Hogs vs Miss. State——Baseball

[hit_that_line]

I was right as usual. We peaked early.

[DrMongoose]

I am old but I remember when taking a third strike with your bat on your shoulder was shameful and embarrassing

Frick, I was a horrible hitter but by golly I went down swinging.

[TC]

How can you spell his name wrong at this point?  He's not exactly a new coach.

Judas.

Man you sure got me there.

And I was right.

[DirkPiggler]

Today I learned that TulsaPerv is the guy who puts the K stickers up after our pitchers strike someone out. 

Not exactly sure how to process that, but I think it was more disturbing to me than the team's performance. 

All of a sudden I want to see less and more pitching to contact.

[Son of Spam]

So I guess Wood didn't take anyone's job?

[Feral]

DVH sounded extremely pissed in postgame, especially at Tygart. Basically hinted (again) at his frustration with both Tygart and Molina's inability to throw strikes.

Honestly, I think this one's on DVH. He should've altered the rotation instead of running it back after a good practice, plus the head-scratching lineup of Diggs (at leadoff!), Lovich, and Souza (another 0-3 with 2 K's), and leaving Bybee in way too long, which was ultimately the difference in the game.

If you're going to tinker with your rotation, do it sooner rather than later to get an adequate sample and size see how the new starters do as well as how your former starters respond coming out of the pen.

DVH also needs to try to settle on some semblance of a lineup, which has been a revolving door all season at DH, LF, and CF and therefore hasn't allowed anyone to get into a rhythm. I like Helfrick, who is coming into his own as a freshman, hits the piss out of the ball, and is way more disciplined at the plate than Souza.  I don't know who you put at LF but I'd be okay with giving Jones a shot there due to his power and his defense. We need to stop wasting a Friday night lineup spot on Wilmsmeyer just to watch him go 0-2 with 2 K's and get pinch hit for late in the game. 

[Feral]

Back to Souza for a sec.

I think we're overlooking just how bad of a slump he's in, as well as how undisciplined he is at the plate.

Since the Ole Miss series, he's 3-34 (.088) in SEC games. I lost count of the strikeouts in that span, but believe it's 15 or 16.

In SEC games for the season, he's tied for 3rd on the team with 25 strikeouts. Here's the problem - he's doing so with 40 fewer AB's than the other guys.

Here are the top strikeout guys as well as their AB's:

Diggs - 31 strikeouts (101 AB)
Aloy - 26 strikeouts (103 AB)
Stovall - 25 strikeouts (108 AB)
Souza - 25 strikeouts (65 AB)

He also only has 7 walks, whereas Helfrick has 4 in only a third of the AB's. Hell, Lovich has one more walk than Souza in half the AB's.

I don't know what you do. Maybe shut him down like we did Stovall in 2022 and hope he turns it on in the postseason like Peyton did. But he's quietly an automatic out and has become very easy to pitch to because he'll swing at anything.

[buff2.0]

DVH sounded extremely pissed in postgame, especially at Tygart. Basically hinted (again) at his frustration with both Tygart and Molina's inability to throw strikes.

How long do you have to watch your pitchers throw everything but strikes before you start to think... maybe the players aren't the problem?  It's been a problem for us for years now and it always seems worse in the post-season after teams have a full season of game tape on us. 

[Thin Red Swine]

Man you sure got me there.

And I was right.

It's called respect.

And he's been right WAY more than wrong. I place a lot of the responsibility on his lieutenants who aren't getting the best out of several guys.

[Pig Benis]

Back to Souza for a sec.

I think we're overlooking just how bad of a slump he's in, as well as how undisciplined he is at the plate.

Since the Ole Miss series, he's 3-34 (.088) in SEC games. I lost count of the strikeouts in that span, but believe it's 15 or 16.

In SEC games for the season, he's tied for 3rd on the team with 25 strikeouts. Here's the problem - he's doing so with 40 fewer AB's than the other guys.

Here are the top strikeout guys as well as their AB's:

Diggs - 31 strikeouts (101 AB)
Aloy - 26 strikeouts (103 AB)
Stovall - 25 strikeouts (108 AB)
Souza - 25 strikeouts (65 AB)

He also only has 7 walks, whereas Helfrick has 4 in only a third of the AB's. Hell, Lovich has one more walk than Souza in half the AB's.

I don't know what you do. Maybe shut him down like we did Stovall in 2022 and hope he turns it on in the postseason like Peyton did. But he's quietly an automatic out and has become very easy to pitch to because he'll swing at anything.

That's eye opening. Didn't realize how bad Souza has been. Seems like we pretty much have to DH Helfrick and let White catch every game, or vice versa.

Jayson Jones being a total bust in LF has been a killer.

[DrMongoose]

Our base running is meh at best, several times guys should have advanced on throws and did not.

Anyone want 2 tix for today?

[Spiderham]

So to summarize the Woopig group think:

We should fire the hitting coach
We should probably fire the pitching coach or he should thank his lucky stars for Hagen Smith being born. 
Souza should sit as he's an automatic out. 
Wilmsmeyer should sit as he's an automatic out. 
Diggs should sit as he's an automatic out especially with runners on after he watches the first two pitches go right down the middle only to come out of his shoes an a pitch in the dirt/in his eyes/a foot outside. 
Our baserunning is shit. 
Our starters not named Hagen Smith are shit. 
Wood should start. 
McEntire should only pitch in one game during the weekend because he gets rocked the second time a team sees him. 
We should swing on those early pitches that are right down the middle.
We should work the count and get the pitch count up   

Send it up there to DVH!😀

 

[CardHog]

Yet somehow we're ranked in the top 5.

