TnTech Coaching

[GVF]

Looking up their NCAA Tournament history via wikipedia, of the six times they've made they tournament, with the exception of 1956, they've always managed to win at least 1 game every time. Never the last team standing, but they've been consistent at sending at least 1 other team home first.

Having a former Big 12 coach could be interesting going forward.

Yes, and they have a good list of quality wins against P5 programs. Wins against multiple nationally respected programs, as well as multiple wins against individual teams. In their 2017 and 2018 appearances, they had P5 wins against FSU, Ole Miss, and Texas (in the Supers). Even with a roster last year depleted by graduation and the draft, and a bad coach in hindsight, they managed to be a .500 level team.

 

[GVF]

Tn Tech goes to Lipscomb midweek. I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt simply due to being the better team.

ETSU went 3-0 opening against Toledo. Midweek they go to Virginia Tech. This could be odd. On paper if not in practice, Virginia Tech should be favored. An ACC school vs a nobody SoCon team. VT lost to San Diego State and UNC Greensboro. A game vs Coastal Carolina was cancelled.

Lipscomb has never had the success they had under Dugan. Yet, it seems to be easier for TTU to beat Vandy than it does to beat Lipscomb.

 

[Smokey'sHandler]

You'll have to wear a shirt that says Smokey's Handler so we can hook up at the games.

Ah I will stick out enough I am usually wearing a grey UT hat and will have my 18 mo. old son with me. He really enjoyed the game on Saturday so I’d say we will be out there quite a bit especially when it starts to warm up.

 

[Smokey'sHandler]

Yes, and they have a good list of quality wins against P5 programs. Wins against multiple nationally respected programs, as well as multiple wins against individual teams. In their 2017 and 2018 appearances, they had P5 wins against FSU, Ole Miss, and Texas (in the Supers). Even with a roster last year depleted by graduation and the draft, and a bad coach in hindsight, they managed to be a .500 level team.

That’s a nice positive spin on last season but they finished at the bottom of the OVC last season and statistically the worst pitching staff in the league with a 6.6 ERA. Even though they had a decent offense you aren’t going to win many games when you’re consistently giving up 7+ runs. They lost a lot on the offensive side but still had a decent middle of the pack year.

Bragga should’ve left more in the cupboard from a pitching standpoint IMO and I believe he did. I think a significant issue last year was coaching and I’d say that will be addressed this year.

Hopefully we will see Smith develop his pitching staff especially the bullpen as the season goes on. If so they have the offense to return to the top 4 in the conference.

 

[GVF]

That’s a nice positive spin on last season but they finished at the bottom of the OVC last season and statistically the worst pitching staff in the league with a 6.6 ERA. Even though they had a decent offense you aren’t going to win many games when you’re consistently giving up 7+ runs. They lost a lot on the offensive side but still had a decent middle of the pack year.

Bragga should’ve left more in the cupboard from a pitching standpoint IMO and I believe he did. I think a significant issue last year was coaching and I’d say that will be addressed this year.

Hopefully we will see Smith develop his pitching staff especially the bullpen as the season goes on. If so they have the offense to return to the top 4 in the conference.

Agree on the pitching. Lack of pitching can make a strong roster underperform. They probably could have increased their victories by 50% with a bullpen last year. Coaching was a big issue, but the use of pitching last year was probably learned from Bragga. That's the one negative I had heard about Bragga was the way he used pitching. I think the stable was full, but Bragga had a tendency to ride a handful of ponies, and what is there now doesn't have any meaningful experience on the mound. Recruited, but not developed. And most of the good experienced pitching moved on in graduation and the draft.

We also had that problem last year at HS and will again this year. So much so that my son is in the bullpen now, and that ain't good. He's a lefty, and has good velocity, but he has just never had that type of control. His elbow looks half double jointed, and along with that lefty whip, he just doesn't know how to manage short throws. From the outfield he is pretty darn accurate. Rarely off target.

 

[Smokey'sHandler]

Jason Hinchman was named Collegiate Baseball’s National Player of the Week.

 

[ksgovols]

Kudos to my boy Luke Jones in his college debut. Hit a solo shot in game #2 and a pinch hit 3 run bomb to tie the game in game #3. #ReptheK

 

[Smokey'sHandler]

Tough weekend for the Golden Eagles. They got absolutely walloped by N.C. State this weekend in getting swept. The offense didn’t provide much but it wouldn’t have mattered they gave up 8, 10 and 15 runs. When you run into a set of games where the bats aren’t rolling you need the pitching and defense to step up which was not the case this weekend. All three starters got shelled but the bullpen pulled out a better performance than they did last weekend. They were by no means as solid as they need to be to be successful this weekend but they were better.

On a bright note Jason Hinchman is continuing to roll. We went 5 for 12 with a dinger and 3 RBIs. That brings his season HR total to 6 in 6 games.

 

[GVF]

Tough weekend for the Golden Eagles. They got absolutely walloped by N.C. State this weekend in getting swept. The offense didn’t provide much but it wouldn’t have mattered they gave up 8, 10 and 15 runs. When you run into a set of games where the bats aren’t rolling you need the pitching and defense to step up which was not the case this weekend. All three starters got shelled but the bullpen pulled out a better performance than they did last weekend. They were by no means as solid as they need to be to be successful this weekend but they were better.

On a bright note Jason Hinchman is continuing to roll. We went 5 for 12 with a dinger and 3 RBIs. That brings his season HR total to 6 in 6 games.

Winning the series was a long stretch against a ranked NC State team, but I was really hoping for 1 win.

 

[Smokey'sHandler]

One would have been nice but they would have to catch a game where their bats really come alive to beat a ranked team. They have given up an average of 10.75 runs per game over their last 4 games. You aren't even going to be competitive if you're doing that. The good thing is that the deficiency is obvious, it's early in the season and you have a solid pitching coach as your HC to help you work through it. It'll come but it will take some time and be a bumpy road.

 

[GVF]

One would have been nice but they would have to catch a game where their bats really come alive to beat a ranked team. They have given up an average of 10.75 runs per game over their last 4 games. You aren't even going to be competitive if you're doing that. The good thing is that the deficiency is obvious, it's early in the season and you have a solid pitching coach as your HC to help you work through it. It'll come but it will take some time and be a bumpy road.

Tech knows where they are at so early in the season, and what has to come up quickly. Also being somewhat of an LSU baseball fan over the years, I'm more curious what is going on down there with the games they dropped and who they were to.