Baseball vs Texas A&M game 3

[AU64 10,122]

Well what was a nice 1-1 game into the fourth just got to be a problem n a big hurry.   

Elliott Anderson gave up a tater on his first pitch in the game...so all of a sudden it's 4-1 in favor of the aggies.😕

[tigerbrotha12 2,362]

We've got to be one of the worst teams in the country at getting runners home from 2nd and 3rd with less than 2 outs. We go up there hacking away and it seems like we always strike out and put ourselves in a position where we have to have a 2 out hit. I know it ain't easy, but our guys have got to be more focused at the plate. With a runner on third and one out, the absolute LAST thing you can do is strike out. Choke up and take something off your swing, bunt, do SOMETHING. Do ANYTHING but strike out. You absolutely can not do that, and we do it so often. We do it once a game I think. I have no numbers on this, but it sure does seem like a recurring issue. Frustrates me to no end. Rant over. 

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

What Auburn really needs is a real Sunday starter. Fitts will be great with a little more time but he should be pitching on Tuesday while learning the ropes. Great pitching would help so much that's going wrong right now.

[GwillMac6 20,671]

6 minutes ago, tigerbrotha12 said:

We've got to be one of the worst teams in the country at getting runners home from 2nd and 3rd with less than 2 outs. We go up there hacking away and it seems like we always strike out and put ourselves in a position where we have to have a 2 out hit. I know it ain't easy, but our guys have got to be more focused at the plate. With a runner on third and one out, the absolute LAST thing you can do is strike out. Choke up and take something off your swing, bunt, do SOMETHING. Do ANYTHING but strike out. You absolutely can not do that, and we do it so often. We do it once a game I think. I have no numbers on this, but it sure does seem like a recurring issue. Frustrates me to no end. Rant over. 

I REALLY do not want to head back to freaking Tally again for another regional. With how this season is going that is looking like what will end up happening. 

[tigerbrotha12 2,362]

Just now, GwillMac6 said:

I REALLY do not want to head back to freaking Tally again for another regional. With how this season is going that is looking like what will end up happening. 

I sincerely believe this team would have 3 or 4 more wins if they would hit a dern ground ball somewhere and get a run home when a runner is on third with less than 2 outs. That is one of the cornerstones of good baseball teams, because it is a relatively easy thing to do in terms of the game, but some teams do it well, and some teams are snake bitten with it. Shortening a swing, and focusing solely on making contact there will get a run home probably about 80% of the time. What will NOT do that is swinging at pitches that end of 4 feet outside, because you're amped up and wanna hit a double to clear the bases. I get that you're trying to have a big inning, but A&M had JUST had a big inning, and a run in that inning by us would not only have closed the gap, but thrown the momentum back towards the middle. Wait for a pitch you can just get some contact on. If it happens to fall, great. If not, you probably get a run. I'm so tired of our team not executing this simple baseball necessity. 

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

Auburn batters have hit some grounders in this series. But aTm pitchers have pitched Auburn pretty well. 

[SCTiger2011 1,277]

1 hour ago, GwillMac6 said:

I REALLY do not want to head back to freaking Tally again for another regional. With how this season is going that is looking like what will end up happening. 

FWIW, Florida State's doubtful to even make a regional this year, with zero chance of hosting.

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

Can Auburn get a 9th inning miracle? Please?

[SCTiger2011 1,277]

Got 1 out of 3 on the road.  Finish the first half with 8-7 winning conference record.  Gonna be full sunshine pumper for once.  The lack of transparency behind Davis and Jack's injuries has been frustrating though.  I know baseball arm injuries are finnicky but it went from "a couple weeks" to a lot more.

[AU64 10,122]

36 minutes ago, Tigerbelle said:

Auburn batters have hit some grounders in this series. But aTm pitchers have pitched Auburn pretty well. 

Mostly they struck out today....well,  during the last three or four innings anyay.....looked really bad at the plate. 

[tigeraddikt 1,608]

Wow, that home plate ump had somewhere to be. 

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

Just now, AU64 said:

Mostly they struck out today....well,  during the last three or four innings anyay.....looked really bad at the plate. 

They hit enough.....but JABA.....right at somebody, or carried foul by the wind. Auburn left plenty of runners on base.

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

1 minute ago, tigeraddikt said:

Wow, that home plate ump had somewhere to be. 

I missed what happened with Woley. Did he get ejected? I just heard something about him but it wasn't clear what went on.

[tigeraddikt 1,608]

1 minute ago, Tigerbelle said:

I missed what happened with Woley. Did he get ejected? I just heard something about him but it wasn't clear what went on.

I was just referring to the 9th inning strike zone being more than generous.

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

1 minute ago, tigeraddikt said:

I was just referring to the 9th inning strike zone being more than generous.

OK but did you see what happened?

