Not a sarcastic post.....

[bruiser.sixpack]

i know everyone has accepted that MSU is going to win games the way they win them...like the first 2 of this series. But I cannot wrap my head around that assumption any more. MSU may yet come back and win this one. But this time, it will be because our batters actually produced.

This MSU team, with 5 seniors and 4 juniors for the most part in the every day line up will not win more than 15 SEC games this season.

Before you criticize me as being a negative nanny....which I am...having been a Bulldog fan for 49 years, look at a few facts.

They lost 2 games to Holy Cross. They lost to unranked...ever...Memphis.

The scored 4 runs in the first inning of Friday nights 17-2 win thusly: Single, Single, Single, bases loaded. Then, Walk, wild pitch, fielder's choice, ground out produced the 4 runs. By the 3rd inning, MSU had 9 runs on 5 hits, 4 walks, 1 hbp, 3 errors and a wild pitch. Yes, they got a total of 14 hits and produced 12 RBI of the 17 runs scored. The Dogs scored 8 earned runs out of the 17.

Then yesterday, the dogs scored 6 runs, 4 earned, on 6 hits, 8 walks, 2 hbp, 3 errors. Jr. Wes Rea walked his first time, lined a 1-2 pitch that nearly took the pitchers head off in the 3rd, then proceeded to strike out 3 times, looking horrible in all 3 ABs. Jake Vickerson, JR leadoff guy went 0-5 last night.

Great pitching and solid defense will beat a lot of teams if you get lots of breaks, some timely hits, and don;t run into pitchers and defense that can match you. I submit that MSU WILL run into that in the next few weeks, plus they will run into teams with Freshmen and Sophomores who can out hit our Juniors and Seniors.

I hope I am wrong, but at some point, we are going to need guys to hit their way on base, and guys to DRIVE them in during close games. Today, would be a great time to start that program.

But, if I am right, and the Dogs lose 14-15 SEC games, added to at least 7 non-conference games, that is at least 21 losses. More likely 22-23 losses with some of the non-conf. games we have left.

I believe this team will end up a 2nd seed far away with a 34-22 (14-16 SEC) record. I hope they prove me wrong and actually start hitting the baseball. I have been wrong before, so no big deal if I am again. I just don't see the talent hitting wise from this group.

 

[Hanmudog]

Just imagine how Vandy feels losing to a team as bad as us. They probably won't win another game after the way they played this weekend.




Almost forgot these**

 

[Seinfeld]

Vandy may blow this one open as I type this, but they're leading today by sheer miracle. Our guys have been hitting the ball hard all afternoon, and we've probably lost 5 RBIs due to a Vandy fielder being in just the right spot at just the right time. Meanwhile, they've really only threatened a couple times today, but they took advantage of it by actually knowing how to execute a squeeze.

This will probably go down as one of the dreaded ifs and buts games, but we really have been unlucky today. Only thing I can really blame the team for at the moment would be a few instances of poor fielding.

Edited to add: as I was posting this, Heck throws one into the dugout and then Collins lets a passed ball get by for two more runs. Un17ingbelievable.

 

[ronpolk]

i know everyone has accepted that MSU is going to win games the way they win them...like the first 2 of this series. But I cannot wrap my head around that assumption any more. MSU may yet come back and win this one. But this time, it will be because our batters actually produced.

This MSU team, with 5 seniors and 4 juniors for the most part in the every day line up will not win more than 15 SEC games this season.

Before you criticize me as being a negative nanny....which I am...having been a Bulldog fan for 49 years, look at a few facts.

They lost 2 games to Holy Cross. They lost to unranked...ever.v..Memphis.

The scored 4 runs in the first inning of Friday nights 17-2 win thusly: Single, Single, Single, bases loaded. Then, Walk, wild pitch, fielder's choice, ground out produced the 4 runs. By the 3rd inning, MSU had 9 runs on 5 hits, 4 walks, 1 hbp, 3 errors and a wild pitch. Yes, they got a total of 14 hits and produced 12 RBI of the 17 runs scored. The Dogs scored 8 earned runs out of the 17.

