It's hard to believe that we were 13-9 in the SEC and on the verge of making a serious run in the standings a mere two weeks ago. I suppose that just goes to demonstrate the drastic changes that are capable of occurring over the course of a single weekend in this conference. I fully believe that we were whipped by a better team this weekend, but we still underachieved and failed to play to our potential, and in doing so managed to put ourselves in a very unfavorable position, having to ride a five-game losing streak (the longest of the Wells era) into the season finale on the road in Starkville. The good news first, because there's not much of it:
THE GOOD:
*Brent Carter was superb on Friday night, going 8.2 on the hill, allowing just a pair of runs off six hits. Unfortunately, our bats took the night off and provided Brent with absolutely no run support, and the sophomore southpaw was dealt his fifth loss on the season even though he was clearly undeserving of such a fate. Although his overall record stands at a respectable, but not spectacular 8-5, it will be a travesty if Brent is denied All-SEC recognition for his tremendous efforts.
*Zac Welch continues to impress with his glovework at first base. Both Allen Rice and Adam Pavkovich made some true highlight-reel plays over the weekend as well. With only a couple exceptions, the defense was pretty solid overall for the series.
*Travis Garner had a big day at the plate on Sunday, as he made up for 3/4 of our total offensive output, cranking his second bomb of the season, which turned out to be our only run of the afternoon. Travis' three hit performance extended his hitting streak to fifteen games, which is even more impressive when you consider the fact that it isn't even his longest hitting streak of the season (18).
*Beau Hearod blasted a pair of homeruns in the Saturday loss, his first since the UAB win at Sewell-Thomas, to move back into a tie atop the league lead with Arkansas CF Ryan Fox with 18 on the year.
THE BAD:
*Throughout the weekend, this team showed very little intensity on the field and the overall lack of fire was reflected in the outcome. You have to give South Carolina credit, because they are a talented and well-coached ballclub, but the ho-hum display from the Tide this weekend was perhaps one of the most disappointing I have seen in a home SEC series, especially considering the postseason implications that were on the line. This series marked only the second time we have been swept in a conference series in Tuscaloosa since Coach Wells' arrival.
*We started to show some signs of life at the plate on Saturday after a two-week power outage, but once again, it was the timely hitting that somehow escaped us. Throw in some absolutely pathetic and incompetent umpiring, bonehead baserunning mistakes, failure to get a bunt down on two pitches then watching strike three go by, and a number of other little mistakes here and there, and we completely waste our opportunities to take advantage of situations and win the ballgame. We were hitting Marchbanks hard, but simply could not advance the runners. Under no circumstances should one of the slowest guys on the team try to stretch what would have otherwise been a stand-up double into a triple when even your fastest of baserunners would have been gunned down at third, especially against a talented outfield like South Carolina's. That costly play was either the fault of the runner or the third base coach, but I am not certain as to which one was responsible. The bad thing about it is that the next hitter, Charlie Lyons, proceeded to double off the wall, which would have scored the runner and tied the game at that point.
*Obviously Coach Wells wasn't convinced that Tankersley's recent struggles were reason enough to give him a rest and replace him in the rotation, at least temporarily. Tank was sharp over the first four frames, but in the fifth, it was the same old story. He got two outs and ran into a brick wall. USC batted around and the lefty was forced to throw 37 pitches before mercifully being relieved after allowing five runs on six hits, with three walks and three strikeouts. Even with the recent success of our long relief in conference play, Wells turned to the SEC's best closer to try and salvage the game in the fifth. Unfortunately, that plan pretty much backfired as well. I don't claim to know a fraction of what Coach Wells knows about baseball, but I would like someone just to please explain the rationale behind some of his pitching decisions. Saturday was mind-boggling, as was Sunday, to a lesser extent. First of all, Woodward has been lights-out in conference play, yet he never left the pen all weekend. If you've got a capable long reliever and a dominant closer, why defy all logic and go completely against what has been working for you all season? Reed is a closer, and he is one of the best in the country. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. I'm not bashing Coach, I'm just curious as to what he was thinking at the time. As for Tank - he is one of the top pitchers in the nation, but the simple fact is that his arm is tired. He's a fierce competitor and will likely push himself to the limit no matter what, but when you have a pitcher with that kind of tremendous talent but is experiencing some serious problems, it seems to me that it has to reach a point where sending the kid out there under those circumstances is not only detrimental to the team, but also to his confidence and his future. It may be in our best interests to relegate him to the pen against State and save his arm for the tournament. As thin as our pitching is, the bottom line is that we aren't going anywhere without him regardless. Perhaps an extended rest will at least help Tank in the short run and at the same time give us a better shot at success in Hoover.
