Who do you start???

[Mikey 16,612]

Personally, a lot of you would think I am crazy but I would start Slade Smith in the 1st, Grant Dayton in the 2nd and Cory Luckie in the 3rd game. I know it's taking a risks but if Slade gets it done in the first game you are more than likely going to win the regional in 3 straight games.

exactly,If we use Luckie up against JSU and then we lose to Clemson our two starting pitchers are history and were in dire staits with pitching with three  games to win ..IMO Slade's the way to go.

There would be two games to win. If it comes down to Slade, I'd rather have him matched against somebody else's #3 pitcher on Sunday than Jax State's #1.

[muchado 0]

Knowing game 1 is against the 4 seed, do you pitch your 2nd or 3rd best pitcher still expecting to win or do you start your ace almost ensuring you'll win?  I tend to think you pitch #3 as the games will get tougher as you go along although it depends on the opposing pitcher.  If Jax St #1 is really good then I might need to rethink.  Maybe I start Nelson in Game 1???  Austin Lucas seems to be their ace at 6-0   4.97 ERA...with that being said maybe just maybe I'd start one of our top 2...any thoughts

No...You pitch your best pitcher to give yourself the best chance to win the first one and play from the winners side. Never underestimate any opponent in one game and do not out think yourself. Play with your best in game one and go from there.

No, you save your best pitcher for Clemson to try and make it to the championship game with no losses.  Luckie is more than capable of beating Jax State.  They aren't underestimating Jax State by throwing Luckie against them.  If he's good enough to throw in SEC games, he's good enough against Jax State.  AU played JSU a couple of weeks ago, the only pitchers they could get any production against were two of AU's bottom of the bullpen guys.   

You realize that we only beat Jax St 9-7. You have to win the first one...You said "They aren't underestimating Jax State by throwing Luckie against them.  If he's good enough to throw in SEC games, he's good enough against Jax State.". If that is the case and it should be would not the reverse apply? If he is good enough to pitch against the SEC he is good enough to pitch against Clemson. If we under estimate Jax st and they win, we are in trouble. We need to build momentum from the start...

You must not have watched or listened to the Jax State game a couple of weeks ago.  They scored all 7 of their runs off two Auburn pitchers that are at the very bottom of the bullpen.  Against Slade Smith and any other Auburn pitcher you would have heard of they were shut down.  Please do not judge Fridays game against the game two weeks ago.

Like another poster said, the most important game is the winners bracket game on Saturday.  Dayton must be the pitcher in that game.

[AUBwins 10,075]

Is Sou. Miss throwing the 11-0 guy friday?

[Mikey 16,612]

Is Sou. Miss throwing the 11-0 guy friday?

Yes, according to their beat writer. They are up against it, with both Auburn and Clemson having good hitting teams. Were I in their position I'd start him Friday too. There's a chance with a little help from the rain that he could pitch twice, particularly should weather push the final game over to Tuesday

[Droxside 0]

Knowing game 1 is against the 4 seed, do you pitch your 2nd or 3rd best pitcher still expecting to win or do you start your ace almost ensuring you'll win?  I tend to think you pitch #3 as the games will get tougher as you go along although it depends on the opposing pitcher.  If Jax St #1 is really good then I might need to rethink.  Maybe I start Nelson in Game 1???  Austin Lucas seems to be their ace at 6-0   4.97 ERA...with that being said maybe just maybe I'd start one of our top 2...any thoughts

No...You pitch your best pitcher to give yourself the best chance to win the first one and play from the winners side. Never underestimate any opponent in one game and do not out think yourself. Play with your best in game one and go from there.

No, you save your best pitcher for Clemson to try and make it to the championship game with no losses.  Luckie is more than capable of beating Jax State.  They aren't underestimating Jax State by throwing Luckie against them.  If he's good enough to throw in SEC games, he's good enough against Jax State.  AU played JSU a couple of weeks ago, the only pitchers they could get any production against were two of AU's bottom of the bullpen guys.   

You realize that we only beat Jax St 9-7. You have to win the first one...You said "They aren't underestimating Jax State by throwing Luckie against them.  If he's good enough to throw in SEC games, he's good enough against Jax State.". If that is the case and it should be would not the reverse apply? If he is good enough to pitch against the SEC he is good enough to pitch against Clemson. If we under estimate Jax st and they win, we are in trouble. We need to build momentum from the start...

You must not have watched or listened to the Jax State game a couple of weeks ago.  They scored all 7 of their runs off two Auburn pitchers that are at the very bottom of the bullpen.  Against Slade Smith and any other Auburn pitcher you would have heard of they were shut down.  Please do not judge Fridays game against the game two weeks ago.

Like another poster said, the most important game is the winners bracket game on Saturday.  Dayton must be the pitcher in that game.

You are correct, I did not watch or listen to the game. However, a final score of 9-7 tells me that they were in the game at the end no matter how it unfolded. More important is the fact that they are capable of beating us if things fall right for them in a one game scenerio. If we lose because they score runs on a pitcher who is not our #1 then there will be no game in the winners bracket in game #2. We should win, but saving your best pitcher for a better opponent is not the route I would go and dangerous (see South Carolina last week against Ole Miss). Finally I will leave you with a quote from the greatest military man in the history of the world Sun Tzu “He who exercises no forethought but makes light of his opponents is sure to be captured by them.”  I hope this is not the case here... And finally I disagree with the 2ND game being more important. You lose the first by underestimating your opponent and you are in trouble...

[Mikey 16,612]

Saving your best pitcher for your best opponent in the most important game IS exercising forethought. For Jax State to beat us using Luckie and our top relievers would be a total, earth-shaking upset. If something that weird is going to happen, they'll beat Drayton just as easily.

You can't look at a tournament like a battle. You have to look at it like a war. Wars require long term planning.

Coach Pawlowski is doing the right thing by starting Luckie in game one. If anything, he's being over cautious in using Luckie, we should be able get by with less.

Did you read the post about the first Jax. State-Auburn game? Slade Smith pitched two shutout innings and no other pitcher we used against them will see any action in this tournament.

[Droxside 0]

Saving your best pitcher for your best opponent in the most important game IS exercising forethought. For Jax State to beat us using Luckie and our top relievers would be a total, earth-shaking upset. If something that weird is going to happen, they'll beat Drayton just as easily.

You can't look at a tournament like a battle. You have to look at it like a war. Wars require long term planning.

Coach Pawlowski is doing the right thing by starting Luckie in game one. If anything, he's being over cautious in using Luckie, we should be able get by with less.

Did you read the post about the first Jax. State-Auburn game? Slade Smith pitched two shutout innings and no other pitcher we used against them will see any action in this tournament.

I respect your thoughts but still do not agree. Yes we should beat Jax St with Luckie, but to come this far and not pitch your best in the first game is risky. In a one game scenario we can lose to Jax St., it is possible if not likely. It is wrong in my opinion to plan for a future game before we even step foot on the field for the first although I understand the thought process here. As far as the first game they played, it was one game. This game will not resemble it most likely as tomorrow is a different day. Hopefully we get it done and we should, but give yourself the best chance to win the first then worry about the next or you could be pitching your best pitcher in the loser's bracket. We just disagree. The one thing we do agree on is Pulling hard for Auburn to win. It will be fun.