Then yesterday, the dogs scored 6 runs, 4 earned, on 6 hits, 8 walks, 2 hbp, 3 errors. Jr. Wes Rea walked his first time, lined a 1-2 pitch that nearly took the pitchers head off in the 3rd, then proceeded to strike out 3 times, looking horrible in all 3 ABs. Jake Vickerson, JR leadoff guy went 0-5 last night.

Great pitching and solid defense will beat a lot of teams if you get lots of breaks, some timely hits, and don;t run into pitchers and defense that can match you. I submit that MSU WILL run into that in the next few weeks, plus they will run into teams with Freshmen and Sophomores who can out hit our Juniors and Seniors.

I hope I am wrong, but at some point, we are going to need guys to hit their way on base, and guys to DRIVE them in during close games. Today, would be a great time to start that program.

But, if I am right, and the Dogs lose 14-15 SEC games, added to at least 7 non-conference games, that is at least 21 losses. More likely 22-23 losses with some of the non-conf. games we have left.

I believe this team will end up a 2nd seed far away with a 34-22 (14-16 SEC) record. I hope they prove me wrong and actually start hitting the baseball. I have been wrong before, so no big deal if I am again. I just don't see the talent hitting wise from this group.

Some of you guys never allow yourself to enjoy when state does good. Who cares if you've been a state fan for a long time and expect them to lose. Here is the truth... We had a horrible weekend in Arizona and against holy cross. But now we are about to be 4-2 after 2 weekends in the sec (assuming we don't come back today). We just took a series from one of the best in the country. Enjoy the weekend

 

[bruiser.sixpack]

Just imagine how Vandy feels losing to a team as bad as us. They probably won't win another game after the way they played this weekend.




Almost forgot these**

Yep...You gotta hate it for those 3 freshmen, 4 sophomore, 2 junior Vandy starters who replaced 6 everyday players from last years' team losing to MSU don't you. Again, we have 4 juniors and 5 seniors in our batting order. Who SHOULD win these games. The over-rated very young Commodores...or the previously over-rated junior-senior laden Bulldogs? I'll hang up and listen.

 

[bruiser.sixpack]

I enjoyed Friday and Saturday. Today, re-emphasized my concerns for this team with regards to the "season", not one series.

 

[Shamoan]

you are really discounting our players ability to get on base. we dont have anyone really undisciplined at the plate and all of them have good eyes. we simply do not swing at many bad pitches. we make the pitcher work every...single....inning. we may not have a **** load of great hitters, but we do have some well disciplined guys at the plate. just about every single guy in they typical lineup works deep counts and with everyone doing that, it makes it a treacherous lineup.

again, we arent great hitters, but its not necessarily about hitting especially with cohen teams...its about getting on base and if we continue to do that, we will continue to put ourselves in good positions. if we dont get the timely hit in the 2nd, we find ourselves in a similar position at some point later in the game. we are going to strand a bunch of RISP, but with the volume of baserunners we produce, its not going to matter as much because we will soon be in a similar position and sooner or later, we will find that timely hit.

think about the walks we had this weekend vs arguably the best pitching staff in the nation. we had something like 16 walks through 2 games which more than quadrupled what they do regularly. off weekend for them? sure, but we are making it very difficult on pitchers and that starts with disciplined at bats. thats been a hallmark under cohen and its getting better. mix in a few more hitters and we are really in business, but its not for lack of baserunners.

 

[ronpolk]

I enjoyed Friday and Saturday. Today, re-emphasized my concerns for this team with regards to the "season", not one series.

So, every time we lose a game we suck? Got it.

 

[KurtRambis4]

*****Yep, we suck

*

 

[AtomicDog001]

Just won a series against a top 5 program, but we're headed in the wrong direction? Sure, that makes sense.

 

[bruiser.sixpack]

So, every time we lose a game we suck? Got it.

