re: Starting Poche was the correct decision, even in hindsight

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The point is, you play your best player at every positions every game in an effort not to go AT ALL into the losers bracket!

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Yep.

Even announcers said winning game 1 is "crucial" nowadays.

You play to win the game. Which means pitch Lange in this spot.

The offense is really stinking it up lately so throw your best arms right off the bat.

I agree! LSU's mentality going in to the CWS had to be a little suspect b/c they weren't starting their best pitcher. WTF? I just don't get it. Playing not to lose is never a good thing. If it had worked out you look like a genius. LSU's issue is the hitters - they need to step up. It's been their problem recently in CWS. We'll see. Keep the faith - at least for another few days.
Geaux Tigers!

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Starting Poche was the correct decision, even in hindsight

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That was the critical failure. He needed to make the change before it became 6-1. IMO it shows a lack of confidence in our bullpen which has not been needed to any great degree since the NCAA tournament (regionals, supers, etc) began. The BP when called upon yesterday stunk. They danced around a 'wide' K zone and lacked confidence. Come right at these guys. We don't have any BP flame-throwers so you have to pitch smartly, to contact and your defense must play well. Sadly we played bad BB yesterday, just bad BB. Pitching and E's did us in. It will take a TEAM effort to advance in this CWS. We need to come ready to play on Tues - pitching, hitting & defense - and let everyone know we are not out of this tournament. GT!

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Not true. Sorry. You pitch your freaking ACE

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This is right and I said it as soon as I heard the decision not to pitch our ACE game 1. Game 1 is the most important game of the series. You take your best shot at game one. How many times have you ever seen a major league team not pitch their ace the first game of a playoff series when they are able to set their rotation? And pitching your ACE early gives you a better chance of bringing him back later. In this case we have a guy with a sub 2 ERA. The chances of winning when your offense produces only 3 runs is much greater. We have seen this throughout the season. You don't think TCU was that much more pumped when they saw they would not face Lange. You don't play for game 2 in a double elimination tournament. CPM was wrong and it sends the wrong message to your players and your number 1 pitcher. Oh and can we please stop making the third out at the plate. Another fundamental rule that CPM and this staff doesn't seem to care about.

Poche was mowing them down. I don't know why he had that brain fart on the throws to first but after that it was a mental thing.

We are lucky to have pitchers as good as Poche and Lange.

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Which just happen to be the reason he was started. Experience + lefty vs heavy lefty lineup.... not hard to understand why he went with Poche....

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+1

After having some time to think about it, starting Poche was the right call. Poche had been pitching very well, was more experienced, and was a left hander going against a mostly left handed lineup. If you're Manieri, wouldn't you start that guy over a true freshman right hander, no matter how good he is? He made the right decision based on recent performance, matchups, and game experience.

Let's not forget that prior to the two errors, Poche was absolutely painting the corners. He had his fastball and curve working to perfection. The errors completely fricked him up and changed the whole game.

The blunder on Manieri's part was leaving him in after he 4-pitch walked and hit batters. There was no reason that he should have been in the game. He couldn't throw strikes anymore. He stayed in probably 3-4 batters too long, and by then the game was over. I'll never understand why he leaves pitchers in so long while they are getting lit up, without so much as even a mound visit.

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Pitch your best guy

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Normally true, but not yesterday. Our team just isn't good enough to beat a team as good as TCU, so why waste anyone? At least with our best pitcher still available, we have a theoretical chance to win a game in the loser's bracket before we go home so we may finally be able say we've won a game in TD Ameritrade.

Over/under on 2020 as the next year that LSU finishes the NCAA tournament as highly as it is seeded. Do we finally break through and finish where our seeding says we should? Does the committee finally get wise and start seeding us where we belong? Or do we keep falling short of our seeding in perpetuity?

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Because a best-of-7 series is exactly the same as a 4-team double elimination bracket... you have to win both of the first two to gain any real advantage. If we win tomorrow with Lange, we're still in the same spot as if we'd beaten TCU with Lange and lost tomorrow with Poche. CPM pitched the two in the order that gave us the best chance to win both. Starting Poche was the right call, even though it didn't work out. Now leaving him in that long, that's another story.

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100% correct.

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Because a best-of-7 series is exactly the same as a 4-team double elimination bracket... you have to win both of the first two to gain any real advantage. If we win tomorrow with Lange, we're still in the same spot as if we'd beaten TCU with Lange and lost tomorrow with Poche. CPM pitched the two in the order that gave us the best chance to win both. Starting Poche was the right call, even though it didn't work out. Now leaving him in that long, that's another story.

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No, you're not, because Lange could come back quicker than Pouche. Instead, your #2 is ready to go again instead of your #1. That's just stupid.