South Carolina is an outstanding team with lots of big hitters, I expect to see them and LSU in Omaha. What a series between #1 and #3.
Huge series win to start out conference play. Bumstead had one bad half inning but he seems to be a solid Sunday starter.
Seems that Dirks was brought in at an inopportune moment...I did not catch the game, but seems he was not exactly ready for the situation. I don't think this will shake his confidence, but I think he was trying to give Nate one more shot...Lane and Nate need to step up...Clay and Justin are bringing it... The young guns are beginning to push the old warhorses on this staff! I love it... I think that Mestepey just needs to work back into form...After all, it has been a year....
Yeah, Dirks was put in a situation he has never seen before. He was really shaky at first but settled down to put South Carolina away. I think you gotta have him in the weekend rotation with the way mestepey is pitching. Hopefully Mestepey can work his way out of it and get back to where he used to be, then we will really be loaded.
It is a pretty good result when you can win 2 out of 3 but also learn about some specific areas for improvement. Winning 2 out of 3 on the road against a very good SC team with good pitching and some serious hitters should put us in good shape for the rest of the SEC schedule and beyond. The thing that impressed me last year about LSU was that there was not an easy out anywhere in the batting order, and that is true this year as well. We are in much better shape than last year in terms of pitching, but there is definitely room for improvement. I wonder if Smoke is going to let Dirks pitch on weekends and move Mestepey to weekday starter.
1. Dirks should have been brought in to start the 7th. You could tell Bumstead was wearing down in the 6th. 2. Dirks should start over Mestepay until Lane gets all the way back with his arm-strength. But, once you get Dirks in the roation, you may never be able to take him out!
The problem is confidence...I think Lane's a very confident guy, and can handle the fact that at this point, he's not the guy right now that puts us in the best position to win...He ought to -and I think he can very easily - view the midweek games and relief apperances as being "sent to the minors" to do some rehab assignments. He's got to get back into that "gamer" form. The one that won 22 games in 2 years. The one that threw 10 innings in the Super. We need him and his leadership on the bench, but moreso, from the mound. I also think that we had to see what Dirks had in a pressure situation. Find out early, so we'll know later... IE-When it counts...in crunch time! No matter what everyone made of this series, it was way too early in the season. Lots could-and will-change for both of these teams over the course of this season. Congrats to the Tigers, but watch out for the Gamecocks...They could up standing in our way again a few more times over the course of the season...
I've been saying since last week Dirks should be our #2 guy. Mestepy is clearly not his old self, and it's not just his confidense. He cannot locate his fastball. Arm surgerys are hit and miss sometimes. Dirks struggled at first but he is a starter coming into a relief pressure situation. It's alot different environment. Mestepy should try to see if he can find himself in the mid-week games.
Lane will likely be back to his old form at soem point, but surgeries like these can take a year on the field to recover from fully.