Wow. YOU must really be Ron Polk if you deduced that from my musings.

When we lose 5-4 or 7-5 but get 10 hits and drive in RISP, then those are just tough losses. When we can't hit our way out of a paper bag on ocassions, those are just good pitching performances by the other team.

What I was essentially saying is that When MSU was rated in the Top 10 in nearly every poll to start the season, MSU was vastly over-rated. I suspect, they thought we may have a more solid hitting team 1 through 9 this year, because we returned so many upperclassmen. Vandy, on the other hand, is loaded with Freshmen and Sophomores, and actually climbed into the Top 5, did not start there. Our "friends" to the North were not even rated, and picked 6th in the SEC West, but right now, they are getting great pitching, solid defense, and some big power numbers at the plate, 21-4 overall, 4-2 SEC.

But after seeing those early season losses to very bad teams (Holy Cross & Memphis), average teams (Santa Barbara & Arizona), which were primarily attributed to poor hitting in key RISP situations, it doesn't take x-ray vision to see that there are a lot of HOLES in our bats.

But hey, who knows, we may be this year's UCLA in the end, and all the pollsters would have been right.

Check and see how our main competition in the SEC West are winning games. Let me know if they are getting the single, walk, fielder's choice, ground out type run production....or maybe they have guys that are bending the fences in the gaps, finding the beer drinker cheap seats in right, or wearing out the paint down the lines in the outfield grass, to go along with outstanding pitching, good defense and a little luck.

I just know that we are 16-9 overall while our main competitors have 20 or more wins, 5 or less losses and are tied with or a game ahead of us in the SEC standings and are in a lot better shape for that oh so important National Seed than we are at this point.

But if you wanna believe we suck, that is your choice. I believe we are an average team, with good pitching and poor hitting, but I believe in the end we will be a middle of the pack SEC team. To be determined if that is considered suckage.

 

[haildearoldstate]

True for the most part but not entirely. CT Bradford is VERY impatient.........

nt

 

[bruiser.sixpack]

4-14 Holy Cross went 2-2 against Top 5 MSU...

What is your opinion of Holy Cross Baseball? Are they the new powerhouse in College Baseball?

Oh...and Vandy, with 4 freshmen and 5 sophomore starters... are just as over-rated as a Top 5 team as we were to start the season.

Never said we were going in the wrong direction. I believe we will be middle of the pack....but our main competitors will be at the top of the league in end.

I will stick with my 14 to 16 SEC win prediction and hope it is better. But it will not be without significant improvement at the plate.

 

[CadaverDawg]

i know everyone has accepted that MSU is going to win games the way they win them...like the first 2 of this series. But I cannot wrap my head around that assumption any more. MSU may yet come back and win this one. But this time, it will be because our batters actually produced.

This MSU team, with 5 seniors and 4 juniors for the most part in the every day line up will not win more than 15 SEC games this season.

Before you criticize me as being a negative nanny....which I am...having been a Bulldog fan for 49 years, look at a few facts.

They lost 2 games to Holy Cross. They lost to unranked...ever...Memphis.

The scored 4 runs in the first inning of Friday nights 17-2 win thusly: Single, Single, Single, bases loaded. Then, Walk, wild pitch, fielder's choice, ground out produced the 4 runs. By the 3rd inning, MSU had 9 runs on 5 hits, 4 walks, 1 hbp, 3 errors and a wild pitch. Yes, they got a total of 14 hits and produced 12 RBI of the 17 runs scored. The Dogs scored 8 earned runs out of the 17.

Then yesterday, the dogs scored 6 runs, 4 earned, on 6 hits, 8 walks, 2 hbp, 3 errors. Jr. Wes Rea walked his first time, lined a 1-2 pitch that nearly took the pitchers head off in the 3rd, then proceeded to strike out 3 times, looking horrible in all 3 ABs. Jake Vickerson, JR leadoff guy went 0-5 last night.

