Baseball vs Louisville CWS

[around4ever 4,139]

Congrats to the guys!!  It wasn't the best of seasons and the CWS was a little disappointing but still a great job to be where we were.  We overcame injuries to our pitching staff that could have just ruined other teams.  The post season experience will be beneficial to our young team when we are back in it next year.  War Eagle!!!  

[around4ever 4,139]

20 minutes ago, SCTiger2011 said:

Now the choice on who to root for. I’m half bulldog, but the other night still leaves a bad taste. After Virginia, I don’t wanna see another champion use us as a stepping stool 😂. Michigan’s a nice little Cinderella team compared to everyone else and it’s Martins last year at FSU so I think I’ll pull for either

Don't hold Sunday's game against MSU.  They won because they have been there before. The moment wasn't too big for them.  That's where we will be next season.  War Eagle!!

[mcgufcm 4,101]

Great run! Hate to see it end the way it did with so many errors and walks proving to be our undoing (against State and Louisville), but those guys battled their asses off all season. Nice to see the results start to match the effort in the postseason. Truly a stepping stone season, taking the program up one more level from last year. I love where we are personnel-wise next year with basically everyone back outside of Holland and Daniel. They have the talent to take the next step and win some games in the CWS so long as they maintain the toughness they displayed this year!

War eagle!

[AUatHeart 624]

War Eagle!!!

Now it's time for me to start pulling for Vandy!  We use Vanderbilt Childrens Hospital for my middle daughter so I've kinda adopted them as my second team.

[SCTiger2011 1,279]

6 minutes ago, around4ever said:

Congrats to the guys!!  It wasn't the best of seasons and the CWS was a little disappointing but still a great job to be where we were.  We overcame injuries to our pitching staff that could have just ruined other teams.  The post season experience will be beneficial to our young team when we are back in it next year.  War Eagle!!!  

I’m repeating myself to an extent from yesterday but this part excites me. The regular season has a lot of room for growth and improvement to strengthen the program. Next step will be to slay the consistent .500ish monster in conference play (even though in the SEC it’s more than adequate) and start challenging for regular season hardware!

[SCTiger2011 1,279]

Edited because I don’t know how to read a roster 😂

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

29 minutes ago, jw 4 au said:

Do we have a bench or pinch hitters?  Not sure I would have hit JW in bottom of 8th. Hindsight is 20/20 though. 

Judd Ward helped get Auburn to the CWS. He deserved to have his chance. 

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

10 minutes ago, AUatHeart said:

War Eagle!!!

Now it's time for me to start pulling for Vandy!  We use Vanderbilt Childrens Hospital for my middle daughter so I've kinda adopted them as my second team.

I think the Vandy Boys will win it all. They are so talented in every facet of the game. I'm not sure there's anyone who can beat them. I'm all in for Vandy now. 

[toddc 13,194]

Waaaaar Eagle 🦅 baby!

[Gowebb11 9,328]

Great season. Final 8. Butch is building a solid foundation. From losing season, to winning regionals and super regionals, to the CWS. Nucleus returns in 2020, and I can’t wait. 

[mustache eagle 2,406]

57 minutes ago, Tigerbelle said:

Judd Ward helped get Auburn to the CWS. He deserved to have his chance. 

I honestly thought that the competitor in ward would allow him to calmly get a hit in that situation.  It just felt like destiny and then julien winning it in the 9th.  Honest to goodness I thought it would play that way.  

Regardless, I’m proud of the boys.  They don’t make the cws without contributions by everyone of them.

[AU64 10,122]

1 hour ago, boisnumber1 said:

Idk where you put him, but no way should he still be batting leadoff at this point. Hes just been atrocious. Grabbing someone out of the stands would have the same odds of getting a hit. Just beyond terrible AB after terrible AB. 

It is interesting.....coaches have moved Holland, Williams and even EJ around but can't recall that they ever moved JW..   Granted the leadoff batter is usually the leadoff only once per game...….but would have been nice not to have an automatic out for our first batter of a game.   Also for a guy with a HR swing, he had very few of them…..Gabe needs to teach him how to hit singles and doubles and just get on base.. 

For the season we have quite a few more Ks than the opposition and fewer walks.....not making contact and not getting baserunners...OBP was more than .100 below the opposition.   Gabe or someone needs to do some serous work on hitting instruction in the off season...

[tigerbrotha12 2,362]

3 minutes ago, AU64 said:

It is interesting.....coaches have moved Holland, Williams and even EJ around but can't recall that they ever moved JW..   Granted the leadoff batter is usually the leadoff only once per game...….but would have been nice not to have an automatic out for our first batter of a game.   Also for a guy with a HR swing, he had very few of them…..Gabe needs to teach him how to hit singles and doubles and just get on base.. 

For the season we have quite a few more Ks than the opposition and fewer walks.....not making contact and not getting baserunners...OBP was more than .100 below the opposition.   Gabe or someone needs to do some serous work on hitting instruction in the off season...

Both Ward and Conor Davis (as well as Will Holland) have a huge problem with pulling their head out of their swing. Conor Davis actually kept his head on the ball much better today (although there were a few pitches he still did it on) and low and behold he had 3 XBH's. Ward and Davis will be important next season as I'm sure they will be in similar spots in the order. Hope to see Conor with a better eye and plate discipline, and I hope to see Judd be a more patient hitter and keep his head on the ball at contact. 

