Softball vs Ole Miss Series

[TD1 225]

Packer is back and starting in Game 2

[AU1947 157]

We have 1 player hitting over .300! That is awful! And I would not bet on not loosing 1 to 2 pitchers to the portal that want to win. I have heard we are loosing some starters at positions too. It is truly sad that we went from going to the WS and now dead last in the SEC.....

[TigerPAC 959]

With all the unrest, just curious...where does coach stand in his contract?  We seem to love to pay coaches to go away.  

[swimmama 45]

Oh brother. This is sad. This is embarrassing. 

[Jad0003 404]

I love this program, but this game is hard to watch. 

Dean needs to find a new hitting coach. If not, I imagine he’ll be gone next year because I don’t see the team improving with Lenti. 

Edited April 25, 2021 by Jad0003

[AU1947 157]

11 minutes ago, Jad0003 said:

I love this program, but this game is hard to watch. 

Dean needs to find a new hitting coach. If not, I imagine he’ll be gone next year because I don’t see the team improving with Lenti. 

Nothing will change and I am afraid we are stuck...

[blakem 296]

You think this year is bad....... Wait till our pitchers decide to leave next year.

[Jad0003 404]

I don’t think Dean will be fired after this year, but if this team becomes a dumpster fire, Allen Greene has already made some changes this year.

[steeleagle 2,945]

11 minutes ago, Jad0003 said:

I don’t think Dean will be fired after this year, but if this team becomes a dumpster fire, Allen Greene has already made some changes this year.

I don’t either. 
he’s bringing in another top class w emphasis on power and hitters. But their hitting approach is going to need a different coach it seems to work w this new group coming in. 

[Jad0003 404]

1 minute ago, steeleagle said:

I don’t either. 
he’s bringing in another top class w emphasis on power and hitters. But their hitting approach is going to need a different coach it seems to work w this new group coming in. 

A new approach is definitely needed. It has to be tough as a player going from bunting to swinging away to moving runners every single at bat. Dean also puts a lot of pressure on hitters because he pinch hits or pinch runs or replaces them outright every time they mess up.

I will say I enjoyed watching Penta throw tonight. She gets so excited every time she gets a strikeout. She seems to have gotten spooked this year because she added a face mask and jumps every hard hit.

I really hope we can keep Lowe and Penta. They are fun to watch, and they normally take a big step forward from freshman to sophomore year. 

[tigersrock1980 17]

Maybe they will leave CMD in Oxford. He’s clueless and doesn’t deserve to be on the bus.  

[Mikey 16,550]

I've been trying to find an adjective to describe watching this team and what I came up with is "annoying". Some of it's on the players, some on in-game coaching decisions, some on overall coaching but watching them isn't any fun. Watching them is annoying.

I've been following AU softball to some extent for a long time. Back when you had to go to the ballpark to see Tina Deese's teams it wasn't this bad. They didn't win a lot, but they were enjoyable to watch. A fan could understand the whys and wherefores and enjoy a trip to the game. This team is not enjoyable to watch.

Thinking if Dean can hold the team together and bring in a great class he deserves another year. If he can't accomplish these things it's time for a change.

[steeleagle 2,945]

14 hours ago, AU1947 said:

We have 1 player hitting over .300! That is awful! And I would not bet on not loosing 1 to 2 pitchers to the portal that want to win. I have heard we are loosing some starters at positions too. It is truly sad that we went from going to the WS and now dead last in the SEC.....

Actually 2 are over .300, Packer the freshman and King, the transfer. That's not who we exacted to lead this team. As a matter of fact I'm not sure we have any leaders, but some who watch the games can address that part of it.

But Your point is true, we don't have enough hitters, especially gap or power hitters. We've got to be last in extra base hits, and surely HRs. We definitely miss Tannon Snow's power bat.

The approach these hitters have learned are not working. What puzzles me is that we started to drop in hitting even in Meyers last year, and since Dean has been coach, we have steadily done worse. And he has what had 2 or 3 hitting coaches in his 4 years here?

At first I thought it was youth he was putting in the lineup that struggled when we got to the SEC, but even late into the season, seasoned vets AND those young ladies that took over positions are still struggling at the plate.

Something needs to change going into next year. I feel it's going to be the assistant coach first. Then if we still struggle the year after next, it's going to be Dean.

[steeleagle 2,945]

On 4/24/2021 at 7:53 AM, slot canyon said:

Agree with saminbama.  Feel sorry for Shelby.  Gets credited with a loss because of lack of offense. She deserves better.   

Speaking of offense, I noticed that our team has only gotten 92 bases on balls in games. That is 50 less than the next SEC team. That is shocking. 

So is that bc teams feel they can come at our hitters w/o any problem or are our batters so undisciplined at the plate and are taught to be aggressive regardless of the situation or count? In other words, coaching again.

[AUBwins 10,064]

12 minutes ago, steeleagle said:

But Your point is true, we don't have enough hitters, especially gap or power hitters. We've got to be last in extra base hits, and surely HRs. We definitely miss Tannon Snow's power bat.

This especially.  Heck, true slap hitters are usually able to find the gaps.  Really miss Taylon for batting consistency as well.  Without extra base hits, scoring is just extremely limited and difficult to produce.  Thinking further, I guess I can understand some why Dean runs in not ideal positions.  His hitters are not threatening out of the infield enough.  

[AU1947 157]

1 hour ago, steeleagle said:

Actually 2 are over .300, Packer the freshman and King, the transfer. That's not who we exacted to lead this team. As a matter of fact I'm not sure we have any leaders, but some who watch the games can address that part of it.

But Your point is true, we don't have enough hitters, especially gap or power hitters. We've got to be last in extra base hits, and surely HRs. We definitely miss Tannon Snow's power bat.