Great pitching and solid defense will beat a lot of teams if you get lots of breaks, some timely hits, and don;t run into pitchers and defense that can match you. I submit that MSU WILL run into that in the next few weeks, plus they will run into teams with Freshmen and Sophomores who can out hit our Juniors and Seniors.

I hope I am wrong, but at some point, we are going to need guys to hit their way on base, and guys to DRIVE them in during close games. Today, would be a great time to start that program.

But, if I am right, and the Dogs lose 14-15 SEC games, added to at least 7 non-conference games, that is at least 21 losses. More likely 22-23 losses with some of the non-conf. games we have left.

I believe this team will end up a 2nd seed far away with a 34-22 (14-16 SEC) record. I hope they prove me wrong and actually start hitting the baseball. I have been wrong before, so no big deal if I am again. I just don't see the talent hitting wise from this group.

You would have a point if we hadn't faced the best top to bottom pitching staff in the country this weekend. You take runs however you can get them against a staff like that.

Either way, You really need to learn to enjoy success. But I disagree with your concerns.

Also, we blistered the ball right at people several times this weekend, and especially today. Our hitting has returned and just because we didn't light up a bunch of flame throwers all 3 games (only one), is no reason to be the slightest bit concerned. This is how we win under Cohen....Pitching, defense, scrap out runs. It led us to a National championship appearance last year, and led us to a series win over #3 Vandy this weekend. At what point will people stop thinking this is a fluke?

 

[ronpolk]

Wow. YOU must really be Ron Polk if you deduced that from my musings.

When we lose 5-4 or 7-5 but get 10 hits and drive in RISP, then those are just tough losses. When we can't hit our way out of a paper bag on ocassions, those are just good pitching performances by the other team.

What I was essentially saying is that When MSU was rated in the Top 10 in nearly every poll to start the season, MSU was vastly over-rated. I suspect, they thought we may have a more solid hitting team 1 through 9 this year, because we returned so many upperclassmen. Vandy, on the other hand, is loaded with Freshmen and Sophomores, and actually climbed into the Top 5, did not start there. Our "friends" to the North were not even rated, and picked 6th in the SEC West, but right now, they are getting great pitching, solid defense, and some big power numbers at the plate, 21-4 overall, 4-2 SEC.

But after seeing those early season losses to very bad teams (Holy Cross & Memphis), average teams (Santa Barbara & Arizona), which were primarily attributed to poor hitting in key RISP situations, it doesn't take x-ray vision to see that there are a lot of HOLES in our bats.

But hey, who knows, we may be this year's UCLA in the end, and all the pollsters would have been right.

Check and see how our main competition in the SEC West are winning games. Let me know if they are getting the single, walk, fielder's choice, ground out type run production....or maybe they have guys that are bending the fences in the gaps, finding the beer drinker cheap seats in right, or wearing out the paint down the lines in the outfield grass, to go along with outstanding pitching, good defense and a little luck.

I just know that we are 16-9 overall while our main competitors have 20 or more wins, 5 or less losses and are tied with or a game ahead of us in the SEC standings and are in a lot better shape for that oh so important National Seed than we are at this point.

But if you wanna believe we suck, that is your choice. I believe we are an average team, with good pitching and poor hitting, but I believe in the end we will be a middle of the pack SEC team. To be determined if that is considered suckage.

I don't believe we suck. I didn't start a thread to inform everyone we suck. I believe this team will compete to win the SEC. As it sits right now, we are on pace to do just that. Unlike you I'm not concerned with how we win games. I just want to win.

 

[bruiser.sixpack]

Cadaver, you have the best rebuke to my suppositions so far.

I'll be more likely to join you if we win the next 2 SEC series in believing...

But I just cannot see how the other guys find those Gap hitters and wall bangers when recruiting and we do not. Note that after this weekend, our number 3 hitter is still 6'5", 270#, while our number 4 hitter is still 5'9", 175#. Oh, and also our number 3 hitter now leads the team in BB & K's AND is one of the SEC's best at striking out!

