The Sky Is Not Falling

[Titles 'R Us]

We probably just went through the toughest stretch of our schedule in the last six games. Winning Sunday's game against State is the start of the rest of the schedule which features a lineup of teams that are either no better than we are or not as good. Arkansas comes to town ripe for the picking after losing 2 of 3 in Fayetteville to a Mizzou team that was winless in the league. So, before some of you moan that we aren't a good team, won't be able to host or anything else, here are the facts:

We now have the #7 RPI and # 6 SOS after this weekend. Why? Because we are 21-7 against competition like South Carolina, #3 RPI, Louisville, #5 RPI, and Coastal Carolina, #16 RPI. We are getting full credit for playing a tough schedule and going 6-6 against the Top 50 RPI teams we've faced. We have the pitching and hitting to improve upon the resume we've already built. Today we played errorless ball. Obviously, we need to keep that up.

But consider this: halfway through the season (based on # of games we will play), we would be in the running for a host spot. And if we continue to win the games we are supposed to, there's no reason we couldn't end up under consideration for a national seed. The way I see it, too many fans think there's something wrong with our team when they lose to another team that's better. Think their pitching might have something to do with our hitting? I think we'll be there come tournament time. The sky is not falling.

[WildRebel]

Agree with most everything you said. Can't lie, I'm not sold all the way on this team yet(these last few games obviously raise eyebrows,BUT) I'm not throwing in the towel yet. I truly believe they have tons of potential, enough to make a lot of noise this year. It seems there's always fans who look at a bad stretch a team goes through and then the hate starts pouring. We have one of the better pitching staffs top to bottom IMO and hopefully time and and more at bats will get the offense rolling.

I seem to remember a "mediocre" LSU team for the first half of the season that went on to set a record for consecutive wins a few years ago. Proceeded to win SEC and a trip to Omaha.

[Titles 'R Us]

Nice response. Let's see if we can take care of business against Arkansas. I'll start worrying if we can't.

[jrebel87]

Are you freaking kidding me , titles ? This team may have gone 21-7 against decent teams , but they are 1-5 against the teams that matter most , and that is good SEC teams . This team can't hit worth a d*** . I don't care who the pitching is, this team is two years removed from a final four CWS appearance . We shouldn't be this sub par. I can't fathom how you are still saying " not sold on this team yet" when you should be saying " definitely not sold that we will even finish the season at .500 in conference play." This team is not good. I don't care what you say , it isn't good. It's a below average sec team that can't hit worth a crap. We have been hitting below 170 the last five games before today . I don't care who we're playing , Mike gets paid 900,000 a year to figure that crap out .

[jrebel87]

Agree with most everything you said. Can't lie, I'm not sold all the way on this team yet(these last few games obviously raise eyebrows,BUT) I'm not throwing in the towel yet. I truly believe they have tons of potential, enough to make a lot of noise this year. It seems there's always fans who look at a bad stretch a team goes through and then the hate starts pouring. We have one of the better pitching staffs top to bottom IMO and hopefully time and and more at bats will get the offense rolling.

I seem to remember a "mediocre" LSU team for the first half of the season that went on to set a record for consecutive wins a few years ago. Proceeded to win SEC and a trip to Omaha.

Did you really just compare this team to that LSU team that had multiple first round picks on it after that run they had ? That Lsu team that went on a 24 game win streak and made it to the cws finals ? We aren't in the same galaxy as that team .

[WildRebel]

I'm not comparing this team to anyone. My point is, teams get hot and teams get cold. Teams can look bad and all of a sudden figure things out. Doesn't matter how good or bad their individual players were, they were bad for a good part of the year. Believe me, I live in Baton Rouge and listened to fans/radio heads day in day out *beep* about how bad this team sucked and it's the worst team in recent history.

Is this team good enough to turn it back around? I don't know. The easy answer is no but I'm an optimistic person and hoping for the best.

[Titles 'R Us]

I would offer these observations: A & M got swept this weekend by Florida. That does not mean A & M is suddenly a bad team. It means Florida is much better, maybe the best in the country. Kentucky took 2 of 3 from Florida. Does that mean Florida is not a good team? I'll tell you what it means: it means the SEC eats its own in every sport except basketball. Everyone in the league will take their hits before the dust clears and the host sites are assigned for the tournament. South Carolina did sweep Ole Miss, but then turned right around and lost to College of Charleston and then lost the series to Vandy. Think they aren't a good team? Vandy lost a home series to State. Think they aren't a good team?