*Third base continues to be our Achilles' heel defensively. Bush is better suited to middle infield and Meiners is a first baseman/catcher. Teams can drop bunts down the line all day on us with 100% success, and South Carolina did just that.
*Seth Johnson wasn't particularly sharp on Sunday, but it didn't make much of a difference since Travis Garner was the only player in the lineup who contributed anything at the plate anyway, with the exception of an opposite field single from Zac Welch.
This was unfortunately yet another truly forgettable series and this team needs to wake up and start playing like they know they are capable of playing. You don't beat teams like Rice and annihilate Arkansas for 30 runs in a weekend without having some potential. We've got our backs against the wall this weekend, and cannot afford to go over to face on of the best teams in the conference amidst on of the more hostile crowds in the nation in a must-win situation. Nothing is guaranteed at this point, but this is the entire season right here. Another showing like this weekend's and we won't even be playing in Hoover, much less a regional. Tennessee pulled off the sweep of Arkansas and currently stands at 13-14, tied with us and Arkansas, but with the tiebreaker advantage for purposes of seeding. Tennessee closes out the season on the road at Vanderbilt, but may be challenged for the #2 spot from the East by Florida, despite the Gators being swept by Ole Miss this weekend. UF stands at 11-15-1, and must at least win two of three at home against Kentucky. The either need help from Vanderbilt or need us or Arkansas to lose our respective series'.
Current seedings:
1. LSU 18-8-1
2. South Carolina 14-11
3. Auburn 16-11*
4. Ole Miss 16-11*
5. Mississippi State 15-11
6. Tennessee 13-14
7. Alabama 13-14
8. Arkansas 13-14
*Auburn and Ole Miss play next weekend
On the outside looking in:
9. Florida 11-15-1
10. Vanderbilt 11-16
We pretty much need LSU to at least secure a win against Arkansas and not deliberately tank the final series the way they did two years ago in order to keep us out of the tournament. There is no bad blood between the two schools anymore, I like our LSU faithful on this board, and if the Bayou Bengals could just take care of business against Arkansas, I'd appreciate it.
Hypothetical scenarios for next weekend
East:
Vanderbilt (11-16):
Must sweep Tennessee and have Florida lose one to UK to finish second in the East. Vandy wins just two and they are out of luck.
Tennessee (13-14):
Needs to win two over Vandy and have UK beat Florida to clinch second in the East. Win just one, they will still need one UF loss to finish second. If swept, they need UF to lose two to UK OR have Alabama or Arkansas be swept. Tennessee holds a tiebreaker over Bama and Arkansas.
Florida (11-15-1):
If UF sweeps UK, and Vandy sweeps UT, they clinch second place in the East. If UF loses once to UK, they need Vandy to sweep UT AND have either Arkansas or Bama be swept. If UF sweeps UK and Vandy wins two over UT, UF is in.
West:
Alabama (13-14):
Win two or sweep at MSU and we're in.
If we win one at MSU, UF sweeps UK and UT wins at least one against Vandy, we will need Arkansas to lose at least two.
We are out if: We lose twice or get swept and Arkansas sweeps LSU, UF sweeps UK, and UT wins at least one against Vandy.
If we get swept, we would need UK to win two against UF OR Tennessee win once over Vandy.
If both Alabama and Arkansas are swept, we are still in unless Vandy sweeps UT and Florida wins at least two over UK.
Arkansas (13-14):
Have no tiebreaker advantage except over Vandy
Need UT to win one over Vandy AND have Florida lose twice to UK
If Vandy sweeps UT and UF wins two over UK, Arkansas would need to win one over LSU.
If UT sweeps Vandy and UF sweeps UK, Arkansas would need to finish with one more win than Bama.
If UT wins two over Vandy, Arkansas could still be swept and qualify if UF loses twice to UK.
If UF wins two over UK, Arkansas would still have to win one over LSU.
If UF wins two and Arkansas is swept, the Hogs are out. If Vandy sweeps UT, the Hogs have to win once over LSU. If Vandy sweeps UT and UF wins two over UK, Arkansas would have to win once and have Bama be swept.
Confusing enough?
Florida and Vanderbilt have it the worst and must sweep in order to stay alive. I'd rather not count on someone else's help, though, and cap off the regular season by beating down the Bullies next weekend.
