PowerOfDixieland

Early season polls have some mix of just about everybody in them, even more difficult than football to discern who has what three weeks into the season. What I do know is that LSU is absolutely LOADED with talent.

Joseph Gonzalez is out for this weekend as he rehabs the scapula soreness that caused him to miss last weekend's scheduled Saturday start.

Salty called it. Tigers scored 3 in the bottom of the eighth to win it 4-3.

This Lipscomb bunch can flat out hit. Got me curious, did some looking...they're not slouches. Regular starters are transfers from Miss St., Louisville, Georgia, Virginia, Tennessee. They did take 2 of 3 from Notre Dame to start the season. The kid that started on the mound signed with Vandy out of high school. Makes me feel a little better about last night.

Howell also got his 200th career hit, not sure how many guys have had that productive of a career. Chris Stanfield is going to be really fun to watch. Wonder if he would have gotten three if he had come hard out of the box...went into a home run trot on a ball that only went 3/4 up the wall in left center. Probably a good teachable moment for Gabe. I guess Allsup threw the split last night for the first time? I thought that's what it was on the first strikeout in the ninth...dropped about a foot right in front of the batter. Pretty filthy.

Allsup gave up a leadoff HR in the top of the ninth, Lipscomb does the travel ball boom when the runner touches home. Next pitch a nice and easy 95 mph in the middle of the batter's back. I'm not saying it was intentional, but I would say it's stupid to put on like somebody hit a go ahead grand slam when it's just a decent solo shot down by five. Tigers win 7-3.

Or Schoenrock a magician....

Anybody else think "maybe we've got the left handed version of Sonny D" when big Cooper McMurray went long ball?

If there's one thing you can bank on, it's Butch Thompson putting the long term health of his players ahead of anything else...especially pitchers. I Hope this isn't a Davis Daniels kind of deal.

Kirby's fourth HR in seven games. Ike Irish can hit a little bit too. Meanwhile #4 Ole Miss and #5 aTm lost ugly (at home) to Maryland and Portland respectively.

Not a big fan of quoting self, but this guy doesn't deserve a separate thread. Vitello has been suspended by UT for violating NCAA rules. Apparently goes back to the recruitment of the transfer SS from U Kansas. Seems to be a bit of a pattern forming with this guy. I'll go on record predicting this will be the second coming of Andy Cannizaro....

Rough day at the park for game 3. Tiger pitching got knocked around...Drew Nelson coughed up a hairball in his first career start. Gave up a grand slam in the first (walked three battaers and hit another), was only able to get two outs before Butch had to pull him. Bullpen wasn't able to stop the bleeding before it got out of hand. Nate LaRue hitless in three games now. Tigers lost 11-2.

Butch's teams certainly do approach every game and opponent with absolute respect. So much so that there was a time I thought they may be too unemotional...until Peirce hit the home run on Saturday night in Knoxville last year and Vitello gave them a reason to show their teeth. These guys won't back down from anybody.

Tigers won game two 6-1. Gonzo started, went five complete and threw just 41 pitches. Crazy efficient for his first start of the spring.

This has been the biggest breakdown with many of the QB's we've had lately. The highly mobile/dual threat guys have not been coached to push up in the pocket. Of course, an unreliable O line makes it that much more difficult. Specifically Stidham and Nix would almost always try to turn and bail out of the backside of a collapsing pocket, believing their feet were more trustworthy than their linemen. It's an incredibly difficult habit to break, but in the SEC, unless you're Nick Marshall kind of slippery it typically doesn't work out well. Wow, do I miss that dude....

Very solid, all three have outstanding toughness and grit without having to outplay their talent level. If LaRue can step up, look out....

Just hope we don't do something to rival the Vandy black with gold pinstripes....

Must have been a good day in your seat today, you are on quite a roll. Keep it up....

How the heck could you leave off "forearm tatoo"? Damn man....

Ditto.

Good pic...big place. I didn't realize TBA was that big, had to look it up. When it opened in '87 it was the largest basketball only arena in the US.

Roster changes: The roster is down to 44, with four players from fall not appearing on the roster in spring - RHP Carson Swilling (uncommitted), RHP Jordan Armstrong (UT-Martin), INF Rom Kellis (Florence-Darlington Tech) and INF Wesley Helms (Shelton State) At one time there were some that thought both Swilling and Armstrong were potential SEC starters this spring. Tells me there are some young guns pushing for weekend spots, several high velocity kids in that bunch. I guess Schoenrock sees this staff differently than Hudson did....

What exactly does a walk on sign? Serously....

Don't panic if we don't look like world beaters after that firsr conference series in Fayetteville. I don't think Butch will know what he's got to work with on the mound untill at least then. All it takes is getting into the tournament at the end...I trust BT, he clearly knows what he's doing.

Kid acts an awful lot like Manziel, I expect his NFL career to follow a similar trajectory....