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Today I'm getting a radio feed through the State site. Dogs lead 1-0, just beginning the bottom of the 5th. Rebs not hitting much today. The SEC West is beginning well for us. Seems like everybody but us has already lost their series or are being swept. Come on Rebs, let's sweep these sons o' beeches [sic]. 8)

Good guys down 2-0 in the 6th. Their pitcher has been ON and he's been horrible all year to this point. Their pitcher has set his career high in strikeouts at 8. Rebel bats are stone cold today.

On the other side Baker again had a rough outing. Only gave up 2 runs, but gave away free passes and hits. McKean is in now. Gave up a run (Baker's runner), but got out of it.

Rebels won the series yesterday, so IF we lose today, while not what you want, is acceptable. You don't have to sweep them all, you just have to win them and the Rebels have already done that. That's why getting the Friday and Saturday games are so crucial.

Error on Stuyverson scores another run for MSU. Another base hit makes it 4-0 after 6 complete.

Well that stunk.

Hey, we won the series. This last game means nothing. We went 3-2 this past week which will be fine for the polls and national recognition. You go back out and win this week against Central Arkansas and UA-Little Rock.

State will hold up this 4-0 win as some huge accomplishment, but this weekend hurt them far more than a one game loss hurt us.

Good weekend and that's all you have to do is win your conference series and you'll be in the thick at the end of the year.

My hat's off to their pitcher. Heck of a day for him. Almost got a no-hitter.

Baker didn't have a very good day nor did McKean. Pomeranz came in and proved again why I honestly believe he has the stuff to be a weekend starter next year. I wouldn't hesitate to replace Baker with him right now. Baker has had 3 tough starts in a row.

In defense of Baker, he has pitched his way out of a lot of jams as well, plus his ERA is still ridiculously low; there has been absolutely no run support for him the past 2 weekends. that shows me that he keeps his head when the going gets tough; we have no idea at this point, and neither does Coach, how Pomeranz would react in similar situations. Don't read this as an endorsement of Baker, just pointing out that he has done nothing to warrant being replaced up to this point.
The one thing, other than hot and cold bats, that bothers me about this incarnation of the Rebels is the lack of defense up the middle. neither Button or Styverson (sp?) have wowed me; heck they make routine plays look tough. if that area of the game doesn't improve, it will be tough to get to the promised land.

olemsdave76 wrote:In defense of Baker, he has pitched his way out of a lot of jams as well, plus his ERA is still ridiculously low; there has been absolutely no run support for him the past 2 weekends. that shows me that he keeps his head when the going gets tough; we have no idea at this point, and neither does Coach, how Pomeranz would react in similar situations. Don't read this as an endorsement of Baker, just pointing out that he has done nothing to warrant being replaced up to this point.
The one thing, other than hot and cold bats, that bothers me about this incarnation of the Rebels is the lack of defense up the middle. neither Button or Styverson (sp?) have wowed me; heck they make routine plays look tough. if that area of the game doesn't improve, it will be tough to get to the promised land.

Baker has pitched out of a lot of jams, but the thing that bothers me is that he creates the jams. His ERA going into today was 4.11 which is just below Satterwhite's 4.50. I haven't gotten to see Baker in person yet this year. Should get to next Sunday. Both Satterwhite and Baker have some work left ahead of them.

BUT, I'm not the coach and there's a reason Baker is starting on Sundays. Bianco said in the post-game that he though Baker had a good day today.

Also the bats cooled again today. Got to stay hot. State's pitching staff is just bad for an SEC staff. Got to keep the bats hot when we face other conference opponents.

oxfordrebel wrote:

olemsdave76 wrote:In defense of Baker, he has pitched his way out of a lot of jams as well, plus his ERA is still ridiculously low; there has been absolutely no run support for him the past 2 weekends. that shows me that he keeps his head when the going gets tough; we have no idea at this point, and neither does Coach, how Pomeranz would react in similar situations. Don't read this as an endorsement of Baker, just pointing out that he has done nothing to warrant being replaced up to this point.
The one thing, other than hot and cold bats, that bothers me about this incarnation of the Rebels is the lack of defense up the middle. neither Button or Styverson (sp?) have wowed me; heck they make routine plays look tough. if that area of the game doesn't improve, it will be tough to get to the promised land.