[FNG]

So to summarize the Woopig group think:

We should fire the hitting coach
We should probably fire the pitching coach or he should thank his lucky stars for Hagen Smith being born.
Souza should sit as he's an automatic out.
Wilmsmeyer should sit as he's an automatic out.
Diggs should sit as he's an automatic out especially with runners on after he watches the first two pitches go right down the middle only to come out of his shoes an a pitch in the dirt/in his eyes/a foot outside.
Our baserunning is shit.
Our starters not named Hagen Smith are shit.
Wood should start.
McEntire should only pitch in one game during the weekend because he gets rocked the second time a team sees him.
We should swing on those early pitches that are right down the middle.
We should work the count and get the pitch count up 

Send it up there to DVH!😀

 

I took the liberty of forwarding this post to DVH and was surprised to receive the following prompt reply:

Dear Woopiggas,

    Please accept my humble gratitude for gifting me with this treasure trove of baseball acumen and know that I have set to work immediately implementing these remarkable strategies.

    Judging by the wails of his wife and daughters coming from Coach Thompson's office, it appears he has already received his notice of dismissal.

    Coach Hobbs is busy assembling a shrine to Hagen Smith whereupon he will burn the uniforms of Souza, Wilmsmeyer and Diggs as a sacrificial offering.

    The team is currently running base stealing drills. As an incentive to hustle, any base runner tagged "out" will be required to relinquish one of his gold necklaces.

    Gage Wood is in the process of moving all of his equipment into the locker formerly occupied by Brady Tygart. Tygart's new locker is located in the visitors locker room.

    Going forward, Will McEntire will receive a sealed envelope on the night prior to each series informing him of which inning and which game he will be allowed access into the ball park. On that particular day, he is to remain in contact by walky-talky and stay "warmed up" at the softball field until summoned.

    Any batter not swinging on a strike (regardless of call sign) or striking out before seeing a minimum of 5 pitches will be fined one gold necklace.

    Again, many thanks for this wisdom and guidance. As a symbol of gratitude and at my request, the U of A Board of Trustees have agreed to rename the baseball facilities to Woopig Stadium at Rick B. Field.

    Warmest Regards,

    Dave

[Barton Fink]

Well done.

[Thin Red Swine]

I took the liberty of forwarding this post to DVH and was surprised to receive the following prompt reply:

Dear Woopiggas,

    Please accept my humble gratitude for gifting me with this treasure trove of baseball acumen and know that I have set to work immediately implementing these remarkable strategies.

    Judging by the wails of his wife and daughters coming from Coach Thompson's office, it appears he has already received his notice of dismissal.

    Coach Hobbs is busy assembling a shrine to Hagen Smith whereupon he will burn the uniforms of Souza, Wilmsmeyer and Diggs as a sacrificial offering.

    The team is currently running base stealing drills. As an incentive to hustle, any base runner tagged "out" will be required to relinquish one of his gold necklaces.

    Gage Wood is in the process of moving all of his equipment into the locker formerly occupied by Brady Tygart. Tygart's new locker is located in the visitors locker room.

    Going forward, Will McEntire will receive a sealed envelope on the night prior to each series informing him of which inning and which game he will be allowed access into the ball park. On that particular day, he is to remain in contact by walky-talky and stay "warmed up" at the softball field until summoned.

    Any batter not swinging on a strike (regardless of call sign) or striking out before seeing a minimum of 5 pitches will be fined one gold necklace.

    Again, many thanks for this wisdom and guidance. As a symbol of gratitude and at my request, the U of A Board of Trustees have agreed to rename the baseball facilities to Woopig Stadium at Rick B. Field.

    Warmest Regards,

    Dave

You mean he didn't also get Heresyourcheck to pay all our dues for life?

[Pig Benis]

I took the liberty of forwarding this post to DVH and was surprised to receive the following prompt reply:

Dear Woopiggas,

    Please accept my humble gratitude for gifting me with this treasure trove of baseball acumen and know that I have set to work immediately implementing these remarkable strategies.

    Judging by the wails of his wife and daughters coming from Coach Thompson's office, it appears he has already received his notice of dismissal.

    Coach Hobbs is busy assembling a shrine to Hagen Smith whereupon he will burn the uniforms of Souza, Wilmsmeyer and Diggs as a sacrificial offering.

    The team is currently running base stealing drills. As an incentive to hustle, any base runner tagged "out" will be required to relinquish one of his gold necklaces.

    Gage Wood is in the process of moving all of his equipment into the locker formerly occupied by Brady Tygart. Tygart's new locker is located in the visitors locker room.

    Going forward, Will McEntire will receive a sealed envelope on the night prior to each series informing him of which inning and which game he will be allowed access into the ball park. On that particular day, he is to remain in contact by walky-talky and stay "warmed up" at the softball field until summoned.

    Any batter not swinging on a strike (regardless of call sign) or striking out before seeing a minimum of 5 pitches will be fined one gold necklace.

    Again, many thanks for this wisdom and guidance. As a symbol of gratitude and at my request, the U of A Board of Trustees have agreed to rename the baseball facilities to Woopig Stadium at Rick B. Field.

    Warmest Regards,

    Dave

Worth the dues 👍🏻

[Gambler]

Diggs goes from leadoff to 8th in batting order.

[Guardrail]

Florida LF just earned himself a blanket party. Ouch.

[Feral]

Molina sucks.

Second day in a row our starter won't make it to the 3rd inning.

Edit - and there's the hook from DVH. 1.0 IP, didn't even get an out in the 2nd.