What would YOU do??

[Heath]

In the Friday game (which will be on ESPNU at noon), we play Mizz. Mizzou, as you know, has Aaron Crow, arguably the best pitcher in the NCAA. The Rebs have Lynn, who, when he is on, is probably one of the best pitchers in the NCAA. Then there's Miami, the #1 national seed lurking in the darkness for the winner (probably).

Now, if YOU were the head coach for the Rebs, and you look back on how this year has gone, who do you start against Mizzou?

If you start Lynn, and you win, then you have Pomeranz vs. The Canes. If you start Lynn and lose, then you have Pomeranz trying to keep the Rebs in it vs. Bethune-Cookman (probably). If you start Pomeranz, then you know what the situations will probably be considering wins or losses, you just have Lynn in the 2nd game vs. Miami or B.C.

What if Mizzou does not pitch Crow on Friday?

[rebeloke]

In the Friday game (which will be on ESPNU at noon), we play Mizz. Mizzou, as you know, has Aaron Crow, arguably the best pitcher in the NCAA. The Rebs have Lynn, who, when he is on, is probably one of the best pitchers in the NCAA. Then there's Miami, the #1 national seed lurking in the darkness for the winner (probably).

Now, if YOU were the head coach for the Rebs, and you look back on how this year has gone, who do you start against Mizzou?

If you start Lynn, and you win, then you have Pomeranz vs. The Canes. If you start Lynn and lose, then you have Pomeranz trying to keep the Rebs in it vs. Bethune-Cookman (probably). If you start Pomeranz, then you know what the situations will probably be considering wins or losses, you just have Lynn in the 2nd game vs. Miami or B.C.

What if Mizzou does not pitch Crow on Friday?

Put your best pitcher out there no doubt.

[Redbluedude]

You gotta try and win the first one. Go with Lynn, no doubt. Crow has won 12 but he has also been knocked out early once or twice. Their offense bailed him out. I noticed one game he got knocked out by Texas early, BUT his O helped him out and they scored 31runs, yep 31. They won something like 31-12. So they can put some runs up.

EDITED: Sorry I read the article quick and thought that Crow was knocked out after the 1st when TX scored 5 runs. He stayed in and got the win. But he was hit.

http://mutigers.cstv.com/sports/m-baseb ... mu_32.html

[rebeloke]

You gotta try and win the first one. Go with Lynn, no doubt. Crow has won 12 but he has also been knocked out early once or twice. Their offense bailed him out. I noticed one game he got knocked out by Texas early, BUT his O helped him out and they scored 31runs, yep 31. They won something like 31-12. So they can put some runs up.

31 runs is unreal! If you pitched slow pitch you would think that some of the line drives would get caught and that there would be a few pop-ups and that that Murphy's law would stop some of those runs. That was not only a awesome batting exhibition but had to have been one of the worst defensive efforts ever. I bet the pitchers walked in a couple of runs and there were a few grandslams in that game.

[simmonsfield]

As a Missouri fan and alum that has watched Crow pitch nearly every home start of his career, I personally feel that he isn't throwing nearly as well as he did prior to the Texas game. Going into that game he had a 43+ scoreless inning streak, but since that game he has been much more hittable. As for the Friday night game with Texas itself, there were wind gusts in excess of 30 mph and 9 homers in the game. Most unreal thing I have ever seen at the ballpark. If Ole Miss does throw Lynn on Friday should be a great matchup. As for the rest of Mizzou's team, well we have underachieved big time this season. Our bullpen has been a major culprit with it blowing countless leads late in games. Defense is also a major deficiency with the middle infield being particularly bad, our starting SS Andrew Thigpen has committed 18 errors and has only been the starter the last half of the season. As for Mizzou's offense it all revolves around the LF Aaron Senne and the RF/DH Jake Priday who is the all time HR leader at Mizzou. Missouri demonstrates amazing patience at the plate in an effort to build up the pitch count of the opposing pitcher. They will walk and strikeout a lot. I saw a little of the SEC Championship and have watched Ole Miss several other times in previous Super Regionals. I see a lot of similarities between the two programs, both have been to 6 straight regionals and are oftentimes overshadowed by the bigger names in their respective leagues. Regardless of who wins our game, it'll be tough to beat Miami and win this thing.

