A Sea Of Red

I thought this was the most complete series this team has played this year. It will be tough sledding without Horn, but I've been pleasantly surprised with the production at the plate. Dye has been stellar and the foundation for the future looks solid.

We just lost 9-4 at home against #9 Duke. Offense continued to look great, only 1 batter didn't get a hit. On the other hand our pitchers gave this game away between 9 walks, 4 hit batters and 2 wild pitches. I get that strikeouts are sexy but i would it much less frustrating if we had guy pounding the strike zone and getting hit hard over games like this.

Nobody tell the programs with NIL money about Macaddin Dye. Thank you!

Not much to see here. Tough to beat an overall better team with a bullpen game when the bullpen is a question mark.

We got a nice come from behind win in game 1 of our series with NMSU this weekend. This team is playing good baseball right now. Dallas Baptist lost game one of their series with western kentucky which puts us in sole possession of first place. It's worth mentioning that our last two series of the season are against the top two teams in the conference (DBU and Louisiana tech) so it would be nice to sweep or win 5 of 6 against NMSU and Jacksonville state next weekend to provide some wiggle room to lose a series later in conference play.

We win the series today. So we are 7-1 in conference play. We are playing outstanding weekend baseball the last few weeks. This is great.

Getting great hitting top-to-bottom. Seven homers today taking advantage of the winds in Las Cruces blowing out to right.
We run-ruled them in 7 innings, 15-5.

A lot of baseball (and softball) still to be played, but at the moment it looks like the negativity expressed here was misplaced. Men and women are both leading the conference.

Maybe I missed this but does anyone know what Horn's status is?

Chippy wrote:Maybe I missed this but does anyone know what Horn's status is?

He's likely done for the year.

Still, it's nice to come away with another conference series win. Shame to not hold on and earn the sweep, but the bats have come alive and the Flames are currently one game up on DBU atop the conference standings. There's obviously plenty left to play for this year, but I think I'm most excited for the core that will (or should..) be returning for next year.

We allowed 14 walks and a hit by pitch today against VT. Three pitchers couldn't even record an out. How does a D1 bullpen have this many issues finding the strike zone?

Ill flame wrote:We allowed 14 walks and a hit by pitch today against VT. Three pitchers couldn't even record an out. How does a D1 bullpen have this many issues finding the strike zone?

We're just not going to win staff days right now, unfortunately. Starters will need to eat some innings in the conference tourney or it will be tough sledding.

This weekend is a big series on the road against a WKU team near the top of the conference standings. If we leave Bowling Green with two wins on Sunday, I'll be thrilled. With DBU and LaTech still left on the conference slate, winning this series would be a significant step toward securing a comfortable seed for the tournament.

Lost first two games of the series. We have to win tomorrow to retake 1st place.

Any of you LU Texans planning to make it to DBU this weekend?

I wish. DBU is a bit of a haul even from my location that is referred to as South Dallas by my friends in Houston.

Soooooo, is it time to get a new head coach or what?






Just wondering.

cruzan_flame13 wrote: ↑May 11th, 2024, 9:26 pm Soooooo, is it time to get a new head coach or what?






Just wondering.

Jackson has certainly done a tremendous amount for this program so I personally believe he’s earned next year to fix this.

With that being said our win total and on field product have been steadily declining for a few years now. And this years record of 3-21 against quad 1 and 2 teams is eye opening to say the least. I understand that we are in a tougher conference this year but we were bad last year too and we had multiple seasons where we routinely beat ACC teams but not this year at all so the tougher conference isn’t causing this decline.

This is very concerning.

He should get one more year to get the program back on track. Our lineup has been good all year and most of them will be returning barring transfers. The pitching staff has been the problem but we went out last summer and hired the best mid major pitching coach on the market. There's no reason to believe our pitching staff won't be a strength soon once he brings his guys in.

The Jackson to the hot seat stuff is almost as ridiculous as the McKay on the hot seat stuff.

