Thoughts on tourney selection and pitching strategy......

kimmer

Redshirt
Jun 10, 2011
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Tourney selection: It is obvious that the committee did not consider conference tourney performance at all. No other way to explain numerous teams who stunk it up in their respective tournies and INCREASED their seedings (UF, LSU, FSU) while others (MSU) who shined there decreased their seeding.

Pitching strategy: Given our depth I am OK with whomever starts friday. My initial thought however is that we have to be able to beat the #3 seed with our #2. It would also give us the potential mental advantage of making FSU face our ace especially since they have HFA. Worked in the SECT where we saved Strat for LSU. Ultimately though, tournaments are wars of attrition. Depth of staff tends to win the day over a stud #1 or even #2 followed by duds thereafter and out of the pen.

We just have to stay hot. I was talking to a gamecock friend at church and fretting about who we would pitch on sunday to which he replied it didn't matter because we were hot and you know what, he was right!
 

CadaverDawg

Redshirt
Dec 5, 2011
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they were both obvious National seeds regardless of what happened in the tourneys. I'm also thinking we improved our seeding based on the conference tourney performance. If UK didn't even get to host despite making the SECT Semifinals, then we were likely a high #3 seed going in to the tournament, or maybe a low #2. As it stands, we are viewed as a high #2, but the committee didn't exactly treat us that way by putting us in FSU's Regional. Truth is, if we can go out and win our first two games, I wouldn't be a bit surprised to see Samford in the Regional finals instead of FSU. This Regional is probably one of the most balanced top to bottom, with no real SWAC-style pushover team. Hopefully UAB will knock off FSU and we can beat Samford, and then it won't matter as much who we pitched in that first game. If we can win our first two, I don't see anybody in the country being able to beat us two times in a row with their bullpens versus ours. But I may be wrong
 

kimmer

Redshirt
Jun 10, 2011
195
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They sure didn't give Samford any trouble this season. I guess that spectre of losing game 1 is what motivates coaches to pencil in their #1.

I hear you about the seedings but I still think we got the shaft. Of course FSU can say the same thing and maybe more so since they are a #3 NS having the SECT champ dropped in their regional.
 

patdog

Heisman
May 28, 2007
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Atmost it's only 1/10 of your season and usually it's less than that.