RTR
------------------
"When we put on that Alabama uniform, we felt like superheroes."
--Roberto Vaz, 5/10/03
[This message has been edited by JoJoforHeisman (edited May 11, 2003).]
[This message has been edited by JoJoforHeisman (edited May 12, 2003).]
THE GOOD:
*Brent Carter was superb on Friday night, going 8.2 on the hill, allowing just a pair of runs off six hits. Unfortunately, our bats took the night off and provided Brent with absolutely no run support, and the sophomore southpaw was dealt his fifth loss on the season even though he was clearly undeserving of such a fate. Although his overall record stands at a respectable, but not spectacular 8-5, it will be a travesty if Brent is denied All-SEC recognition for his tremendous efforts.
*Zac Welch continues to impress with his glovework at first base. Both Allen Rice and Adam Pavkovich made some true highlight-reel plays over the weekend as well. With only a couple exceptions, the defense was pretty solid overall for the series.
*Travis Garner had a big day at the plate on Sunday, as he made up for 3/4 of our total offensive output, cranking his second bomb of the season, which turned out to be our only run of the afternoon. Travis' three hit performance extended his hitting streak to fifteen games, which is even more impressive when you consider the fact that it isn't even his longest hitting streak of the season (18).
*Beau Hearod blasted a pair of homeruns in the Saturday loss, his first since the UAB win at Sewell-Thomas, to move back into a tie atop the league lead with Arkansas CF Ryan Fox with 18 on the year.
THE BAD:
*Throughout the weekend, this team showed very little intensity on the field and the overall lack of fire was reflected in the outcome. You have to give South Carolina credit, because they are a talented and well-coached ballclub, but the ho-hum display from the Tide this weekend was perhaps one of the most disappointing I have seen in a home SEC series, especially considering the postseason implications that were on the line. This series marked only the second time we have been swept in a conference series in Tuscaloosa since Coach Wells' arrival.
*We started to show some signs of life at the plate on Saturday after a two-week power outage, but once again, it was the timely hitting that somehow escaped us. Throw in some absolutely pathetic and incompetent umpiring, bonehead baserunning mistakes, failure to get a bunt down on two pitches then watching strike three go by, and a number of other little mistakes here and there, and we completely waste our opportunities to take advantage of situations and win the ballgame. We were hitting Marchbanks hard, but simply could not advance the runners. Under no circumstances should one of the slowest guys on the team try to stretch what would have otherwise been a stand-up double into a triple when even your fastest of baserunners would have been gunned down at third, especially against a talented outfield like South Carolina's. That costly play was either the fault of the runner or the third base coach, but I am not certain as to which one was responsible. The bad thing about it is that the next hitter, Charlie Lyons, proceeded to double off the wall, which would have scored the runner and tied the game at that point.
*Obviously Coach Wells wasn't convinced that Tankersley's recent struggles were reason enough to give him a rest and replace him in the rotation, at least temporarily. Tank was sharp over the first four frames, but in the fifth, it was the same old story. He got two outs and ran into a brick wall. USC batted around and the lefty was forced to throw 37 pitches before mercifully being relieved after allowing five runs on six hits, with three walks and three strikeouts. Even with the recent success of our long relief in conference play, Wells turned to the SEC's best closer to try and salvage the game in the fifth. Unfortunately, that plan pretty much backfired as well. I don't claim to know a fraction of what Coach Wells knows about baseball, but I would like someone just to please explain the rationale behind some of his pitching decisions. Saturday was mind-boggling, as was Sunday, to a lesser extent. First of all, Woodward has been lights-out in conference play, yet he never left the pen all weekend. If you've got a capable long reliever and a dominant closer, why defy all logic and go completely against what has been working for you all season? Reed is a closer, and he is one of the best in the country. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. I'm not bashing Coach, I'm just curious as to what he was thinking at the time. As for Tank - he is one of the top pitchers in the nation, but the simple fact is that his arm is tired. He's a fierce competitor and will likely push himself to the limit no matter what, but when you have a pitcher with that kind of tremendous talent but is experiencing some serious problems, it seems to me that it has to reach a point where sending the kid out there under those circumstances is not only detrimental to the team, but also to his confidence and his future. It may be in our best interests to relegate him to the pen against State and save his arm for the tournament. As thin as our pitching is, the bottom line is that we aren't going anywhere without him regardless. Perhaps an extended rest will at least help Tank in the short run and at the same time give us a better shot at success in Hoover.
