I saw NCAA Regional projections that had us in Fayertte Nam with 12th seed Arkansas hosting Texas, St. John's, & Arkansas Little Rock. I don't know much about any of them, but in true Texas tradition, "It don't make a ****.". If we're going to Dog Pile in Omaha, we've got some work to do.
Game 1 against St Johns is about as good as it gets for a 2 or 3 seed. Arkansas' pitching is formidable this year, but they've been beaten.
Baseball America has us as a 2-seed going to Greenville, NC, with East Carolina hosting. The week before they had us as a 3-seed going to Irvine, CA with UC Irvine hosting. Week to week, it's literally all over the map.
Given my choice of the three, I'd definitely take XNA. Greenville, NC is about as exciting as Merdian, MS; and Irvine's campus makes A&M look beautiful without the multiple restaurants. Think concrete tilt wall with colored glass and fewer trees than Wink HS.
SH, could you make your description a little more bleak!?!? Wink is, in deed pretty bleak, but it did give mankind a truely wonderful gift in Roy Orbison.
Is it possible “possible” if we sweep Kansas and then win the big 12 tournament we sneak into a regional host spot recognizing that our facilities help us on close calls. This would also give us the argument of finishing the last few weeks of the season very strong.
I would not say "impossible", but personally, I'm neither holding my breath nor making any large bets.
That’s expecting a LOT from a team that has 20 losses on the year. Sure the Conference tournament lends opportunity, but perhaps they win the regional wherever they get sent, and then maybe host a Super. Hook ‘em
Kansas sweep....check! I just don't believe we have the arms to win a 10 team one week tourney. Had we eeked by OSU and gotten the #2 seed we would only have to play 3 games. As the #3 seed, even if we have 4 starters all get us to the 6th inning with a big lead, we don't have enough reliable relievers to get us through four (or more) games. I'm assuming that Shaw and his 9 ERA debacle on Sunday was a test to see if he could show up for the tourney. Nope, almost cost us the game. Now a short regional or super? Yeah, I do believe we have the bats and arms to win those as long as everyone is on. None of the reliable arms can have an off night for that, but I do believe we have a chance.
Baseball America is now projecting us as a 2-seed in the Charlottesville Regional (#10 UVA hosting), while D1 Baseball is projecting us as a 2-seed in the Fayettenam Regional (#5 pigs roasting, I mean hosting). I kinda want the pigs so that we can see now if Pierce is, you know, "SEC ready".
This has been a strange year with a fast start and then being swept in the Houston Classic followed by a season of very inconsistent pitching. They have certainly been playing better baseballl the last three weeks and have the bats to be a factor, but unless the pitching staff does an amazing turnaround its hard for me to see them advancing to Omaha. One step at a time.......play well in the Big 12 tourney, get your pitching staff ready for the first regional and good things may happen.
So much for playing well in the Big 12 tournament. Never say never, but I see a spiritless team, very little leadership and some major question marks as we look ahead.
No matter where we go or who we match up with… Game 1–start Grubbs. Get that Win, even though the Game 2 competition will be better. DuPlantier would be the reliever in a tight game. If not a tight game, Tumis, Lummus, or others. Boehm to close if needed. Game 2–start LBJ. He has the stuff to smoke anybody on a good day. If he’s having a bad start, pull him early and let Ace pitch most of the game. LBJ could then be used for long relief in a game 3 or 4. Boehm to close. Use DuP as needed. Game 3–start Ace if not used in Game 2. Otherwise start Hurley. We’ll know almost right away if he’s having an on day or an off day. If off early, pull him and let O’Hara pitch the bulk of the game with Lummus as another multi-inning option. Game 4 (if needed). Johnny All Staff with a lot of Hurley if he wasn’t used in Game 3. Some guys like Tumis and Hudson Hamilton will have to step up and go for 3+ innings.
I have to admit, I was waiting for the shoe to drop in LBJ's last outing against Kansas and he held together for 6 solid innings. If he could do that more often it would be awesome for the team. But then Pierce decided, hey let's put in a 9 ERA guy to see how he does and almost lost the game.
We'll know Monday at 11am C. https://www.baseballamerica.com/sto...the NCAA baseball,regionals on Friday, May 31.
Regional Starters Game 1. Grubbs (A Dup closer) Game 2. Gage Boehm I'm still of the mindset that Gage should be a starter with Ace as the middle reliever/close the game out, those two guys should be able to complete a game and with Gage starting, we give ourselves the best chance not to get behind early. I would be willing to bet that we could get more than 6 innings out of Gage as a starter. He pounds the zone just like Ace but with better stuff. Game 3 and hopefully the championship of the regional??? Whoever Pierce sees has command of his best stuff on that day between Ace/Hurley/LBJ/Tumis/O'Hara.. everyone besides Ace with a short leash. This team CANNOT get into the loser's bracket, it's over if they do. They HAVE to put their best foot forward on their first two games starting with their best pitcher and work their way down.
Completely agree on keeping out of the losers bracket and winning Game 1 at all costs. Grubbs has been the most consistent, so I hope he gets Game 1.
I suspect Pierce will read Chop's and aUTfan's suggestions for Grubbs as the Game 1 starter, weigh the pros and cons, and then go with Tanner Witt.
