80Tiger 899 Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 In year 2 SB looks to have made a real leap in improvement. Question is has Meyer done a bettery job of coaching up the talent he inherited compare to Sunny OR has Meyer brought in better talent in just 2 yes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
around4ever 4,139 Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 Both. But give Sunny another year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCTiger2011 1,277 Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 Myers is a rockstar and the coaching equivalent to gold compared to his peers. Listening to some of his interviews, he seems to adopt the philosophy of win by any way you can score more runs than the other team. With with power or win with finesse or win with defense...just win. Golloway seems to be more methodical with his philosophies of the game and holds fast to what he did at Oklahoma and forces those who were leftover from the previous regime to convert and accept that philosophy or face his wrath, which led to early speed bumps. Both styles can produce winning traditions and Golloway's management of his players and in game situations seem to be more fluid and less controversial this season. I have no reason to believe he won't be successful at Auburn, maybe even as soon as a regional appearance in June. Baseball still has glaring holes at positions, especially in the bullpen and starting pitching positions but I believe another recruiting class should rectify that. Getting a postseason appearance would be very encouraging for all the foundations Coach Golloway has been laying for the baseball program the past two years. I look forward to the day, which seems to be coming soon, when the lull between January and August goes by quicker because all the main Auburn sports are consistently challenging for championships. WDE! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarTiger 3,896 Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 Well, to be fair, Softball made a LEAP of improvement in YEAR 1. The two years before Clint Myers got to Auburn, the Softball program finished like this: 2013 - 30-23 and 7-17 in conference play 2012 - 33-23 and 12-16 in conference play In 2014 (Myers first year) 42-19-1 and 11-13 in SEC This season: 37-5 and 10-2 in SEC Myers does a remarkable job teaching the game. He teaches the players how to hit the ball properly and we are one of the top (if not #1) defensive teams in the country. This years team returned most of the players from last year. This years team also only has 3 seniors. Next years team should be even better but a lot of seniors next year. But he's already developing players to move into those slots. He's also obviously brought it some really good players. Catching duties have been done mostly by Carlee Wallace (a freshman) with Courtney Shea (also a freshman stepping in). McKenzie Kilpatrick is a senior and a catcher and apparently lost her starting job to the freshmen. Kilpatrick was a huge part of that team last year. Kelsey Bogaards (junior) was a big contributor last year as well and she's no longer a starter. Here's a run down on the class of our consistent starting lineup: Howard - Junior Carosone - Junior Cooper - Sophomore Melero - Senior Fagan - Sophomore Rhodes - Junior Estell - Senior Abbott - Sophomore Wallce/Shea - Freshman Pitchers: Lexi Davis - Junior Marcy Harper - Junior Rachel Walters - Junior Jenna Abbott - Sophomore Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AU64 10,122 Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 Meyer had some very good players when he got to AU and one thing about softball, the ladies rarely flee to some other school looking for playing time or hoping to turn professional after a year or so. He has the advantage over basketball and baseball where he can pretty much be assured of having his players for 4 years......and develop them along the way. ....and his staff are among the best anywhere. We could enjoy some terrific softball for years to come. Another advantage over baseball, the pitchers can pitch endlessly it seems without concerns about arm injuries. Lexi started 4 or five games over a short period of time last year...nice to see Walter added to the staff and Harper is doing well....not blazers but pretty reliable. Sunny really needs pitching help....hoping Holiiday can entice some good prospects for the next year....once we get past Thompson....it's all a mystery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
augolf1716 21,096 Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 Myers is a rockstar and the coaching equivalent to gold compared to his peers. Listening to some of his interviews, he seems to adopt the philosophy of win by any way you can score more runs than the other team. With with power or win with finesse or win with defense...just win. Golloway seems to be more methodical with his philosophies of the game and holds fast to what he did at Oklahoma and forces those who were leftover from the previous regime to convert and accept that philosophy or face his wrath, which led to early speed bumps. Both styles can produce winning traditions and Golloway's management of his players and in game situations seem to be more fluid and less controversial this season. I have no reason to believe he won't be successful at Auburn, maybe even as soon as a regional appearance in June. Baseball still has glaring holes at positions, especially in the bullpen and starting pitching positions but I believe another recruiting class should rectify that. Getting a postseason appearance would be very encouraging for all the foundations Coach Golloway has been laying for the baseball program the past two years. I look forward to the day, which seems to be coming soon, when the lull between January and August goes by quicker because all the main Auburn sports are consistently challenging for championships. WDE! Very well said Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigerbelle 5,299 Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 IMHO.... the most successful coaches come in and develop a strategy that works for the players they have like Malzahn