MSU Baseball and Cohen..today was a big win.....

[SLUdog]

Vandy is a good team and winning one game after getting pounded twice is good. 1-2 is a lot better than 0-3 and today may give the team some confidence. (*I'll predict Vandy will not be in Omaha, but they are good.)<div>
</div><div>For me it's simple: Cohen should have his team in the top 8 of the SEC at the end of the regular season. I think he'll get year 4 no matter what happens, but this is my barometer of improvement. By year 5 he should be competing to host a regional. </div><div>
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[shoeless joe]

but i do think that right now with this team it is more about executing at an SEC level. we are counting on kids that were in high school last year. the SEC has been compared to double-A pro ball. even the best high school prospects rarely go directly to double-A.

all that being said i do expect steady improvement throughout the year and feel that a regional appearance is an achievable goal. we just have to execute little things at a high enough level to take 2 out of 3 from the lower and middle tier SEC teams. however, i do feel that if we achieve those goals it will be no small achievement. it does appear that we are on the right track but once again i think that today was bigger as a confidence builder than just the value of that W. However, come May that W could help us out quite a bit.

 

[Todd4State]

and I'll even go so far as to say that Vandy doesn't win the SEC.

But to add on- we now have essentially an off week to practice and do whatever we need to work on. The attitude is going to be a lot better coming off of a big win like this, and that should hopefully translate into more wins in the SEC.

The thing that really stood out to me today- besides CT Bradford starting, of course- was how the freshmen stepped up and carried us at the plate. That to me, is probably the most encouraging thing that I saw. And even CT- he had a horrible day on the mound, but he was still able to come back and produce on offense for us and drove in some important runs. That says a lot to me- most people would sulk or try to do too much. It's also big to me that we won without Nick Routt.

I agree with what Cohen said about we're not going to sacrifice defense and pitching for offense. But, I think we can improve our offense while not sacrificing defense.

C- Freeman
1B- Norris
2B- Frazier
3B- Parks
SS- Demarcus
RF- Stark
CF- Jaron
LF- Bradford
DH- Vickerson

P- CT**

 

[Goat Holder II]

**** they almost won it last year with a team of freshmen.

But don't kid yourself, Vanderbilt has National Championship caliber talent.

 

[Todd4State]

But their third starter is average- they need to get Jack Armstrong healthy. That's where I think Florida has the edge, and I also think Florida is a better hitting team.

 

[bsm138]

Pretty much same as mine in an earlier post.. I'd like to see Demarcus start a mid-week game or two (really should've seen more of him in the earlier games....thanks Cohen) before discussing him as a starter.

 

[Goat Holder II]

nm

 

[57stratdawg]

trading offense for defense.

I just want to see our top 6:

1) Vickerson
2) Bradford
3) Parks
4) Norris
5) Freeman
6) Ogden

Those guys have been our best hitters.

 

[drt7891]

I'm not jumping on the bandwagon of "THIS TEAM IS AWESOME" yet, but like you said, to answer back after not scoring a single run in two games says at least SOMETHING about this team. I really think what we are seeing is a team with shaky confidence (in most instances) who, when they have to find their stride, can find it. I still, however, think they are a young, slightly immature team, but we are definitely moving in the right direction (I hope). I'd like to see us give Auburn hell this weekend in Starkville. One game at a time... it is a long season.

 

[Todd4State]

trading offense for defense.

I just want to see our top 6:

1) Vickerson
2) Bradford
3) Parks
4) Norris
5) Freeman
6) Ogden

Those guys have been our best hitters.

Just because of the nature of the position. I'm OK with our back-up catcher being a catch and throw guy.

Frost- I have to disagree with Cohen. Frazier is just as good defensively, but is better offensively. So, there's no trading off.

 

[Goat Holder II]

<span class="post-title">Thigpen is going to have to play some.........</span>Just because of the nature of the position.

I never saw Barry Patton sit out a game a weekend or DH. They may take one game off per ten or something.

I don't really remember Tatum doing it either. And when Polk finally got his **** together in '07 we put Easley back there full time where he should have been for four years.

Damn we need a real catcher again.

 

[GloryDawg]

You are not going to win every series you just can't get swept in any of them. I am feeling a little better tonight then I did last night. Vandy is the second best team we will face in the SEC this year. Now that is my opinion. We have to take baby steps. Let's get to the SEC tourney this year and get invited to a regional somewhere.

 

[mstatefan88]

The majority of the pitchers we will face in the SEC this year will be more like the guy Vandy threw out today than guys like Gray. We may see3 to 5more absolutely ridiculous pitchers like Gray the rest of the year, but the other 23 to 25 games we are going to see someone more or lesslike who we saw today.An above average pitcher that is hittable. I don't see us getting blanked more than 1 or 2 more times. I think it will happen again because of the way weare offensively, but it won't concern me.

You saw what happened today when we got some runs off the starter then got into the bullpen. We strung some hits together, and boom, 5 runs in an inning against the number 1 team in the country and we win. We can hit SEC pitching and we proved it today. We ran into 2 buzzsaws on Friday and Saturday, but that's not going to be the norm.

 

[croomsgone]

freeman was horrible friday night, i mean it was pitiful. he was worse catching than thigpen is hitting and that says something. was awesome to see those freshman come through with clutch hits (i was there, suffered through friday and saturday and they rewarded us sunday). parks was great and the vandy fans were all over him all weekend. i agree with frazier being as good defensively as frost is. kid plays as hard as he can and he isnt scared of anything-its not his fault cohen puts him. he gets everything that he is SUPPOSED to get but makes no unexpected plays at all and frazier can do at least that. ogden played great in the field after friday. collins has started to swing the bat too-we'll see how that holds up.

 

[Todd4State]

the problem is when you wear out a catcher, the thing that they usually really struggle with is hitting. I think we can all agree that we need Cody Freeman's bat right now.

It's more an issue of what's best for the team than being a man.

And when we had Barry Patton, we also had Dustin Dabbs, and Craig Tatum platooned with JB Tucker, and we had Ed Easley play third while Joseph McKaskill caught some.