2009 College Baseball Thread

[wvcbxl]

I guarandamntee you that you'd have more than 4-6 pages if this were in Social next year.

 

There's also a great chance most pages wouldn't be worth reading if that were the case. I think it's a quality vs quantity argument. This thread is top quality IMHO, and I regularly pass here to read up (and I'm sure I'm not the only one to do that).

[OleMissCub]

There's also a great chance most pages wouldn't be worth reading if that were the case.

 

And that's an understandable opinion to have, but I'd like to see for myself what it would look like were it given a chance in a more high traffic area and I'd appreciate it if the moderators would at least be open minded and give it a try next season. Good or bad posts notwithstanding, I think a College Baseball thread deserves more than 4 or 5 pages with posts coming from the same small group of people.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

I don't really think there's a ton of people waiting to post in a College Baseball thread in social. NSBB's population is overwhelmingly centralized to places with little following for college baseball and college baseball teams that aren't all that good. I mean, I guess I could make fun of Kansas' ridiculous hats and Snood could try and defend them(impossible, even for him), but there's not a ton of potential for dialogue, it'd just be people who care about one school recapping what happened to their school with very little back and forth that the Football and Basketball threads have.

[dougdescenzo]

16 regional hosts:

Arizona State

UC Irvine

Cal State Fullerton

Clemson

East Carolina

Florida

Florida State

Georgia Tech

LSU

Louisville

Mississippi

North Carolina

Oklahoma

Rice

Texas

TCU

[Guest]

To be honest, I'd post more in this thread if UCLA played at any level near its talent.

[OleMissCub]

Ole Miss is always getting screwed by the NCAA in regionals. Can't wait to see who they give us to play.

[OleMissCub]

To be honest, I'd post more in this thread if UCLA played at any level near its talent.

 

The problem is that some people who might be good productive posters in this thread don't even know that it exists. Because unless you use the "view active topics" button, then many posters might never know it is even here. Like I said, why would most posters have any reason to view the contents of the Draft Forum until around draft time?

[manbearcub]

could put it in general baseball discussion, perhaps.

[Sosa21MVP]

To be honest, I'd post more in this thread if UCLA played at any level near its talent.

 

The problem is that some people who might be good productive posters in this thread don't even know that it exists. Because unless you use the "view active topics" button, then many posters might never know it is even here. Like I said, why would most posters have any reason to view the contents of the Draft Forum until around draft time?

 

I agree. The only reason I found this thread is that dougdascenzo posted about IU winning the Big Ten in the Social forum which of course got locked but then I saw the note by NC that this thread existed.

 

I mean I'm not a huge college baseball fan by any means but since IU is in the NCAA tournament for the first time in forever I'll probably start following it more closely.

[Guest]

I don't know about any of you guys, but I've got UCD making the NCAA tourney field.

 

Forget the first 43 games, they're 5-6 in the last 11 (and in extras today) and have a chance to win two out of the final three series if they beat Northridge today. Three of those losses and the series loss was to UC Irvine so that should be disregarded as well.

[UK1679666180]

I'm glad UC Bakersfield won today, I'm finding myself rooting for them.

[Guest]

I'm glad UC Bakersfield won today, I'm finding myself rooting for them.

 

I think they're a Cal State.

[UK1679666180]

UC-CS, same thing.

[Guest]

UC-CS, same thing.

 

[-X

[Guest]

UC-CS, same thing.

 

[-X

 

Yeah, not cool, Ping.

 

And out of curiosity, why are you rooting for Cal State Bakersfield?

[UK1679666180]

It was Bakersfield's 1st year and even though they only had 13 or so wins, 5 of them came against Fresno st. and Nebraska. I'll always have a soft spot for programs that either start or start again a baseball program.

 

I have no idea why schools like UTEP and Wisconsin have no baseball programs.

[wvcbxl]

Like I said, why would most posters have any reason to view the contents of the Draft Forum until around draft time?

 

That problem should now be fixed. :wink:

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Like I said, why would most posters have any reason to view the contents of the Draft Forum until around draft time?

 

That problem should now be fixed. :wink:

 

I'm full of great ideas. Just ask me sometime. :D

[Transmogrified Tiger]

NCAA Tournament field was set today. Mizzou heads to Oxford as the 2 seed in the Ole Miss region, with Western Kentucky and Monmouth as the 3 and 4 seeds. I like it.

[OleMissCub]

NCAA Tournament field was set today. Mizzou heads to Oxford as the 2 seed in the Ole Miss region, with Western Kentucky and Monmouth as the 3 and 4 seeds. I like it.