and Meyers and even Pearl this season. He did a tremendous job finding ways to squeeze out wins that were unexpected. In college sports you just never know how a kid will respond to the increased pressure off playing at the college level with a new coach. CSG did not handle the transition well and all the uproar held back progress. I'm hoping fresh players will come in and things will move forward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AU64 10,122 Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 IMHO.... the most successful coaches come in and develop a strategy that works for the players they have like Malzahn and Meyers and even Pearl this season. He did a tremendous job finding ways to squeeze out wins that were unexpected. In college sports you just never know how a kid will respond to the increased pressure off playing at the college level with a new coach. CSG did not handle the transition well and all the uproar held back progress. I'm hoping fresh players will come in and things will move forward. Basically true but BP had ability to influence the make up of his team pretty quickly since he could give real scholarships to bring in the guys he thought would help the team...that the end result (W and L) did not change much...that's still open for discussion. Sunny on the other hand lost a fair number of players last year....and since he can mostly just give "smoke and mirror" scholarships that are split and barely make up a full squad, it's hard to bring in enough "difference makers" to turn things around. BUT...the clock is running and things need to improve by next year though his two predecessors were given 5 years if I recall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey 16,550 Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 Two years ago when people were talking about home run hires I said that softball got a home run hire and baseball got a standup double. That's about how it's shaking out. The baseball hire may work out but it's going to take a little more time. Meyer brought magic to softball, I don't think anybody expected such an instant turnaround. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PUB78 1,354 Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 Sunny's predecessors only got 4 years each . Hope we see improvement the remainder of this year and next. The baseball teams seems to be stuck on .333% in the SEC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarTiger 3,896 Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 Sunny's predecessors only got 4 years each . Hope we see improvement the remainder of this year and next. The baseball teams seems to be stuck on .333% in the SEC. Pawlowski was here for 5 years 2009 - 2013 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey 16,550 Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 Sunny's predecessors only got 4 years each . Hope we see improvement the remainder of this year and next. The baseball teams seems to be stuck on .333% in the SEC. Pawlowski was here for 5 years 2009 - 2013 Even so, four years is plenty of time in college baseball. Many players are either JUCO guys or leave early. If it's not getting done after four years, it's likely not going to get done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tgr4lfe 220 Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 This 2015 AU softball team is GOOD! My daughter plays softball, my niece played college softball at West AL. These girls can flat out hit the ball and play D. They will make a run for the softball world series. I watched most of two of the 3 games versus UT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey 16,550 Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 This 2015 AU softball team is GOOD! My daughter plays softball, my niece played college softball at West AL. These girls can flat out hit the ball and play D. They will make a run for the softball world series. I watched most of two of the 3 games versus UT. Of course I hope you are correct, but my observation is that we simply do not have the quality of pitching necessary to make the CWS. When talking about your team, if you say "If we can just get some hits" there is cause for optimism. If you say "If the pitching steps up a notch..." your team's potential to advance is probably limited. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AU64 10,122 Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 This 2015 AU softball team is GOOD! My daughter plays softball, my niece played college softball at West AL. These girls can flat out hit the ball and play D. They will make a run for the softball world series. I watched most of two of the 3 games versus UT. Of course I hope you are correct, but my observation is that we simply do not have the quality of pitching necessary to make the CWS. When talking about your team, if you say "If we can just get some hits" there is cause for optimism. If you say "If the pitching steps up a notch..." your team's potential to advance is probably limited. As individuals, the pitchers are just above average ..but having three inter-changeable pitchers is almost a luxury...and the coaches have been good about swapping them around to see who is "on" at any given time and because of the hitting, they don't have to pull a pitcher at the first sign of trouble. AND....from the games I have seen elsewhere in the SEC this year, there are not that many left handers equal to Walters. The ability to go from a righty to a lefty helps quite a bit. Last year Lexi was just worn out during the play-offs....pitching double headers and 3 games in 4 days. We are much better off this season. It won't be a cake-walk to Oky City but it's within reach IMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
