Thoughts on how we stack up?

Also, Keep trying to find some State forums that are discussing our matchup this weekend but not successful. Anyone know of any sites?

SixPackSpeak and EliteDawgs are their 2 biggest sites. I've yet to see any discussion on the series yet. But when they do discuss it, you won't find anything more insightful than "piss on those damn buzzards!!!11." They know nothing or next to nothing about our team. Some of them MIGHT know who Matt Wallner is but even that's a stretch.

As for their team, they have a good squad. Top 15, maybe top 10 host-caliber team. They bring most back from last year's club that BSed their way to Omaha after a breathtaking string of luck and good fortune. With Wallner likely not pitching, it appears that luck will continue into 2019.

Pitching, they'll go with a Small-Ginn-James rotation most likely. Small is a lefty that'll work in the low 90s. We hit him pretty good opening weekend but that was his first start post-TJ and he improved a lot by the end of the year. He didn't go deep in games but almost always gave them a good start. He's like a better version of Murphy from Arkansas that did so well against us last year in the regional. Ginn is the freshman from Brandon that turned down big bucks to play college ball. He's a guy that hit the upper 90s in HS but will probably work 92-95 most of the time in college as a starter. I think their fans have overhyped him a little, but he's probably pretty damn good though unproven at this point. We'll be the best lineup he's faced in his career. James was average in 2018 but had a good summer/fall so they moved him to the rotation. Reports are he's in the low to mid 90s. Both Ginn and James are righties.

Hitting, Mangum will get a lot of the buzz but I think Rowdey Jordan and Tanner Allen are their best hitters. Those guys bring power to the table where he really doesn't. Elijah MacNamee is kinda your typical JUCO transfer masher that's going to hit some doubles and home runs but will also K a decent bit. Foscue and Westburg are nice players for them. The only real holes in their lineup might be Skelton and Halter but they won't be easy outs either.

The one thing I do like about this matchup is they don't really have a ton of LHP in the pen. Jack Eagan is a Wisconsin JUCO transfer that looks like their best lefty relief option. He'll probably take over the role that Zack Neff had last year.

It's going to come down to our pitching. If they crap the bed like they do in regionals every year, it won't be pretty. But if we keep them around 4-5 runs a game, we'll have a shot to take the series so long as our offense isn't completely inept.

BTW, did anyone see the video of Wallner saying postgame vs Purdue "I think they went to Omaha .... I think we swept them last year?" Got circulated on the social media a little bit. He also made reference to the sweep again on his Twitter but ended up deleting it and locking his account. I hope he can back up his talk but these kind of things always seem to end up biting us in the ass.

The reason you dont see them talking about this weekend is because they are worms and scared they will **** the bed against us again this year.

(02-19-2019 09:03 PM)BeagleUSM Wrote:  SixPackSpeak and EliteDawgs are their 2 biggest sites. I've yet to see any discussion on the series yet. But when they do discuss it, you won't find anything more insightful than "piss on those damn buzzards!!!11." They know nothing or next to nothing about our team. Some of them MIGHT know who Matt Wallner is but even that's a stretch.

As for their team, they have a good squad. Top 15, maybe top 10 host-caliber team. They bring most back from last year's club that BSed their way to Omaha after a breathtaking string of luck and good fortune. With Wallner likely not pitching, it appears that luck will continue into 2019.

Pitching, they'll go with a Small-Ginn-James rotation most likely. Small is a lefty that'll work in the low 90s. We hit him pretty good opening weekend but that was his first start post-TJ and he improved a lot by the end of the year. He didn't go deep in games but almost always gave them a good start. He's like a better version of Murphy from Arkansas that did so well against us last year in the regional. Ginn is the freshman from Brandon that turned down big bucks to play college ball. He's a guy that hit the upper 90s in HS but will probably work 92-95 most of the time in college as a starter. I think their fans have overhyped him a little, but he's probably pretty damn good though unproven at this point. We'll be the best lineup he's faced in his career. James was average in 2018 but had a good summer/fall so they moved him to the rotation. Reports are he's in the low to mid 90s. Both Ginn and James are righties.