This OM team has potential to break out and take a host spot. I base that on our wins against a good Louisville team, a good Coastal Carolina team that is now leading its league and has a Top 16 RPI, and a SEMO team that is also leading its league. We have the pitching to outlast most other teams we will face, and Bianco juggled the lineup again this Sunday, putting Olenek behind the leadoff man and pushing Robinson to the bottom, keeping Lartigue (our hottest hitter) and Fitzsimmons in the middle. The team responded with a good win. Maybe this is the lineup that encourages contagious hitting. Bianco is trying to make it work. I give him credit for that.

I may have to reevaluate things if we don't take the Arkansas series, but for now, I see no reason to jump ship.

[rebeljim]

Hopefully we'll beat USM mid week, a team we haven't beaten lately. Glad we got the win yesterday. Need at least 3 out of 4 this week.

[ThunderReb]

Unless we can find some hitting from somewhere....we will make a run at NOTHING. Pitching and defense is doing their part.....hitting is atrocious.

[lewindha]

I think we should just fire Bianco now!

[rebelbear]

I would offer these observations: A & M got swept this weekend by Florida. That does not mean A & M is suddenly a bad team. It means Florida is much better, maybe the best in the country. Kentucky took 2 of 3 from Florida. Does that mean Florida is not a good team? I'll tell you what it means: it means the SEC eats its own in every sport except basketball. Everyone in the league will take their hits before the dust clears and the host sites are assigned for the tournament. South Carolina did sweep Ole Miss, but then turned right around and lost to College of Charleston and then lost the series to Vandy. Think they aren't a good team? Vandy lost a home series to State. Think they aren't a good team?

This OM team has potential to break out and take a host spot. I base that on our wins against a good Louisville team, a good Coastal Carolina team that is now leading its league and has a Top 16 RPI, and a SEMO team that is also leading its league. We have the pitching to outlast most other teams we will face, and Bianco juggled the lineup again this Sunday, putting Olenek behind the leadoff man and pushing Robinson to the bottom, keeping Lartigue (our hottest hitter) and Fitzsimmons in the middle. The team responded with a good win. Maybe this is the lineup that encourages contagious hitting. Bianco is trying to make it work. I give him credit for that.

I may have to reevaluate things if we don't take the Arkansas series, but for now, I see no reason to jump ship.

All good points. I would also point out that our first 3 SEC series were against teams with an RPI of 59, 3, and 27 and two of those series were on the road. Our next 3 SEC series are against teams with current RPI of 132, 55, and 131 and two of those series are at home. We should be able to win all 3 series which would put us back at .500 in league play. If we can pull at least sweep we would be above .500 heading into the LSU series. I know that's a lot of if's but if our pitching continues the way it has and hitting picks up then we can win a lot of games. I don't think Arkansas really has a dominant pitcher so I expect us to hit a lot better this weekend.

[Titles 'R Us]

rebelbear: your points are well-taken. The early part of our schedule was front-loaded. When you play teams can make a difference. Perhaps our hitting lineup will solidify itself, and the hitting that some of our fans are complaining about will come around. It's very clear that our hitters were no match for South Carolina's pitchers, and Dakota Hudson at State lived up to his billing. Complete games are hard to come by. We hit well before we played USC and State. I'm betting it will pick back up against some lesser pitching. Arkansas should be just what we need to get well.

[rebeljim]

rebelbear: your points are well-taken. The early part of our schedule was front-loaded. When you play teams can make a difference. Perhaps our hitting lineup will solidify itself, and the hitting that some of our fans are complaining about will come around. It's very clear that our hitters were no match for South Carolina's pitchers, and Dakota Hudson at State lived up to his billing. Complete games are hard to come by. We hit well before we played USC and State. I'm betting it will pick back up against some lesser pitching. Arkansas should be just what we need to get well.

One thing on our hitting. U said it just went in the tank against the last 2 series. Wrong, other than a few games leading up to those series, we haven't hit worth crap. We were winning games being out hit, sometimes 2-1. Tiger high out hit us 11-5. We won the first game against Louisville because of the walks and hit bats men. Hopefully arkie we be what the doctor ordered, but our hitting has been bad all year. Just look at our batting averages. We need to make some pitching changes to our weekend rotation. And I would consider changing some of our hitting lineup as well. Time to play some younger players. Need a 3-1 week at the very least.

[bbqit]

The sky isn't falling yet but that doesn't mean building a fallout shelter is a bad idea.