 

[bruiser.sixpack]

Pretty sure Tim Corbin felt the same way going into this weekend. I imagine after how Friday night played out, he is tickled to walk out of Polk-Dement 3-3 in SEC trotting all those freshmen/sophomores out on the field every weekend. And I imagine Cohen is happy to get out of this weekend 4-2, but also concerned (like me) with how his team performed TODAY. Never be satisfied. You might end up first runner up.

 

[CadaverDawg]

Cadaver, you have the best rebuke to my suppositions so far.

I'll be more likely to join you if we win the next 2 SEC series in believing...

But I just cannot see how the other guys find those Gap hitters and wall bangers when recruiting and we do not. Note that after this weekend, our number 3 hitter is still 6'5", 270#, while our number 4 hitter is still 5'9", 175#. Oh, and also our number 3 hitter now leads the team in BB & K's AND is one of the SEC's best at striking out!

Well, did you notice that our recruiting of said "gap hitters" has improved substantially? Collins and Heck both had doubles this weekend, and Garner and Humphreys have shown signs as well in their first seasons to see the field. I truly believe that Cohen likes the slap hitters that can bunt, steal, hit and run, AND fly in the outfield....but he is starting to recruit a little bit bigger players with more pop.

Cohens first few years I worried about the same things you're talking about, but now I see his formula. He is taking a Vandy approach and spending more scholarships on great pitching than big time power guys. And after a Championship run, and now a series win over Vandy, I honestly don't know if Vandy has power hitters, gap hitters, etc or not because our staff pretty much shut them down and made them pound everything into the ground. I would rather have a bunch of strikeout and ground ball pitchers than to trade them out for a few good gap hitters right now. But that's just me...and only based on the formula that has been working

 

[bruiser.sixpack]

Again, good solid points. The only thing I question is where Vandy is right now, with those 3 freshmen and sophomore starters. As I said, I believe at this point in the season, our pitching and defense is about where it should be, but with so many Juniors and Seniors starting in the field we should be a much better hitting team, than 6 for 36 yesterday, and 3 for 34 today..... against a Sunday starter. But that's just me. I will be there next weekend to see how we fare against a struggling Arkansas team who lost a bunch from last year, so they are probably very young too.

 

[BoDawg.sixpack]

Cohen has gotten this program back to where I had hoped we would be

We are now bitching when we don't sweep Top 3 teams at home. As an encore, maybe he'll have us complaining and griping when Mitchell doesn't throw a no hitter. Hell, maybe we'll start talking about Cohen's replacement if we go two consecutive years without winning the world series.

 

[hatfieldms]

We really have some of the dumbest fans in the country

....

 

[AtomicDog001]

With that logic...

Top 10 LSU is overrated since they dropped two last weekend to "overrated" Vandy.

Top 10 South Carolina must be overrated since they lost 2 of 3 to #27 ranked Kentucky this weekend.

See how none of that makes sense? It's baseball, can't win 'em all. I'm not excusing the Holy Cross losses but baseball is a different game. The better team doesn't always win.

 

[thunderclap]

Stupid. Just 17ing stupid. Go over analyze something else for a while.

 

[FallAmericanDawg]

I just know that we are 16-9 overall while our main competitors...are tied with or a game ahead of us in the SEC standings...

No one is a game ahead of us in conference play, champ. We're actually tied for 1st at 4-2 (Auburn, OM). LSU is 3-2-1, Bama, A&M, Arky, Florida, UK, SC, UT, and Vandy are all 3-3, UGA is 1-4-1, and Mizzou is 1-5.

 

[Paperdog]

Bruiser, I am trying to be nice and I mean this honestly

Is this a serious post or are you just playing around with everybody like rugbdawg?

 

[Thrl595]

Bruiser - you have got to lay off the booze

 

[bruiser.sixpack]

Is this a serious post or are you just playing around with everybody like rugbdawg?