Hitting, Mangum will get a lot of the buzz but I think Rowdey Jordan and Tanner Allen are their best hitters. Those guys bring power to the table where he really doesn't. Elijah MacNamee is kinda your typical JUCO transfer masher that's going to hit some doubles and home runs but will also K a decent bit. Foscue and Westburg are nice players for them. The only real holes in their lineup might be Skelton and Halter but they won't be easy outs either.

The one thing I do like about this matchup is they don't really have a ton of LHP in the pen. Jack Eagan is a Wisconsin JUCO transfer that looks like their best lefty relief option. He'll probably take over the role that Zack Neff had last year.

It's going to come down to our pitching. If they crap the bed like they do in regionals every year, it won't be pretty. But if we keep them around 4-5 runs a game, we'll have a shot to take the series so long as our offense isn't completely inept.

BTW, did anyone see the video of Wallner saying postgame vs Purdue "I think they went to Omaha .... I think we swept them last year?" Got circulated on the social media a little bit. He also made reference to the sweep again on his Twitter but ended up deleting it and locking his account. I hope he can back up his talk but these kind of things always seem to end up biting us in the ass.

Yeah, the Wallner comment feels like something that will bite us in the ass. I'm fine with being confident and saying you're not scared. Don't make the Omaha crack, though. Yeah, we swept them last year. But I'd gladly lose 15 straight against them in exchange for one of those regional games from 2 years ago--let alone, a trip to Omaha.

Regardless, I'm sure State fans will find it and whine about it for years. I remember them bringing up some comment Boomer Scarborough made for about 5 years.

Agree on their lineup. Jordan is really impressive. Mangum is a damn good player but he never picked up any power or became an elite base stealer to really be a guy that you fear. He's definitely a headache, though.

It's just extremely hard for me to see the pitching holding up to win this series. If Powers can stay on the outside black and keep it low in the zone, I can see us taking that matchup against Ginn. I don't like Powell's chances or whoever our Sunday starter is, though.

Just get one and keep another close--that is a solid showing on the road against a top 10-15 team.

(02-19-2019 11:48 PM)eaglenjxn Wrote:  

(02-19-2019 09:03 PM)BeagleUSM Wrote:  SixPackSpeak and EliteDawgs are their 2 biggest sites. I've yet to see any discussion on the series yet. But when they do discuss it, you won't find anything more insightful than "piss on those damn buzzards!!!11." They know nothing or next to nothing about our team. Some of them MIGHT know who Matt Wallner is but even that's a stretch.

As for their team, they have a good squad. Top 15, maybe top 10 host-caliber team. They bring most back from last year's club that BSed their way to Omaha after a breathtaking string of luck and good fortune. With Wallner likely not pitching, it appears that luck will continue into 2019.

Pitching, they'll go with a Small-Ginn-James rotation most likely. Small is a lefty that'll work in the low 90s. We hit him pretty good opening weekend but that was his first start post-TJ and he improved a lot by the end of the year. He didn't go deep in games but almost always gave them a good start. He's like a better version of Murphy from Arkansas that did so well against us last year in the regional. Ginn is the freshman from Brandon that turned down big bucks to play college ball. He's a guy that hit the upper 90s in HS but will probably work 92-95 most of the time in college as a starter. I think their fans have overhyped him a little, but he's probably pretty damn good though unproven at this point. We'll be the best lineup he's faced in his career. James was average in 2018 but had a good summer/fall so they moved him to the rotation. Reports are he's in the low to mid 90s. Both Ginn and James are righties.

Hitting, Mangum will get a lot of the buzz but I think Rowdey Jordan and Tanner Allen are their best hitters. Those guys bring power to the table where he really doesn't. Elijah MacNamee is kinda your typical JUCO transfer masher that's going to hit some doubles and home runs but will also K a decent bit. Foscue and Westburg are nice players for them. The only real holes in their lineup might be Skelton and Halter but they won't be easy outs either.