Pitching is definitely and obviously, our weak spot. Our lineup is really good and young. The youth is where the mental mistakes have occurred. I'm sure, if we don't lose any or much to the portal and the draft, our lineup will be that much more potent. Hopefully, we can improve in the Arms dDepartment.

I'm probably late to the party on the injury front, but I assume Horn and Hillier are both out for the season?

Interesting. At the beginning of the season I stated similar things about Jackson as some people are doing right now. People were scrutinizing me as if they want to decapitate me. As I said before, I have watched the teams for years and Jackson constantly make poor in-game decisions that cost the team some wins. Bad decisions not worthy of a D1 program is this program is to compete nationally. Jackson had an assistant coach that helped the team became the second best defensive team in the nation. He also had a pitching coach that recruited good pitchers and prepared those pitchers well. Give a lot of credits to those assistant coaches that are no longer in this program. The program may need a new person incharge to help raise level.

ECC29 wrote: ↑May 12th, 2024, 3:14 pm Interesting. At the beginning of the season I stated similar things about Jackson as some people are doing right now. People were scrutinizing me as if they want to decapitate me. As I said before, I have watched the teams for years and Jackson constantly make poor in-game decisions that cost the team some wins. Bad decisions not worthy of a D1 program is this program is to compete nationally. Jackson had an assistant coach that helped the team became the second best defensive team in the nation. He also had a pitching coach that recruited good pitchers and prepared those pitchers well. Give a lot of credits to those assistant coaches that are no longer in this program. The program may need a new person incharge to help raise level.

There are clearly issues but I just think he’s done enough to be here next year and fix this. However if we have a .125 winning percentage next year against quad 1 and 2 teams then there should be a different discussion.

I want to give him a benefit of the doubt because the pitching was devastated by injuries. The team is young pitching and hitting plus we got one of the best pitching coaches that just started so we have to see what guys he brings in.

It's worth noting that about a half dozen players were removed from the team for off-the-field reasons last year, many of whom were starters or would have played key roles this year. It's been an underwhelming year for sure and has felt like a shame to waste a solid lineup, but I think the team has punched above their weight in light of the staff turnover (unavoidable as a mid-major), aforementioned roster losses, and Horn's injury.

It's obvious that the team is lacking in pitching depth considering there still isn't a clear #3 starter behind Hertzler and Moran. Robinson had less than an offseason to recruit, but has a pretty awesome track record and I feel good that this offseason will bring about a significant step forward on the mound.

I think calling for a coaching change is premature.

LUOrange wrote: ↑May 12th, 2024, 11:53 am The Jackson to the hot seat stuff is almost as ridiculous as the McKay on the hot seat stuff.

Pitching is definitely and obviously, our weak spot. Our lineup is really good and young. The youth is where the mental mistakes have occurred. I'm sure, if we don't lose any or much to the portal and the draft, our lineup will be that much more potent. Hopefully, we can improve in the Arms dDepartment.

I'm probably late to the party on the injury front, but I assume Horn and Hillier are both out for the season?

Yeah, Horn was a UCL and I believe Hillier is also shut down.

AATL wrote: ↑May 13th, 2024, 8:57 am

LUOrange wrote: ↑May 12th, 2024, 11:53 am The Jackson to the hot seat stuff is almost as ridiculous as the McKay on the hot seat stuff.

Pitching is definitely and obviously, our weak spot. Our lineup is really good and young. The youth is where the mental mistakes have occurred. I'm sure, if we don't lose any or much to the portal and the draft, our lineup will be that much more potent. Hopefully, we can improve in the Arms dDepartment.

I'm probably late to the party on the injury front, but I assume Horn and Hillier are both out for the season?

Yeah, Horn was a UCL and I believe Hillier is also shut down.

Losing Horn speaks for itself. Hillier's catching D is definitely noticeable as well. Dye is a good player, who will be great, especially when you consider that he should be playing his senior year in high school. But Three is just better behind the plate and can actually throw runners out. Dye will get there though.