 

Y'all are lucky as hell that Bittle is hurt. As far as offense goes, Ole Miss softballs people to death with singles like Team Japan or something. Don't worry about any power (7 HR is the most by any player) but this team can hit like crazy. Our starting nine have a BA of .332 and an OBP of .420. The overall team avg is .315 with team obp at .404

 

What kind of game does Mizzou play?

[shnsajax]

It was Bakersfield's 1st year and even though they only had 13 or so wins, 5 of them came against Fresno st. and Nebraska. I'll always have a soft spot for programs that either start or start again a baseball program.

 

I have no idea why schools like UTEP and Wisconsin have no baseball programs.

 

I am guessing cause of Title IX. I keep waiting for Texas A&M - Corpus Christi to become a solid program every year. The one year they were very good, they were still on probation as a new program and not eligible for postseason play.

[dougdescenzo]

OleMissCub, what can you tell me about Vanderbilt? Indiana gets to stay close to home as the #4 vs. Louisville with Middle Tennessee and Vandy. I know a lot about L'ville and a bit about MTSU and think the Hoosiers have a great shot of getting out of this regional.

[OleMissCub]

Vandy doesn't really stand out all that much. The only thing that is really above average is their hitting, which is pretty decent. Aaron Westlake, their 1st baseman has the top BA in the SEC IIRC. Other than that, nothing really exceptional to say about them.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

NCAA Tournament field was set today. Mizzou heads to Oxford as the 2 seed in the Ole Miss region, with Western Kentucky and Monmouth as the 3 and 4 seeds. I like it.

 

Y'all are lucky as hell that Bittle is hurt. As far as offense goes, Ole Miss softballs people to death with singles like Team Japan or something. Don't worry about any power (7 HR is the most by any player) but this team can hit like crazy. Our starting nine have a BA of .332 and an OBP of .420. The overall team avg is .315 with team obp at .404

 

What kind of game does Mizzou play?

 

Offensively, Mizzou plays for the big hit, they won't do a ton of small ball stuff. Their 2-4 hitters, Lollis, Folgia, and Senne, are the best in the lineup(Coleman would be another, but he broke his hand), although they aren't terrible as you go through Mach, Gray, and Ampleman. Folgia's the best hitter on the team, a switch hitter, and the biggest power threat(12 HR, next is the injured Coleman with 6), so Mizzou needs to string together hits most times to get runs.

 

Pitching is the most unique part of Mizzou's team this year. You probably know about (Cubs fan!) Kyle Gibson, he'll be a Top 10 pick this year, he's the one true starting pitcher on the roster. After that, Ian Berger is a mediocre senior right hander, and Nick Tepesch has great stuff(BA had him as a potential 2010 first rounder) but very mixed results. If there's a 4th starter, it's super soft tossing lefty Scooter Hicks, who barely touches 80, and has only started a few games and never gone past the 4th or 5th. In almost 1/4 of their games this year, Mizzou has employed a Johnny Wholestaff approach, throwing at least 6 pitchers intentionally, sometimes not letting anyone go more than an inning. They didn't try it this week at the Big 12 tournament, so it may not come up in regional play, but it means that everyone in the Mizzou pen has a good deal of experience, and that they're not afraid to run a ton of pitchers out there if they think they can create a LaRussa-esque matchup advantage.

 

I'm interested to see who Jamieson throws in Game 1. He could use Gibson to try and wipe out WKU, save the pen, and have Gibson available in relief for a championship game. Or he could use Berger or (more likely) Tepesch, and hope that's enough to use Gibson on the best team in the bracket, then hope the rest of the staff is enough to win one of two. Last year he chose the former, and Crow got the win against Ole Miss, but 2008 Gibson blew a lead in relief against Miami and the next day against Ole Miss.

[Butterscup1679666578]

NCAA Tournament field was set today. Mizzou heads to Oxford as the 2 seed in the Ole Miss region, with Western Kentucky and Monmouth as the 3 and 4 seeds. I like it.

 

Y'all are lucky as hell that Bittle is hurt. As far as offense goes, Ole Miss softballs people to death with singles like Team Japan or something. Don't worry about any power (7 HR is the most by any player) but this team can hit like crazy. Our starting nine have a BA of .332 and an OBP of .420. The overall team avg is .315 with team obp at .404

 

What kind of game does Mizzou play?

 

I'm interested to see who Jamieson throws in Game 1. He could use Gibson to try and wipe out WKU, save the pen, and have Gibson available in relief for a championship game. Or he could use Berger or (more likely) Tepesch, and hope that's enough to use Gibson on the best team in the bracket, then hope the rest of the staff is enough to win one of two. Last year he chose the former, and Crow got the win against Ole Miss, but 2008 Gibson blew a lead in relief against Miami and the next day against Ole Miss.

 

I hated that move last year and I'd hate it again if he starts Gibson vs. WKU. Save Gibson for Ole Miss (hopefully) or the elimination game.