re: Somebody’s gonna have to beat Tennessee in the Supers

I can absolutely see them losing in Omaha. Cavernous park compared to that band box they play in .Normal Home runs in their park will die on the warning track in TD Ameritrade. However, they do have solid pitching also . That being said, Remember UCLA beating us with nobody on their roster hitting over 275. We ran into some really good pitchers those few days who were on their game. Baseball is funny that way. 1 dominant pitcher (having a great day) can overwhelm 9 great offense players on any given day.

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I can absolutely see them losing in Omaha. Cavernous park compared to that band box they play in .Normal Home runs in their park will die on the warning track in TD Ameritrade. However, they do have solid pitching also

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1) I never said I couldn’t see them losing in Omaha. I guess what I said was, it’s really hard for me to see them losing TWICE in Omaha. Or 3 times, depending on circumstances,

2) SOLID pitching? Solid? They lead Division 1 in ERA at 2.37. 2.37. #2 was Southern Miss at 3.06. That’s almost a .7 runs/game difference. That’s huge. #3 is Northeastern. Yes, Northeastern. Who the frick are they? You don’t know? Me and the rest of the world either. But their team ERA is 3.46. So the difference between Tennessee’s team ERA and #3 that nobody’s ever heard of is almost 1.1 runs/game. In ALL of Division 1. With most of those games—or at the very least, EXACTLY the same amount as their offense—played in “that band box” you refer to. What might their opponents’ offenses do in “cavernous TD Ameritrade?”

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That being said, Remember UCLA beating us with nobody on their roster hitting over 275. We ran into some really good pitchers those few days who were on their game

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In 2010, when they beat us in the Supers with Trevor Bauer and Garret Cole on their staff? That’s exactly what this thread is about—that being the kind of team in the kind of format that can beat them. If you mean 2013 in the CWS, well that’s ONE game. And our ‘13 team, as good as they were, had nowhere near the power of this year’s Tennessee team.

You bastards have made such terrible arguments it’s made me—painfully—have to suck these cocksuckers off. I do not like them. I do not want them to win. Bigly, I don’t. But…

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Like I said, we saw a hint in Hoover. LSU didn't throw an "ace" by any means against them, was missing a couple KEY bats, and still had some less-than-stellar defensive plays. But we hung around.

You put them against a pitcher who is mowing them down, inducing a lot of warning-track fly outs, and the defense not giving a couple runs up that didn't need to happen, let's see what their pitchers do in that game. Let's see what happens when they're tied or down going into the 8th.

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You touch on one of the advantages I think we—more than any team—still have over them. Those uniforms we wear still have “LSU” written across them. And theirs still have “Tennessee.” I don’t care how much swag they have, how many fur coats, how many hot girls in the stands wearing “Daddy” hats(which is pretty awesome btw). Or how long it’s been since we were the “Daddy” of college baseball. If it gets down to nut-cutting time, even if it’s subconscious, they know deep down they’ve never done anything and find a way to lose while we have done and won everything and can find a way to win.

The uniforms matter. The fans matter. The histories matter. The legacies do matter. But only if we can narrow the talent gap. I truly believe the things I just mentioned can almost magically raise the level of confidence and play of our guys. The brush of the buttons of the white “LSU” jerseys across their chests can help them believe. The magic of the “championship golds” can make them transform, to “level up” as the kids say. And induce doubt. But only if the gap shrinks. We need “Dugas” to level up. Need the “good” Jobert to show up. The 5-5 Pearson to hit 2nd. But mainly we need just plain old Cade Doughty penciled in somewhere 3-5. And we have to have Jacob Berry hitting 3rd or 4th. Just his being in the lineup—even if he’s hitting righty vs. righty—makes us sooooo much better. And we’ve mainly just talked about him coming back period, but not really whether he can hit left-handed or not.

But Jacob Berry hitting left-handed against a right-handed pitcher is, I think, the biggest offensive matchup advantage in the sport. And we’ve really kinda downplayed that somehow. We talk about missing him, but not missing him specifically hitting left-handed. Maybe Jay is playing the long game. We may be who we’ve been the last few weeks. But we could get more better (?) faster than any team going into the postseason and narrow that gap more than any other team. Combine that with the potential magic in our purple and gold, and I would love for our guys to get a shot at those Dreamcycle fricks. But that’s a lot of “if”s and “but”s. I still think Tennessee is a huge favorite against the entire field. But I’d love to watch our guys get a chance somewhere along the way. The ghost of Zeph Zinsman could make all the difference, and the corpse of Paul Byrd could bring it all home.

Tenn is more likely to lose in Omaha than at home in a Regional or Super.

I’m old, you bastard, and that’s been 12 years. But Trevor Bauer did shove one game one year in one tournament. If that’s all I got right, I’ll take it.


But my main point still stands, goddamnit. That, I do not concede.

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Tenn is more likely to lose in Omaha than at home in a Regional or Super.

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I mean, it’s easy to say they’re more likely to not win an 8-team tournament on a neutral field against the 7 other hottest teams in college baseball than a 4 team tournament with 2 of the 4 being crap teams and a 2 team tournament with both being played in Knoxville. Sure, I get that. I’m strictly talking about their historic depth on both sides of the ball.

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I don't think Tennessee loses at home, period. You put the CWS in Knoxville, I think they would roll through undefeated. Because they are that good, and they're built to own that type of field. Both factors.

Re Omaha, they're built to get there, but I wouldn't say built to win it. Aces? Yes. Other teams will have theirs, too. Offense? We'll have to see. It's a big park, they won't be hitting HRs at the same pace. Will their batters be able to adjust and hit line drives instead, will they be able to advance runners and score on outs? They haven't had to do that much this year. That's a tough adjustment to make in a week, after being so successful the other style.

If I absolutely had to put money on it, I think they sweep into Omaha, and then go 2-2. Their first loss will be a lot of loud outs, their second (last) loss will be a tight game where they get more hits, but don't run the bases as well as their opponent.