The approach these hitters have learned are not working. What puzzles me is that we started to drop in hitting even in Meyers last year, and since Dean has been coach, we have steadily done worse. And he has what had 2 or 3 hitting coaches in his 4 years here?

At first I thought it was youth he was putting in the lineup that struggled when we got to the SEC, but even late into the season, seasoned vets AND those young ladies that took over positions are still struggling at the plate.

Something needs to change going into next year. I feel it's going to be the assistant coach first. Then if we still struggle the year after next, it's going to be Dean.

You are correct... BUT when I made the comment about 1 over .300 Packer was not available to play according to Covid protocol.  Now she is back in the line up yes there are 2. And it appears that he is a control addict and goes through assistant coaches annually...

[saminbama 740]

Well, I've been trying very hard to give Dean the benefit of the doubt.  We hired him when we couldn't a find a top notch coach to come in and inherit  the dumpster fire that the Myers' left us with and I thought he deserved more leeway.   After last night, It's getting real tough.  I'm concerned about Penta and the speed of her pitches last night.  She was throwing in the low 60's, when most of the season she has been in the upper 60's and low 70's.  Also, she only pitched 3 innings and those 2 factors combined are what concerns me the most.  Early in the season when he had her pitching on back to back days against lower competition, we worried he was pushing her too hard and I'm afraid we are seeing the results.  Then last night when Koepke watched a softly hit ball go by her that was a foot in fair territory, I was totally shocked.  Then the straw that broke the camel's back came in the top of the 7th when he sent Rivera on a steal attempt down by 5 runs.  That's just plain stupid.  I'm starting to lean toward the other way and it may be time to think about a change, although I don't think it will be this year.  Unfortunately, I think he will be given another year to finish his contract.

Edited April 25, 2021 by saminbama

[steeleagle 2,945]

1 hour ago, saminbama said:

Well, I've been trying very hard to give Dean the benefit of the doubt.  We hired him when we couldn't a find a top notch coach to come in and inherit  the dumpster fire that the Myers' left us with and I thought he deserved more leeway.   After last night, It's getting real tough.  I'm concerned about Penta and the speed of her pitches last night.  She was throwing in the low 60's, when most of the season she has been in the upper 60's and low 70's.  Also, she only pitched 3 innings and those 2 factors combined are what concerns me the most.  Early in the season when he had her pitching on back to back days against lower competition, we worried he was pushing her too hard and I'm afraid we are seeing the results.  Then last night when Koepke watched a softly hit ball go by her that was a foot in fair territory, I was totally shocked.  Then the straw that broke the camel's back came in the top of the 7th when he sent Rivera on a steal attempt down by 5 runs.  That's just plain stupid.  I'm starting to lean toward the other way and it may be time to think about a change, although I don't think it will be this year.  Unfortunately, I think he will be given another year to finish his contract.

Not sure what is going on with Penta. It could be she is just hitting a wall in her first college year of pitching. Don't know how much she pitched her sr year in HS with covid around.

Also, she should be stronger now, since she no longer throws the first and third games like she started off with. Now she only pitches the middle game.

As to Dean's ingame management, I have heard many stories and head scratchers on his situational base running. As to the last game, it is a known rule in softball and for sure baseball, that runners are precious when you are down more than 3 or 5 runs. The rule is don't take chances that far down, when a team needs a lit of base runners. He was wrong to send Rivera down 5, as you said.

And whether he goes, or when he might be gone, he is doing a very good job in recruiting, but I don't know if making him get a better hitting coach, is the answer. If he has 1 more year, there is no way Greene is going to give him an extension. At least he better not. We are not seeing progress in the program...overall.

Edited April 25, 2021 by steeleagle

[AU1947 157]

Thank goodness for Ole Miss errors. 

[EagleEye67 1,937]

5 hours ago, steeleagle said:

Speaking of offense, I noticed that our team has only gotten 92 bases on balls in games. That is 50 less than the next SEC team. That is shocking. 

So is that bc teams feel they can come at our hitters w/o any problem or are our batters so undisciplined at the plate and are taught to be aggressive regardless of the situation or count? In other words, coaching again.

1 unearned run in 14 innings ain't gonna cut it, either.

[EagleEye67 1,937]

19 hours ago, AU1947 said:

We have 1 player hitting over .300! That is awful! And I would not bet on not loosing 1 to 2 pitchers to the portal that want to win. I have heard we are loosing some starters at positions too. It is truly sad that we went from going to the WS and now dead last in the SEC.....

well, Moo U is worse this season than we are.  So far.

[EagleEye67 1,937]

5 hours ago, steeleagle said:

 

But Your point is true, we don't have enough hitters, especially gap or power hitters. We've got to be last in extra base hits, and surely HRs. We definitely miss Tannon Snow's power bat.

 

There's not one player on the roster that any other team would pitch around, in any circumstances. 

[all4AU 379]

5 hours ago, EagleEye67 said:

There's not one player on the roster that any other team would pitch around, in any circumstances. 

True. I have heard from opposing fans that there isn’t one player in our line up that scares them. 

[AUBwins 10,064]

Girls won today to give Dean his 600th win 3-1.  Dean put the most aggressive hitters at the top 4 of lineup and came through with 6 hits among them.  Shelby got the win without her best stuff.  Actually got some support today.  Glad to get a win in the series.  

[AU9377 4,913]

On 4/25/2021 at 2:09 PM, saminbama said:

Well, I've been trying very hard to give Dean the benefit of the doubt.  We hired him when we couldn't a find a top notch coach to come in and inherit  the dumpster fire that the Myers' left us with and I thought he deserved more leeway.  

This just isn't accurate.  Dean was a "top notch" coach and many programs had approached him in the years before we did and he turned them down.  Myers left the program better than he found it.