The one thing I do like about this matchup is they don't really have a ton of LHP in the pen. Jack Eagan is a Wisconsin JUCO transfer that looks like their best lefty relief option. He'll probably take over the role that Zack Neff had last year.

It's going to come down to our pitching. If they crap the bed like they do in regionals every year, it won't be pretty. But if we keep them around 4-5 runs a game, we'll have a shot to take the series so long as our offense isn't completely inept.

BTW, did anyone see the video of Wallner saying postgame vs Purdue "I think they went to Omaha .... I think we swept them last year?" Got circulated on the social media a little bit. He also made reference to the sweep again on his Twitter but ended up deleting it and locking his account. I hope he can back up his talk but these kind of things always seem to end up biting us in the ass.

Yeah, the Wallner comment feels like something that will bite us in the ass. I'm fine with being confident and saying you're not scared. Don't make the Omaha crack, though. Yeah, we swept them last year. But I'd gladly lose 15 straight against them in exchange for one of those regional games from 2 years ago--let alone, a trip to Omaha.

Regardless, I'm sure State fans will find it and whine about it for years. I remember them bringing up some comment Boomer Scarborough made for about 5 years.

Agree on their lineup. Jordan is really impressive. Mangum is a damn good player but he never picked up any power or became an elite base stealer to really be a guy that you fear. He's definitely a headache, though.

It's just extremely hard for me to see the pitching holding up to win this series. If Powers can stay on the outside black and keep it low in the zone, I can see us taking that matchup against Ginn. I don't like Powell's chances or whoever our Sunday starter is, though.

Just get one and keep another close--that is a solid showing on the road against a top 10-15 team.

My Nelms starts Sunday. He earned it.

I saw the video of Wallner. There was nothing snide or chest-bumping or anything...he pretty much said something like "I think they went to Omaha last year or something. We swept them last year so we know they are going to be gunning for us to return the favor but we've just got to prepare for this game like any other game and not get caught up in emotions".

That's pretty much the gist of what he said. I don't see how it could be taken as any kind of trash-talk...but if Mississippi State needs to conjure up some motivation to beat little ole Miss'sippi Southern in baseball well, that tells more about their team/program than ours.

I'm betting on the rain.

(02-20-2019 09:16 AM)TTT Wrote:  I saw the video of Wallner. There was nothing snide or chest-bumping or anything...he pretty much said something like "I think they went to Omaha last year or something. We swept them last year so we know they are going to be gunning for us to return the favor but we've just got to prepare for this game like any other game and not get caught up in emotions".

That's pretty much the gist of what he said. I don't see how it could be taken as any kind of trash-talk...but if Mississippi State needs to conjure up some motivation to beat little ole Miss'sippi Southern in baseball well, that tells more about their team/program than ours.

My, God. Thanks for clarifying Beagle's fake news on the Wallner commenrs. Ill remember not to just accept what he says as gospel.

(02-20-2019 09:16 AM)TTT Wrote:  I saw the video of Wallner. There was nothing snide or chest-bumping or anything...he pretty much said something like "I think they went to Omaha last year or something. We swept them last year so we know they are going to be gunning for us to return the favor but we've just got to prepare for this game like any other game and not get caught up in emotions".

That's pretty much the gist of what he said. I don't see how it could be taken as any kind of trash-talk...but if Mississippi State needs to conjure up some motivation to beat little ole Miss'sippi Southern in baseball well, that tells more about their team/program than ours.

This.

Some have made a mountain out of his comments or either taken portions out of context.

(02-20-2019 10:57 AM)eagle04 Wrote:  

(02-20-2019 09:16 AM)TTT Wrote:  I saw the video of Wallner. There was nothing snide or chest-bumping or anything...he pretty much said something like "I think they went to Omaha last year or something. We swept them last year so we know they are going to be gunning for us to return the favor but we've just got to prepare for this game like any other game and not get caught up in emotions".