I refer to this in my defense: http://forums.sixpackspeak.com/showthread.php?p=987735#post987735

It seems many of these same detractors of mine didn't think we had a chance in hell of getting to Beede, but now they think we are warming up the bus for the trip to Hoover as the Number 1 seed. heck of a lot of baseball to be played. We could go 21-9 SEC or 14-16 as I suggested is possible without better hitting. Neither are that far out of the realm of possibilities, using some of the facts I stated. We lost 2 to a 4-14 Holy Cross team, yet we took 2 out of 3 from a bunch of freshmen and sophomores who were ranked very highly by the same people who just 26 days ago had us in the Top 10. As someone stated in this thread, Baseball is a strange game sometimes. What other sport is 30% considered successful? Maybe Deer Hunting or Fishing.

Just having a little fun knowing that as negative as some of us are at times about MSU sports, there is a little wishy washiness in most of Dog fans on this board. That is what separates it from the other boards. Everybody on here thinks they are smarter than everybody else on here. That's is why I like to hang out here and read some of the gobbledy goop that is spewed here.

 

[Dog316]

nt

Why are you obsessing over one player? Makes you look a little strange to say the least.

 

[Dog316]

What is your opinion of Holy Cross Baseball? Are they the new powerhouse in College Baseball?

Oh...and Vandy, with 4 freshmen and 5 sophomore starters... are just as over-rated as a Top 5 team as we were to start the season.

Never said we were going in the wrong direction. I believe we will be middle of the pack....but our main competitors will be at the top of the league in end.

I will stick with my 14 to 16 SEC win prediction and hope it is better. But it will not be without significant improvement at the plate.

Did it ever cross your mind that we were playing everyone on the team? If MSU sports cause you mental pain why not find something you can enjoy; something that doesn't have a winner or loser. Try fishing in a well stocked pond. That should do the trick. You can come home and show all your friends and neighbors what a great fisherman you are. And, you could treat your friends to a fish fry. That would be better that what you are serving us here.

Life is short. Find something that brings you joy not flustration.

 

[Philly Dawg]

I seem to be missing the point. You're saying we should have won. We did. But then you predict that we'll go 11-15 the rest of the way in SEC play?

 

[CadaverDawg]

I refer to this in my defense: http://forums.sixpackspeak.com/showthread.php?p=987735#post987735

It seems many of these same detractors of mine didn't think we had a chance in hell of getting to Beede, but now they think we are warming up the bus for the trip to Hoover as the Number 1 seed. heck of a lot of baseball to be played. We could go 21-9 SEC or 14-16 as I suggested is possible without better hitting. Neither are that far out of the realm of possibilities, using some of the facts I stated. We lost 2 to a 4-14 Holy Cross team, yet we took 2 out of 3 from a bunch of freshmen and sophomores who were ranked very highly by the same people who just 26 days ago had us in the Top 10. As someone stated in this thread, Baseball is a strange game sometimes. What other sport is 30% considered successful? Maybe Deer Hunting or Fishing.

Just having a little fun knowing that as negative as some of us are at times about MSU sports, there is a little wishy washiness in most of Dog fans on this board. That is what separates it from the other boards. Everybody on here thinks they are smarter than everybody else on here. That's is why I like to hang out here and read some of the gobbledy goop that is spewed here.

So you see zero improvement since Holy Cross? Over a season, teams can progress. We are just now starting to see a consistent lineup and rotation.
Is it not possible, in your mind, for us to improve week to week? Or are we going to host a Regional and have you predicting a Regional loss bc "we lost to Holy Cross"?
Have you compared the talent levels of HC and Vandy? Safe to say we have improved...not that Vandy is just extremely overrated. IMO we're just finally putting it together and gelling as a team. We lost several leaders last year in Frazier, Graveman, and Renfroe. It takes time for new leaders to step up sometimes.

