Those that did... The play at the plate emotionally demoralized our team, and basically shifted the tide of momentum. The lengthy delay, along with the bizarre ruling that went in favor of the 'bad guys' allowed the 'good guys' to find an escape and give up the focus of their ballclub, and ultimately, the game itself. It was an out, and they took it. That's very discouraging, and I know for a fact that Smoke had to be worried about the manner in which this team exited. That doldrom they entered after they got that call against them is the kind of thing that can curse a team. For some reason, though, I don't think it will. Patterson is going to be a first team all-American after the regular season next year. If I'm Smoke, I give him a tape of his performance versus Miami to watch...every day, as he wakes up....spliced with only his "lowlights"...then have him go out and run....Go work out....go hit off the tee...Go to the cages...Work out....Cages..Work out...Run...You get the drill...I really think that Patterson forged a HUGE impetus for offseason improvement next year by playing so horribly. I also think that Smoke made a major mistake for the future by not ripping Stavinoha out of the lineup. He should not have had anymore than the first two AB's versus Miami. Not to say I told you so, but Hawthorne said it best..."Stavinoha is now 0-fer for the College World Series." He played himself out of the lineup for next year, if you ask me...Quinn Steward I'm hoping sticks around after he redshirted this year...The kid absolutely MASHED in '02 against the Cocks...and at this point, we no longer need to find out if we can simply "make it to Omaha". We have to WIN THERE. Stewart showed us last year he could get the job done. Stavinhoa looks to have totally screwed himself in that respect. I love the guy, but I didn't see too many bigger chokes than the slow, agonizing asphyxiation he suffered over the team's 96 hours or so in Omaha... We've said this two years in a row now...but the pitching staff next year will be LOADED. If they can remain healthy, we've got Mestepey, Determan, Dirks, Meier, Faircloth, Smith, Bonura, etc...I put those in order of their relative level of talent if you ask me on the day that fall ball opens. If I am Jason Determan, and I'm healthy on opening weekend, if I don't take the hill on Friday, Saturday or Sunday to open things up...I'd transfer to Southeastern or Ole Miss or something. It'd be an absolute crime. Our arms will have been CWS tested...We know what it's like. We have Patterson, the Harris twins, Blake Gill, and Liuzza back. We return a lot of pop, and a lot of talent. I think we're going to be alright. But, Jody Autrey should be fired, from what I hear (I only heard, I did not see). I also believe that Brady Wiederhold has ONE SEASON to turn around the performance of the pitching staff. Inconsistency has plauged this staff, and more than one commentator, opposing fan, and even Tiger fans have questioned his almost fear to go inside at times...He must improve, and I fortunately think he can. All in all, a good season, with a very, very discouraging ending, but plenty to build on and grow from...The Garden of the month always starts out as just a bunch of dirt...We'll be okay...Just give this team some time to grow...The experience will pay off.. Geaux Tigers! Geaux Smoke!
However heartbreaking today's loss may have been, and however bad some calls may have seemed, I'm proud of SC for such a whipping. Hope they beat the cane's tomorrow. Not to mention it's been a decent season. Nothing to be ashamed of. Got to the CWS for the second year straight, and had a little bad luck here and there. But we'll be back.
Yeah...We got the CWS two years in a row...Two years in a row we dropped our first game... South Carolina can say the same thing... The only difference is the team that we pounded 2 out of 3 at their place has now eliminated us from the College World Series in loser's bracket play in each of the last two seasons. I don't like that trend. We need to make the move...It's time to start making noise in Omaha, and stop resting on our illustrious past and the shine of all five of those titles...Eventually, that wears off, & I worry about our more recent trends in Nebraska... We should not have lost today, and we definitely should not have lost in that manner. Thankfully, I have faith in the players, staff, the program, and most importantly, the Athletic Department behind them...Two and Dreamland BBQ will not become the rule...I can almost guarantee it.
enjoy your baseball rants TE yet I need some more info on your wiederhold assessment and you Autrey insight. Patterson was so lost and he was my favorite clutch guy til these last 2 games. lord. that was pathetic defensively as well as at the plate.
TE, I have no idea why you say that the play at the plate should have been an out and that it demoralized the team. What demoralized the team was that we let a .233 hitter with 4 RBI's on the year get the biggest hit in the most critical point in the game. You get that batter out and you head to the 7th at least ahead 3-1. And Mestepay at that point would have had only 75 or so pitches thrown. He could have closed out the deal (and I think he would have). That's where we lost it. The umpires had nothng to do with it. They reversed a horrible call in which they were going to throw out the kid from SC. That was about it. The safe call would have stood anyway even if they had thrown the SC runner out of the game. I agree the 10 minute delay did not do LSU any good.
Upgrade the pitching. All this team needs is to improve the pitching for next year. TE, I hope you are right that we have so many players coming back again next year. I hope you are right that the pitching staff knows how to improve our pitching.
I'm with the Baratarian on pitching. LSU had the bats, but not the pitching this year. A little more pitching depth next year and LSU will be back. Determan will start next year. I'm with TE on Stavinoha. A DH needs to hit the freakin' ball every now and then. His season batting average is good, but he was in a slump for the Series and Smoke maybe should have replaced him earlier.
Pitching was not the only problem, though it was a huge one. What about the terrible defensive effort? Will Harris having four errors? Unacceptable. Losing happens. Losing, while looking like clowns, isn't okay. Yesterday, one of my Fox sports networks replayed last year's Florida/LSU football game (it was a Florida network, obviously.) While the Gators were trying to run the time out, Carthon busted up the middle and sprinted for 62 yards. But he didn't score. Corey Webster came from a 15-yard deficit and pulled him down from behind. Cameron Vaughn and Travis Daniels were hot on his heels. The difference there was pride and heart. We were going to lose to Florida, but we didn't have to lose by another 7 points. It's the difference between champions and runners-up. Football has it right now, and baseball doesn't. In the 90's, it was the exact reverse.