That's pretty much the gist of what he said. I don't see how it could be taken as any kind of trash-talk...but if Mississippi State needs to conjure up some motivation to beat little ole Miss'sippi Southern in baseball well, that tells more about their team/program than ours.

This.

Some have made a mountain out of his comments or either taken portions out of context.

I don't think anybody is making a mountain out of it or that there's anything to take out of context. He needled State a couple of times about the series last year, which I think is kind of weak, but I'm not concerned about it. State may use it as some weak bulletin board material, and their fans may throw in his face this weekend if they win. Not a big deal.

They have a really solid lineup. Last year they started 4 or 5 true freshmen. As those players matured, they became really solid which is how they went from an opening weekend sweep all the way to Omaha. Those freshmen are now sophomores and like Beagle said, leave very few holes in their lineup.

Small is the only weekend guy they have back from last year so beyond that I'm not sure what their starters can do. Their bullpen didn't allow any runs last weekend, but the team they played was very weak so I wouldn't put too much stock in that. They play UAB tonight so maybe we'll get a better idea.

Their 247 site has a baseball specific forum, but I think you have to have a paid account to use it.

Weak is an understatement. Current Nolan projection for Youngstown State is 9-47 with a 285 RPI.

They just beat UAB 3-2 after being no hit for the first 6 innings. Ended up getting all of their 3 hits (and runs) in the 7th inning.

(02-20-2019 07:59 PM)fakeEllisJohnson Wrote:  They just beat UAB 3-2 after being no hit for the first 6 innings. Ended up getting all of their 3 hits (and runs) in the 7th inning.

last time I checked, 3-2 was the same as 23-2 in the win column....

if we win one this weekend, I'll call it good....

Not an important series.

(02-20-2019 10:03 PM)stinkfist Wrote:  

(02-20-2019 07:59 PM)fakeEllisJohnson Wrote:  They just beat UAB 3-2 after being no hit for the first 6 innings. Ended up getting all of their 3 hits (and runs) in the 7th inning.

last time I checked, 3-2 was the same as 23-2 in the win column....

if we win one this weekend, I'll call it good....

UAB threw 4 pitchers. They got their 3 hits and 3 runs off one guy in the 7th. They are very beatable. Ill be disappointed if we dont win the series.

We don't need shutdown performances out of our pitchers to win. All we need is limited walks. Seems everytime we get in jams is because our pitchers walk 2-7 batters per inning. Also, if we strike out one more time with bases loaded and no outs, I may break something.

(02-21-2019 08:46 AM)Eagleaidaholic Wrote:  

(02-20-2019 10:03 PM)stinkfist Wrote:  

(02-20-2019 07:59 PM)fakeEllisJohnson Wrote:  They just beat UAB 3-2 after being no hit for the first 6 innings. Ended up getting all of their 3 hits (and runs) in the 7th inning.

last time I checked, 3-2 was the same as 23-2 in the win column....

if we win one this weekend, I'll call it good....

UAB threw 4 pitchers. They got their 3 hits and 3 runs off one guy in the 7th. They are very beatable. Ill be disappointed if we dont win the series.

You should probably avoid using midweek games as a measuring stick for a team's quality.

I think everyone is a bit on edge about how the starting rotation will fare this weekend.

(02-21-2019 10:49 AM)shiftyeagle Wrote:  You should probably avoid using midweek games as a measuring stick for a team's quality.

I think everyone is a bit on edge about how the starting rotation will fare this weekend.

Pretty much took the words out of my mouth.

Thinking of Powers and Powell's showing in Fayetteville last year sends a chill down my spine.

(02-21-2019 11:01 AM)BeagleUSM Wrote:  Thinking of Powers and Powell's showing in Fayetteville last year sends a chill down my spine.

You mean Little Rock.