[tigerbrotha12 2,362]

Offense has gotta step up. Guys need to look in the mirror or something, because pitching did fine. Well enough to win every game that series, and the offense just didn't have any success in the two losses. Gotta be better. At the end of the day, did what we needed to do getting one on the road. Still have a one game cushion in that aspect. Hopefully getting home for a series again will help this offense out. 

[mustache eagle 2,402]

We had 7 strikeouts in last 3 innings.

pitching was good enough this weekend to sweep.  Nothing Friday and one run today.  (Admittedly Friday was some bad luck) Auburn was significantly better 2 strike or 2 out or simply clutch hitting last year.  Our new guys have filled in for the guys that departed.  We just don’t seem to get the clutch things to happen right now.  We did at the beginning of season.

i absolutely think we can turn it around.  Just wish it’d start now.

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

4 minutes ago, mustache eagle said:

We had 7 strikeouts in last 3 innings.

pitching was good enough this weekend to sweep.  Nothing Friday and one run today.  (Admittedly Friday was some bad luck) Auburn was significantly better 2 strike or 2 out or simply clutch hitting last year.  Our new guys have filled in for the guys that departed.  We just don’t seem to get the clutch things to happen right now.  We did at the beginning of season.

i absolutely think we can turn it around.  Just wish it’d start now.

AU had a drought last season too. Then 2 out hitting became a thing later on. But it was not there all season and we left plenty of runners on base. 

I thought Brooks Fuller did the best job on the mound this weekend. Today's pitching was just OK for me, and Tanner Burns was pretty good although he has been better. We really need our 2 guys back. 

[GwillMac6 20,671]

58 minutes ago, SCTiger2011 said:

FWIW, Florida State's doubtful to even make a regional this year, with zero chance of hosting.

THIS IS AMAZING NEWS!!! THanks! Really needed to hear this. 

[autigeremt 6,609]

Until we hit better RISP we won’t gain a lot of momentum. Hoping as the pitching returns the bats do likewise. 

[au302 2,669]

I think this team could be scary come post season time if we can get everyone healthy and get the bats going, question is can we find a way to get 7-9 more wins in the second half to seal a spot before DD and Owen get back. In regards to the frustrating offense, how much of the blame falls on Gabe Gross? I feel that with the talent in this lineup this is not acceptable, frustrating to see us have RISP and not get them in. I know Gabe is AU all the way and awesome guy but I wonder if we can upgrade at hitting coach

[AU64 10,122]

8 hours ago, au302 said:

I know Gabe is AU all the way and awesome guy but I wonder if we can upgrade at hitting coach

Agree....there are players and there are coaches...and players do not always make good coaches.   Whether it is hitting or coaching 3rd....I worry about Gabe....

[Mikey 16,588]

9 hours ago, au302 said:

I know Gabe is AU all the way and awesome guy but I wonder if we can upgrade at hitting coach

I don't really know. There was a marked improvement the first year that he took over. Now, it's lookin' "not so hot". The downside of hiring a legacy to coach is it can be difficult to move on if/when it doesn't work out.

[Gowebb11 9,320]

I pulled up the SEC stats on ESPN and AU is next to last in the SEC West in almost every offensive category, ahead of only Bama. What troubles me the most is the amount of non-competitive at bats. And that was a trend last year at this time. We really need a good offensive showing in the mid week game, and carry some momentum into the weekend. 

[tigerbrotha12 2,362]

14 hours ago, au302 said:

I think this team could be scary come post season time if we can get everyone healthy and get the bats going, question is can we find a way to get 7-9 more wins in the second half to seal a spot before DD and Owen get back. In regards to the frustrating offense, how much of the blame falls on Gabe Gross? I feel that with the talent in this lineup this is not acceptable, frustrating to see us have RISP and not get them in. I know Gabe is AU all the way and awesome guy but I wonder if we can upgrade at hitting coach

We'll be in postseason fairly easily. Even by getting only one game in each of our remaining sec series, we would be 14-16 in the SEC, and would probably have about 30 wins overall. We would be on the bubble going into the SEC tournament in that regard, but that is just to illustrate that we are in a fine spot. Really, I'm more worried about trying to get hot, and go on a run to where we could put ourselves in a position to host. We still have a home series against Ole Miss, who limps here after getting the series stolen away from the by Kentucky in their own park, and Alabama who beat us, yes, but is a bottom half of the league team (even though they still are a good club, they don't win many SEC games). We also get Georgia at home, which is very helpful, especially considering Daniel and Owen should both be back by then. We certainly have an opportunity to host in front of us. If we can rattle off a few wins over the likes of Ole Miss, UGA, Vandy, LSU, etc., we'll be in a really good spot to host. 

In reality, I think we'll end up somewhere in between as a two seed somewhere close to home, but the fact that we'll get DD and JO back and will have been through muderer's row in the SEC? That's going to make us a really good team in the tournament. Still lots of season left, but we do need to start doing a little something now....