 of them, is barely above .500 this year and has an RPI around 80. Hell, 2 teams in the SEC (Miss State and Ole Miss) won the national title and then both missed the postseason altogether for multiple years afterwards.

If seasons like this one begin to happen more often than what’s taken place the last 3 years, then yeah, maybe start discussing the leadership of the program. But damn, after 3 straight regionals, and last year winning the conference outright…and by 3 games…and being ranked in the top 25 for quite a few weeks, one crappy season and people want the damn coach fired??? That’s complete nonsense.

Post of the season. Well said and 100% true.

[zeppelincajun]

Funny no one was ever on Robe’s ass when he’d go multiple years without smelling a Regional. Deggs goes to 3 straight at a mid major during the NIL and transfer portal era and some of the baseball geniuses out there want his head on a stick. Typical.

Your memory must be fading. RP was pretty brutal to Robe, especially during that 2017-2019 run.

[RedTails]

Your memory must be fading. RP was pretty brutal to Robe, especially during that 2017-2019 run.

One hunnid.

I’m still team Deggs but he has a lot of difficult decisions to make this offseason.

[sportsfanatic21]

I had some time this evening to go back and look at some things that I think may be of interest.

I made a post recently about what some of the better Cajuns players did as freshmen compared to what they became.

ragincajuns.com stats only go back to 2013, so I started there and looked at every player who came to UL from high school (no JUCO guys) and stayed at least 3 seasons, to see what kind of improvement some of this years freshmen may make over the next couple of years. Listed here are every one of their freshman season avg and HRs followed by their best subsequent season…

Joe Robbins
Fr- .118 and 0 HRs
Jr- .286 and 10 HRs

Nick Thurman
Fr- .275 and 0 HRs
Sr- .281 and 2 HRs

Dylan Butler
Fr- .249 and 8 HRs
So- .295 and 8 HRs

Chase Compton
Fr- .236 and 0 HRs
So- .328 and 1 HR

Jace Conrad
Fr- .286 and 1 HR
Jr- .364 and 9 HRs

Michael Stentz
Fr- .216 and 3 HRs
Jr- .311 and 7 HRs

Blake Trahan
Fr- .319 and 4 HRs
So- .355 and 4 HRs

Ryan Leonards
Fr- .292 and 0 HRs
Sr- .328 and 4 HRs

Tyler Girouard
Fr- .298 and 1 HR
So- .360 and 7 HRs

Kyle Clement
Fr- .333 and 0 HRs
So- .346 and 8 HRs

Kennon Fontenot
Fr- .179 and 0 HRs
Jr- .276 and 6 HRs

Brenn Conrad
Fr- .188 and 0 HRs
Jr- .280 and 4 HRs

Hunter Kasuls
Fr- .234 and 1 HR
Sr- .338 and 7 HRs

Todd Lott
Fr- .266 and 1 HR
Jr- .332 and 8 HRs

Hayden Cantrelle
Fr- .287 and 4 HRs
So- .309 and 9 HRs

Alex Hannie
Fr- .313 and 0 HRs
So- .217 and 0 HRs
(Had 69 career ABs in 3 seasons)

Julian Brock
Fr- .243 and 0 HRs
Sr- .315 and 11 HRs

Carson Roccaforte
Fr- .274 and 4 HRs
So- .374 and 16 HRs

Mason Zambo
Fr- .214 and 0 HRs
So- .230 and 3 HRs

Kyle Debarge
Fr- .293 and 3 HRs
Jr- .355 and 21 HRs

Current players…

Conor Higgs
Fr- .222 and 0 HRs
Sr- .346 and 16 HRs (thru reg season)

Lee Amedee
Fr- .200 and 0 HRs
So- .278 and 4 HRs

Caleb Stelly
Fr- .231 and 1 HR
Jr- .314 and 8 HRs (thru reg season)

Luke Yuhasz
Fr- .233 and 1 HR
So- .318 and 7 HRs


Side note: 8 of the 9 starters on the 2014 team came to UL from high school. A lot of them were on the 2012 team that won 23 games and went 11-19 in conference.

The point of all of this is, as you can see, not many of even the best players over the last decade+ were very good as freshmen. And 22 of the 24 incoming freshmen that have stayed in the program for 3 years have had good to very good to great subsequent seasons.

Maybe the “clean house” crew here needs a little patience. There are some freshmen on this team that will be very good players over the next couple of years. Winning with 4 or 5 of them in the lineup at the same time right now gets you what you’ve seen this season.

The future is bright.