This Week

#1
vol66

vol66

GBO!!!
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#1
The week coming up for UT Baseball is huge. After the last out of the Auburn series we'll be at the halfway point in the regular season.

At that point it simply comes down to math.

We've gotten off to our traditional slow start in SEC play and dug a hole. Winning the series in Gainesville is big, but it was also necessary to even have a chance to do anything beyond Hoover... if we can even make that happen.

Right now, six teams have a chance to make it to 10-5 in SEC play this week. Only 1or 2 will probably pull it off...it's very difficult.

Should we win the Auburn Series at home 2-1...we'd be at 5-10 and we'd be looking at having to go somewhere close to 10-5 in the second half.

Nothing is impossible, but I don't love our chances. A real season changer would be to sweep Auburn and be at 6-9. That's a doable deal, just try to stay somewhere around that margin +/-. Then we hang on and hope our RPI/SOS get us in a regional.

If we get swept and we're sitting at 3-12, even yours truly will have had enough.

What needs to happen?

Kyle Serrano needs to get his head out of his ass. I guess I should say, if he can help the team then he needs to get his head out of his ass.

You'd think an upperclassmen and the son of a coach would understand how the deal works, especially one who can either make or lose some money for himself...very selfish thing to do on a couple of levels.

If we are going to sweep anyone this season we need all arms on deck.

We gotta take care of little brother in JC this week. For any scenario to work out past Hoover, we can't drag down the RPI with mid-week losses.

We need to get a good crowd over at LNS, had good crowds last week so I'm hoping the fans will show up and support.

Finally, as with any sport...a few favorable calls and bounces would help.

These guys showed a lot of grit and determination in Gainesville, I'll roll with that kind of effort all day long. That was a good team, a really good team and we hung with them the whole way...this is the best group of Freshman since AJ and Stewie's class...there's a lot to like...but we have to win and get over the hump.

We're Due :).


GBO!!!
 
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#3
#3
BruinVol said:
66,

Why are you saying we need to go 10-5 in the second half?
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I'm saying IF we end up 5-10 after the Auburn series, we have to go something LIKE 10-5 over the second half to get to .500. I realize we might be able to get away with being 2 games under .500 depending on other factors...while I also realize that being .500 might not be good enough depending on other factors...plus UGA owns the tie break and I don't know why, but losing to them comes back to haunt us every year it seems like.

There are several teams at 6-6 right now and they feel good about it. .500 in this league is kind of a standard number for the tourney, year in, year out.
 
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#4
#4
I'm also not factoring in the SEC tourney...you know winning a couple of games to help the resume type thing...
 
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#5
#5
Went to Hoover with just 9 wins a year ago and 11 the year before.

Imo 13 wins is a regional lock and maybe 12
 
#8
#8
BruinVol said:
Went to Hoover with just 9 wins a year ago and 11 the year before.

Imo 13 wins is a regional lock and maybe 12
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Yeah, I'm not talking about Hoover. We've made Hoover the past 3 years...barely.

That's no longer an accomplishment, all though I enjoy going. I don't think that saves CDS either...maybe, but I doubt it.

UK and BAMA were both 15-15 last year and didn't make it.
 
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#9
#9
vol66 said:
Yeah, I'm not talking about Hoover. We've made Hoover the past 3 years...barely.

That's no longer an accomplishment, all though I enjoy going. I don't think that saves CDS either...maybe, but I doubt it.

UK and BAMA were both 15-15 last year and didn't make it.
Click to expand...

Our rpi is 39 as of tonight. All we need is wins and we are good in that area. Easier said than done though
 
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#11
#11
Kentucky and Alabama both had RPIs in the 60s last year. Tennessee will be much better with 12-13 wins
 
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#12
#12
vol66 said:
Yeah, I'm not talking about Hoover. We've made Hoover the past 3 years...barely.

That's no longer an accomplishment, all though I enjoy going. I don't think that saves CDS either...maybe, but I doubt it.

UK and BAMA were both 15-15 last year and didn't make it.
Click to expand...

I believe I looked at their schedules, and both UK and Bama had quite a few losses OOC. I believe our OOC record sets us up to have a chance with a 13-17 or 14-16 type conference record.
 