Baker has pitched out of a lot of jams, but the thing that bothers me is that he creates the jams. His ERA going into today was 4.11 which is just below Satterwhite's 4.50. I haven't gotten to see Baker in person yet this year. Should get to next Sunday. Both Satterwhite and Baker have some work left ahead of them.

BUT, I'm not the coach and there's a reason Baker is starting on Sundays. Bianco said in the post-game that he though Baker had a good day today.

Also the bats cooled again today. Got to stay hot. State's pitching staff is just bad for an SEC staff. Got to keep the bats hot when we face other conference opponents.

It depends on the other teams pitcher. Sometimes you just can't hit them. Everybody has a good day every now and then but the games that give me the most pain is when we *beep* ourselves with errors and crappy base running.

RebelBond

i really like drew pomeranz though...he seems like a gamer and he came into sunday's game and took care of business

i don't know if he's ready for the starting role, but i think he'll be a monster talent very soon...mckean just didn't have it going today and i hate it for him b/c he's a good guy

nathan baker has always seemed a little up and down to me...i think sometimes he might just be trying to hard or trying to out-think the hitter with all those offspeed pitches...i wish i could've kept track of how many pitches he missed low and inside on sunday

state was not impressive to me at all during this series...obviously the kid shut us down on sunday, but they didn't bury us with runs for awhile...i know they're missing a couple guys and they always seem to pull it together, but i think it's very safe to say we're the best team in Mississippi

sportsdirector06 wrote:i really like drew pomeranz though...he seems like a gamer and he came into sunday's game and took care of business

i don't know if he's ready for the starting role, but i think he'll be a monster talent very soon...mckean just didn't have it going today and i hate it for him b/c he's a good guy

nathan baker has always seemed a little up and down to me...i think sometimes he might just be trying to hard or trying to out-think the hitter with all those offspeed pitches...i wish i could've kept track of how many pitches he missed low and inside on sunday

state was not impressive to me at all during this series...obviously the kid shut us down on sunday, but they didn't bury us with runs for awhile...i know they're missing a couple guys and they always seem to pull it together, but i think it's very safe to say we're the best team in Mississippi

Completely agree about State. They just don't have the tools right now, but they are battling injuries big time right now. They'll still be a thorn by the time SEC Tourney time comes around.

I also think your analysis of Baker is right. Didn't think about it that way but now that you say it, it does almost seem like he's thinking too much on the mound. McKean didn't have the day we've come to expect from him either.

Don't think that I'm against Baker. I like the kid and we know what he's capable of. He did a fantastic job last year when he took over the Sunday starting position from Bukvich and C-Rod. I just wish he could get back to that form he was in a year ago--a sub-4.00 ERA and a 6-2 record.

well let me fix what i was saying earlier...apparently bianco calls all the pitches so baker really isn't to blame...he's just doing what he's told

maybe he's just having trouble locating offspeed pitches at times, but he did give up 2 R in 4+ innings in the Sunday game

i just don't think bianco will change things around with the rotation unless somebody really implodes

sportsdirector06 wrote:well let me fix what i was saying earlier...apparently bianco calls all the pitches so baker really isn't to blame...he's just doing what he's told

maybe he's just having trouble locating offspeed pitches at times, but he did give up 2 R in 4+ innings in the Sunday game

i just don't think bianco will change things around with the rotation unless somebody really implodes

Coach Bianco does call all the pitches, but he also lets his pitchers shake off his call and go with their own. I think the over-thinking comment is still somewhat valid. When a pitcher starts getting hit it can go one of two ways. He can either shrug it off and go get the next guy, or it can get in his head and things will go downhill in a hurry. I think Scott Bittle illustrated that quite well last season. He seems to have overcome it this season. Perhaps it's happening to Baker some now.