*Third base continues to be our Achilles' heel defensively. Bush is better suited to middle infield and Meiners is a first baseman/catcher. Teams can drop bunts down the line all day on us with 100% success, and South Carolina did just that.
*Seth Johnson wasn't particularly sharp on Sunday, but it didn't make much of a difference since Travis Garner was the only player in the lineup who contributed anything at the plate anyway, with the exception of an opposite field single from Zac Welch.
This was unfortunately yet another truly forgettable series and this team needs to wake up and start playing like they know they are capable of playing. You don't beat teams like Rice and annihilate Arkansas for 30 runs in a weekend without having some potential. We've got our backs against the wall this weekend, and cannot afford to go over to face on of the best teams in the conference amidst on of the more hostile crowds in the nation in a must-win situation. Nothing is guaranteed at this point, but this is the entire season right here. Another showing like this weekend's and we won't even be playing in Hoover, much less a regional. Tennessee pulled off the sweep of Arkansas and currently stands at 13-14, tied with us and Arkansas, but with the tiebreaker advantage for purposes of seeding. Tennessee closes out the season on the road at Vanderbilt, but may be challenged for the #2 spot from the East by Florida, despite the Gators being swept by Ole Miss this weekend. UF stands at 11-15-1, and must at least win two of three at home against Kentucky. The either need help from Vanderbilt or need us or Arkansas to lose our respective series'.
Current seedings:
1. LSU 18-8-1
2. South Carolina 14-11
3. Auburn 16-11*
4. Ole Miss 16-11*
5. Mississippi State 15-11
6. Tennessee 13-14
7. Alabama 13-14
8. Arkansas 13-14
*Auburn and Ole Miss play next weekend
On the outside looking in:
9. Florida 11-15-1
10. Vanderbilt 11-16
We pretty much need LSU to at least secure a win against Arkansas and not deliberately tank the final series the way they did two years ago in order to keep us out of the tournament. There is no bad blood between the two schools anymore, I like our LSU faithful on this board, and if the Bayou Bengals could just take care of business against Arkansas, I'd appreciate it.
Hypothetical scenarios for next weekend
East:
Vanderbilt (11-16):
Must sweep Tennessee and have Florida lose one to UK to finish second in the East. Vandy wins just two and they are out of luck.
Tennessee (13-14):
Needs to win two over Vandy and have UK beat Florida to clinch second in the East. Win just one, they will still need one UF loss to finish second. If swept, they need UF to lose two to UK OR have Alabama or Arkansas be swept. Tennessee holds a tiebreaker over Bama and Arkansas.
Florida (11-15-1):
If UF sweeps UK, and Vandy sweeps UT, they clinch second place in the East. If UF loses once to UK, they need Vandy to sweep UT AND have either Arkansas or Bama be swept. If UF sweeps UK and Vandy wins two over UT, UF is in.
West:
Alabama (13-14):
Win two or sweep at MSU and we're in.
If we win one at MSU, UF sweeps UK and UT wins at least one against Vandy, we will need Arkansas to lose at least two.
We are out if: We lose twice or get swept and Arkansas sweeps LSU, UF sweeps UK, and UT wins at least one against Vandy.
If we get swept, we would need UK to win two against UF OR Tennessee win once over Vandy.
If both Alabama and Arkansas are swept, we are still in unless Vandy sweeps UT and Florida wins at least two over UK.
Arkansas (13-14):
Have no tiebreaker advantage except over Vandy
Need UT to win one over Vandy AND have Florida lose twice to UK
If Vandy sweeps UT and UF wins two over UK, Arkansas would need to win one over LSU.
If UT sweeps Vandy and UF sweeps UK, Arkansas would need to finish with one more win than Bama.
If UT wins two over Vandy, Arkansas could still be swept and qualify if UF loses twice to UK.
If UF wins two over UK, Arkansas would still have to win one over LSU.
If UF wins two and Arkansas is swept, the Hogs are out. If Vandy sweeps UT, the Hogs have to win once over LSU. If Vandy sweeps UT and UF wins two over UK, Arkansas would have to win once and have Bama be swept.
Confusing enough?
Florida and Vanderbilt have it the worst and must sweep in order to stay alive. I'd rather not count on someone else's help, though, and cap off the regular season by beating down the Bullies next weekend.
RTR
------------------
"When we put on that Alabama uniform, we felt like superheroes."
--Roberto Vaz, 5/10/03
[This message has been edited by JoJoforHeisman (edited May 11, 2003).]
[This message has been edited by JoJoforHeisman (edited May 12, 2003).]