[Redbluedude]

Like you said, it sounds like a lot of similarities. We do have a solid bullben with Bittle, after him there is a drop off. We sometimes show patience at the plate. I know there have been several games where we have not been patient at all at the plate.

On top of that, we feel that we have undrachieved and had to win our last regular season game to get to the SEC Tourney. We also make too many fielding errors. We lost a great SS last year and have played musical chairs trying to find a replacement. We have a 2nd baseman trying to play SS now. He made 3 errors in the SEC Tourney by himself.

[BigTrev34]

You play to win and pitch Lynn.

[oxfordrebel]

Now just hang on a minute and let's think about this. No disrespect to Mizzou at all as I feel that they are an excellent team, but we're going to need our best in the next game. If you lose then the season's on the line and you have to throw your best. If you win then you're playing the best team in the Regional and you have to throw your best.

This is going to sound COMPLETELY off the wall (and I wish it had been attempted prior to the Regional), but honestly, I think it could work to the strengths of a couple of our pitchers. Start Bukvich and have Satterwhite in the pen ready to warm at any moment. When Buk is done, probably around the 3rd inning or so, bring in Cody to finish it up. Cody is a LOT better out of the pen than he is starting and Buk is good for short outings. Cody has the stamina to pitch 7+ innings in relief. I don't want to burn Pomeranz yet because we'll need him 3rd game. If you have to you can use Bittle for the 9th to close if we're in a closing position, but not too long so he'll still be ready for the next day as well.

Now you have Lynn ready for game 2 and Pomeranz ready for game 3.

If Mizzou does NOT pitch Crow on Friday then you go with Pomeranz straight up and save Lynn for game 2.

If I were actually the coach and Mizzou started Crow then I'd probably just start Lynn and let it roll, and I'm sure that's what Coach Bianco will do. But as a fan of strategy and changing things up, why not get some surprises in on Mizzou?

[guidree]

IMO Oxfordrebel, you deserve the Ole Miss baseball fan of the year. I mean who else keeps their best bud informed every two innings due to the fact he has to chaperon 15 little kids and about 10 adults at the Birmingham zoo. Plus your strategizing skills earns you the award in my book. Actually, that would be a good approach, but would Bianco do something like that? My guess would be, probably not or just plain ol' no. I didn't get to watch much baseball this year, and I only got to listen to a few games if I was lucky (There are no radio stations in Alabama that carries Ole Miss anything, other 94.3 out of Corinth and I have to go to the church to listen to it). Therefore, I am with you on that opinion.

[Heath]

Now just hang on a minute and let's think about this. No disrespect to Mizzou at all as I feel that they are an excellent team, but we're going to need our best in the next game. If you lose then the season's on the line and you have to throw your best. If you win then you're playing the best team in the Regional and you have to throw your best.

This is going to sound COMPLETELY off the wall (and I wish it had been attempted prior to the Regional), but honestly, I think it could work to the strengths of a couple of our pitchers. Start Bukvich and have Satterwhite in the pen ready to warm at any moment. When Buk is done, probably around the 3rd inning or so, bring in Cody to finish it up. Cody is a LOT better out of the pen than he is starting and Buk is good for short outings. Cody has the stamina to pitch 7+ innings in relief. I don't want to burn Pomeranz yet because we'll need him 3rd game. If you have to you can use Bittle for the 9th to close if we're in a closing position, but not too long so he'll still be ready for the next day as well.

Now you have Lynn ready for game 2 and Pomeranz ready for game 3.

If Mizzou does NOT pitch Crow on Friday then you go with Pomeranz straight up and save Lynn for game 2.

If I were actually the coach and Mizzou started Crow then I'd probably just start Lynn and let it roll, and I'm sure that's what Coach Bianco will do. But as a fan of strategy and changing things up, why not get some surprises in on Mizzou?

Well, the stragegy of saving our best pitcher for the best pitcher for the second game was used a few years ago by Bianco and it wound up biting the Rebs in the butt. If you will think back to the first Regional that OM ever hosted, Bianco chose to pitch the Saturday starter vs. Western Kentucky. We lost that game. Then, he pitched the Friday nite starter vs. Washington and OM was beaten again. 2 and out that Regional.

I am not saying the same thing would happen again in this Regional, I am just saying that Bianco has done it before and it had negative consequences.

I was really just throwing this question out there to elicit some discussion among some of the best College baseball fans in the country. You know, to waste some time until Friday at 12:00 central standard time.