all4AU 379 Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 Marcy was also injured during last year's regionals. As stated above, having 3 pitchers who get regular mound time is a luxury. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey 16,550 Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 My thinking on the matter is that how many pitchers a team has is not the question. One year the Braves had 11 pitchers on their squad and couldn't get anybody out. Again, I hope I'm wrong but I don't think our pitching staff can hold teams down to few enough runs for us to advance very far in the playoffs. We'll be seeing pitchers that will not give up six to ten runs per game and I'm thinking that our pitchers can't match them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarTiger 3,896 Posted April 8, 2015 Share Posted April 8, 2015 My thinking on the matter is that how many pitchers a team has is not the question. One year the Braves had 11 pitchers on their squad and couldn't get anybody out. Again, I hope I'm wrong but I don't think our pitching staff can hold teams down to few enough runs for us to advance very far in the playoffs. I disagree. Our pitching staff and more importantly our DEFENSE is abundantly capable of holding teams down enough for us to win, otherwise we wouldn't be sitting at 37-5 already. We are near the top if not #1 in the conference in fielding and that's a huge advantage not to be overlooked. We'll be seeing pitchers that will not give up six to ten runs per game and I'm thinking that our pitchers can't match them. While that may be true its also true that those pitchers won't have faced an offense that swings the bats as well as Auburn does. Remember this is a team that has scored double digit runs on several ranked teams already this season. 20 vs. #13 Arizona (pitching gave up 2). 18 runs in a three game SWEEP of #12 Kentucky (they scored 8 in those 3 and 7 of those in one game, so that included a shutout). Scored 17 vs. #11 FSU - gave up 14 but still outscored them in the series. Scored 28 runs in 3 games at #20 Missouri (one was a run rule game and the one we lost went extra innings). #11 UT played us well but we still scored 24 runs. Not all those teams have bad pitching. In fact, all of them have at least one maybe two high quality pitchers and we still outscored every one of them. That's a lot of ranked opponents that we have scored a TON of runs on. 13 games vs. ranked opponents and a 10-3 record. Outscored them 114 - 66. Not every game is going to be a shutout by any stretch but with our defense behind the pitchers and the top ranked offense in the country we are more than capable of going very deep in post season play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey 16,550 Posted April 8, 2015 Share Posted April 8, 2015 I'll agree that we have a fine defense. The shortstop could play for anybody and then some. There's nothing a defense can do about home runs or screaming liners hit in the gap. I simply question how our big hitting will hold up against top quality pitching, game after game. Maybe it will. I've already been shocked about what this team was able to do last year and the improvement is continuing on. Maybe they'll surprise me again? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AU64 10,122 Posted April 8, 2015 Share Posted April 8, 2015 The pitching advantage I see for AU is having 3 pretty good pitchers, all of whom have pitched as starters with about equal (and good) success. Softball is like baseball in that the starting pitcher usually has a slight advantage the first time through the line up....until hitters see her a bit, get her timed, etc..and the second time around hitters seem to have a better understanding of what's coming...which is why AU coaches like to go righty-lefty ...not necessarily as a match-up condition but mostly it seems, just to get the batters a different look their second time up. None of our pitchers are power pitchers ...but I've seen AU's gals tee off on some 70mph pitchers this year so it's not just speed that matters. I don't know how far they will get ....but already this year they have exceeded most people's expectations....and fan support has been great. Congrats on the coaches for helping put AU on the map with softball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
35Rem 5 Posted April 8, 2015 Share Posted April 8, 2015 The pitching advantage I see for AU is having 3 pretty good pitchers, all of whom have pitched as starters with about equal (and good) success. Softball is like baseball in that the starting pitcher usually has a slight advantage the first time through the line up....until hitters see her a bit, get her timed, etc..and the second time around hitters seem to have a better understanding of what's coming...which is why AU coaches like to go righty-lefty ...not necessarily as a match-up condition but mostly it seems, just to get the batters a different look their second time up. None of our pitchers are power pitchers ...but I've seen AU's gals tee off on some 70mph pitchers this year so it's not just speed that matters. I don't know how far they will get ....but already this year they have exceeded most people's expectations....and fan support has been great. Congrats on the coaches for helping put AU on the map with softball. Just to build on that a little: The pitchers also understand they are a team and support each other and know that if they have a bad outing, the next one in line will pick them up and finish the game well. They trust the coaches. Also, they know the fans are there and appreciate it. They feed off the energy of the crowd, just like any other sport. Keep supporting them and cheering them on. I really hope they get to host a Regional, at least! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarTiger 3,896 Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 Most of us here know that they added some extra seats for the rest of the season before the series with Tennessee. However, they announced tonight they had something planned for next weekends series with uat. Not sure if it means MORE seats or what, because they didn't give any additional info. Our stadium seats around 1900 now with the additional seats. ALL three games vs. uat are sold out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigerbelle 5,299 Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 That place will be a pressure cooker ready to explode. There's one updyke pitcher that I really dislike. I hope AU scores a hundred off of her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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