[gr82be 14,433]

1 hour ago, around4ever said:

Don't hold Sunday's game against MSU.  They won because they have been there before. The moment wasn't too big for them.  That's where we will be next season.  War Eagle!!

That's who I'm pulling for now. They are my wife's team and school and she was really pulling for Auburn all the way through to the Final Four. She loves Pearl too. 

[AU64 10,122]

2 minutes ago, tigerbrotha12 said:

Both Ward and Conor Davis (as well as Will Holland) have a huge problem with pulling their head out of their swing. Conor Davis actually kept his head on the ball much better today (although there were a few pitches he still did it on) and low and behold he had 3 XBH's. Ward and Davis will be important next season as I'm sure they will be in similar spots in the order. Hope to see Conor with a better eye and plate discipline, and I hope to see Judd be a more patient hitter and keep his head on the ball at contact. 

We had a little stretch of games where guys were just putting the bat on the ball....taking it where it was pitched, going opposite field ,etc.....and really racked up some hits.....but seems when the heat is on, the big guys are trying to pull the ball and take it long.

As for JW....he's a heckauva a defensive outfielder and really valuable to the team..but if he is gonna be lead-off, it would be nice IMO to see him conduct himself that way at the plate...fewer Ks, more Walks and just work at getting on base.   We are the poorest offensive team in Omaha.  It's great that it happened but it's not something you want to count on. 

[PUB78 1,358]

Well, that was a short trip to Omaha, but I am glad the Tigers made it.

[AuburnNTexas 7,150]

War Eagle and thanks for the run.

[abw0004 10,124]

Great run Auburn baseball!  So proud of you this year!  War Eagle!

[johnnyAU 3,633]

Awesome to even make the CWS. They weren't supposed to get to Regional, or Super Regionals, and especially not the CWS....but they just did.  

Congrats and WDE fellas!  1st time in your lifetimes.

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

4 hours ago, AU64 said:

It is interesting.....coaches have moved Holland, Williams and even EJ around but can't recall that they ever moved JW..   Granted the leadoff batter is usually the leadoff only once per game...….but would have been nice not to have an automatic out for our first batter of a game.   Also for a guy with a HR swing, he had very few of them…..Gabe needs to teach him how to hit singles and doubles and just get on base.. JW

For the season we have quite a few more Ks than the opposition and fewer walks.....not making contact and not getting baserunners...OBP was more than .100 below the opposition.   Gabe or someone needs to do some serous work on hitting instruction in the off season...

JW did not start the season as the lead-off hitter....IIRC. I think Will Holland was in that spot first.

[AU64 10,122]

34 minutes ago, Tigerbelle said:

JW did not start the season as the lead-off hitter....IIRC. I think Will Holland was in that spot first.

I think that's right....JMO but we never were strong at the top of the order.....needed contact hitters but coaches had problems finding them...

Thanks..

[boisnumber1 2,819]

6 hours ago, AU64 said:

It is interesting.....coaches have moved Holland, Williams and even EJ around but can't recall that they ever moved JW..   Granted the leadoff batter is usually the leadoff only once per game...….but would have been nice not to have an automatic out for our first batter of a game.   Also for a guy with a HR swing, he had very few of them…..Gabe needs to teach him how to hit singles and doubles and just get on base.. 

For the season we have quite a few more Ks than the opposition and fewer walks.....not making contact and not getting baserunners...OBP was more than .100 below the opposition.   Gabe or someone needs to do some serous work on hitting instruction in the off season...

I agree theres some work to do. JW does not have the mentality of a leadoff imo. Like you said, he only leads off once, but by batting him first, you are guaranteeing he gets as many or more at bats per game than anyone else. Why would you continue to allow him that when he was only hitting air? Just didnt get it, but regardless, our offense needs a lot of work in the offseason. Too many seemed to regress instead of progress.

[Mikey 16,613]

Ward's three-run bomb sealed the win against UNC in the super regionals so it's not like he's been a weak link all season. Look at the batting averages on the rest of the team. Ward's is as good as any of them. Look at Ward's foot speed and there's simply no good choice available to replace him at leadoff. Bliss could be good there now, but Bliss just started hitting well very late in the season and leadoff isn't a great spot for most freshmen. Howell in the 9-spot isn't any better than Ward when it comes to hitting.  It's a team that didn't have a typical leadoff hitter on it and Ward is about as close as we could come. It's a team without a .300 hitter anywhere in the lineup. I've never see a team with that lack of hitting go this far in tournaments.

Anyway, damn good season. Considering the pitching injuries and weak hitting we got farther than we had any business getting. Looking forward to next season!

[AU64 10,122]

7 hours ago, Mikey said:

Ward's three-run bomb sealed the win against UNC in the super regionals so it's not like he's been a weak link all season. Look at the batting averages on the rest of the team. Ward's is as good as any of them. Look at Ward's foot speed and there's simply no good choice available to replace him at leadoff. Bliss could be good there now, but Bliss just started hitting well very late in the season and leadoff isn't a great spot

Needed someone with more patience at the plate...Gabe's job to help teach that.

[weagl1 1,785]

Basketball goes from bottom dwellers a few years ago to the final four and probably would have won it except for the robbery by the refs.  Baseball goes from staying home during the playoffs to wins in a regional and super regional and on to the CWS.  It’s great to see those sports being competitive and not just something to do between football seasons.   They got off the bottom when great leaders were hired to recruit great athletes and put them in a position to win.  So now it’s up to Gus.  Either step up and get the job done or get gone.