 

[os62]

Not to hijack your thread, bruiser, but this is exactly how I feel about my Ole Miss squad. Sure, we are CURRENTLY winning right now, but we've had solid pitching and fielding and some uncommon timely hitting. It's definitely not enough to make me feel we have a great team, but we are winning for now. I just don't think it will continue for the entire season.

That being said, I'm loving the fact that we ARE winning now with a team that I feel is young and with not a whole lot of talent. While I do feel this lack of talent will show up soon and we will hit a swoon, I am extremely proud of my team so far. They are definitely over-achieving.

I know what you mean about your Dawgs, but I think yall may be starting to hit your stride IMO. Yall are starting to turn into that dangerous team that can beat you with some timely hitting one night, and then beat you with excellent pitching another night. Mix in a big night at the plate every now and then too (like you said, yall did score 8 earned runs in the big Friday night win over Vandy, and 8 is a damn good total in today's game). Cohen finds a way to get yall going midway through the season (and makes you scratch your head at the beginning of the year sometimes).

I know my opinion means nothing to yall, but I think yall are alright. You won an SEC road series & then won a home SEC series vs. a top SEC team. That is an excellent start to the SEC season. Hell, if yall won 2 of every 3, you'd probably win the SEC or finish top 3.

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

Ooookaayyy.

 

[engie]

I believe this team will end up a 2nd seed far away with a 34-22 (14-16 SEC) record.

So, you think we're going to go 10-14 in the SEC against remaining opponents:
Arkansas
@LSU
OM
@Mizzou
aTm
@Auburn
Tennessee
@Bama

Look at that schedule -- and please tell me how you are getting 10-14 out of the last 24?

Fact: We took 2 of 3 from a team that hadn't lost an SEC series in the last 15 tries.
Fact: We took 2 of 3 from the best statistical pitching staff in the country.

It takes a special effort to twist a major negative out of that because of something that happened over a month ago...

 

[HD6]

I'm saying 14-10, maybe 15-9 from that slate.

 

[engie]

I'm saying 14-10, maybe 15-9 from that slate.

Agreed. Think that's enough to get a hosting spot -- but not a national seed with the early RPI-killers we had... 19-11 probably gets us into that conversation though.

If we can somehow go 4-2 in the next 6 against Arky and LSU, we can again start dreaming about loftier goals IMO.

If Cohen's history on the back half of the SEC slate and the schedule are of any value, we could go 11-4 or so in that last 15.

 

[thekimmer]

Its all timing man....

You may be right with your 'musings' only time will tell. I don't think the best time to muse about it is the day after we won a huge series from the #3 program in the country breaking their 15 straight SEC series winning streak dating back to '12.

Cohen has made it no secret as to how we plan to win and that is pitching, pitching, pitching, with solid defense, and just enough offense to scratch out a few runs to win. We are not going to slug many teams into submission. I must say too that its hard to argue that while this might not be the best formula for the regular season, it has made us a force to be reckoned with in the post season the last 3 seasons winning two regionals, an SEC tournament, a super and a CWS runner-up and just one of all of those at home.

Yesterday was a disappointment but I thought we pitched well enough to win it but our defense let us down.

 

[Philly Dawg]

I'm sure that the Red Sox also dropped games and series last year to bottom dwelling teams. Its meaningless. The quality of a team is bourne out over a series of results over time.

So far, MSU's results indicate that the pre-season ranking was too high. They do not, on the other hand, warrant a conclusion that MSU will lose 56% of their remaining conference games.

 

[bruiser.sixpack]

Okay...I am sold... We will win 6 of the next 8 series, lead the league in HBP, Reached on Errors, Walks, FC and GO RBIs, Sac Bunts, Sac Flys, and scoring by passed balls.

It does help that we do not have to face South Carolina or Kentucky this year. Those young guys can stroke it!

 

[patdog]

That's not even close to a valid comparison. The difference between the best and the worst MLB team is less then the difference between the best and the worst SEC team. Comparing MSU to Holy Cross is more like comparing the Red Sox to a AA team.