#13
#13
On The Sports Source program today, Jimmy Hyams said that he thinks that Serrano needs to make the NCAA Tournament to get a new contract.
 
#14
#14
VolGee4 said:
I believe I looked at their schedules, and both UK and Bama had quite a few losses OOC. I believe our OOC record sets us up to have a chance with a 13-17 or 14-16 type conference record.
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As I said, I can see a game or two below .500 depending on other factors...but we have to get there and we can't falter in the midweek and it's harder than it sounds...I don't remember the year of the RPI crushing mid week loss, but we've been there, if it happens late a team cannot recover.
 
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#16
#16
sport3500 said:
On The Sports Source program today, Jimmy Hyams said that he thinks that Serrano needs to make the NCAA Tournament to get a new contract.
Click to expand...

This team is too young to draw that kind of line in the sand. If this team competes like it did this weekend and makes Hoover that should be enough. If they compete like they did against MTSU and misses Hoover it should be over
 
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#17
#17
For all the things that I like about this team, the things that give me optimism, there are almost an equal number of questions.

Lipcius, Derkay, Lingo, Stallings, Ammo, Schultz, can't say enough about Benny's leadership and emotion behind the plate JRog has been stellar defensively and his bunt today was a thing of beauty...all making hefty contributions...then there's Kyle, and what's up with Westphal, Warren hung in there today...but I think it's fair to say big things were expected of them, not to mention Brodie, Moberg hasn't been himself in SEC play, Bartlett, Waldren have been invisible offensively...

If they can get it together, they could make a run, I believe it...but they can't wait until the last series of the year, as they have in the past.

They need to ride the momentum and start this week.
 
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#19
#19
Good thread and some very valid points (opinions) by all. I have no idea what will happen the rest of the season with this team or with the current staff.

What I do know, if a new coach is hired for the 2018 season, they will be walking into a very good situation!
 
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#20
#20
Volsfriend said:
I think most people want a change. When does the new AD pull the trigger?
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I'm gonna disagree with you here...honestly I think that most people don't care either way if he stays or goes. Most people here just don't follow baseball, we're a football school, as the saying goes.

That being said, the majority of people that follow Vols baseball want Serrano to make it here as he is very well respected as a coach, runs a clean program, and is a good guy in general.
 
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#21
#21
OldTimer said:
Good thread and some very valid points (opinions) by all. I have no idea what will happen the rest of the season with this team or with the current staff.

What I do know, if a new coach is hired for the 2018 season, they will be walking into a very good situation!
Click to expand...

Agreed. This team has the potential to be among the top 5 or 6 teams in the SEC. The bad news is there is, as you say, no way to predict what the will actually do.
 
#22
#22
StrangeVol said:
I'm gonna disagree with you here...honestly I think that most people don't care either way if he stays or goes. Most people here just don't follow baseball, we're a football school, as the saying goes.

That being said, the majority of people that follow Vols baseball want Serrano to make it here as he is very well respected as a coach, runs a clean program, and is a good guy in general.
Click to expand...

I think more agree with your statement than disagree. However results do matter. We could do a lot worse with an unknown, we also might do a lot better with an unknown.

As stated previously over the years, I hope CDS can succeed here and I'm pulling for a strong finish to the 2017 season.
 
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#23
#23
It was a great weekend but I feel like we also need a reality check. We sit at 3-9 with road series left @ A&M, @ Vanderbilt, and @ Kentucky. I think a reasonable (yet positive expectation) would be to try to split those 9 games at 5-4 or 4-5. That leaves us with 13 or 14 SEC losses.

That leaves us very little wiggle room at home against Auburn, Mizzou, and Arkansas. If we win all 3 series by a 2-1 margin, that's 6-3 and puts us at 16 or 17 conference losses heading to Hoover.

We have a lot of work to do and have to be really, really good the rest of the way just to claw back into tournament discussion.
 
#24
#24
thanks 66...an insightful reality check...steep hill to climb no doubt...around here it seems you never know, and I guess that's why it's also so entertaining...our BaseVols take us on a rollercoaster ride each season...CDS...well, here's wishing him the best of luck, and,

GO BIG ORANGE!
 
#25
#25
11 conference wins should be enough to bring him back. That would be an improvement in all areas including talent/outlook for the futire
 
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