Of the eight Super Regionals being played this weekend there are six SEC playing, plus Tulane. I would say that this indicates what type of competition we have been playing.
It's amazing how things get put into perspective when we have a little patience. looks like our RPI was right all along even though many kept wanting to ignore it, even the tournament committee. Now we need for all of the SEC teams to play the best in the Supers'. Their are a lot of good programs to battle, a lot of of great baseball still to be played, this will be the most interesting Super Weekend so far as far as I am concerned.
Id like to see a good showing from the SEC, too, but the more I think about it the more I think that of all the teams left in the Tournament, I am most concerned with Texas and the SEC teams. Hell, 8 of our 17 losses came to teams playing in Super Regionals, all SEC and Tulane.
I am glad that mentally, the guys worrying abou the draft can let it go and concentrate on winning the CWS. ATM presents a major challenge to Omaha, and deserves our utmost respect. This could be a very close SR, and probably one of the most competitive ones. ATM did beat the defending national champs, and that says volumes of their talent and coaching. As far as the comments about 2 and out in the tourney, the thing that was bad about that was we didn't have an opportunity to give some pitchers work that really needed it. I really was anxious to see Dirks in action, as well as Greg Smith and Determann.
Well I think it all came together this weekend. Pitching was the best it had been for 3 straight games. What got to me was why Laval didn't take Lane out after the end of the 7th so he could get out bullpen some work. So far they haven't thrown a pitch. So Lane came back out to start the 8th to only face one batter and leave. Other than that and the stupid baserunning errors we did pretty good, even though it wasn't great competition.
I have no idea why Smoke bringing Lane out to start the 8th would faze anyone, he doesn't have a crystal ball that tells him what's going to happen. it sure worked with Mieir and Bumpstead on Friday and Saturday. And he wasted no time in pulling him when he felt he should and we won the game. I thought he made all the correct decisions myself.
Well you misunderstood what he was referring to. The bullpen had not gotten into either of the first 2 games and this game was pretty much in control, so he should have brought the bullpen in to start the 8th inning. It had nothing to do with Mestepay. Actually I was calling for the bullpen to start the 7th so that maybe 2 relief pitchers could get some work in. You don't really want your relief pitchers to go 2 whole weeks without seeing any action.
I listened to the first game, attended the second and watched the third on TV. My thoughts: This was a great regional for several reasons. Firstly, the 4 teams were all hard to dislike and each demanded respect - it was special to have Army at the Box to experience the greatest setting in college baseball, it was difficult to find anything to dislike about the College of Charleston and USM was a really dangerous team that had the ability to explode at any time IMO. Our pitchers were lights out this weekend and they really deserve serious recognition for their play from the Ole Miss series on. I know the competition wasn't exactly CWS, but to get full games from starters on Friday and Saturday is awesome. IMO, Bumstead pitched one of the best games of his career - I know it won't look like that on paper, but it looked that way from the stands. Hats off to Nate. USM came into the regional with a legitimate shot to advance considering the way they were hitting the ball and the way they stacked up. In a matter of 8 hours their season was over. LSU looked like an LSU team for 3 consecutive games for the first time all season - hitting the ball hard, being aggressive, fielding well and playing with that Alex Box jump in their step. This team played like the LSU postseason teams we all have come to expect from this program. Again, I know the competition is just heating up, but it was refreshing to see us play so well 3 games in a row. The Box was alive and well, the place looked fantastic and that little buzz was in the air all weekend - I had not felt that in a while. We are on track and I hope we stayed focused and are ready for a good Texas A&M squad this weekend. :tigbas:
I agree totally with your assessment. They have definitely stepped it up a notch at the time they really needed to. Pitching will win the CWS for LSU. And it's coming together big time.
