Actual performance vs preseason composite poll:

1) FAU (+2 preseason)
2) Southern Miss (-1 preseason)
3) Louisiana Tech (-1 preseason)
4) WKU (+6 preseason)
5) Old Dominion (+4 preseason)
6) Marshall (+5 preseason)
7) Rice (-3 preseason)
8) UTSA (-1 preseason)
9) UAB (-1 preseason)
10) FIU (-5 preseason)
11) Charlotte (-5 preseason)
12) Middle Tennessee (+0 preseason)

If I was giving out awards....

Player of the year: Jake Sanford, WKU
Pitcher of the year: Matt Canterino, Rice
Freshman of the year: Andy Garriola, ODU
Newcomer of the year: Jake Sanford, WKU
Coach of the year: John Pawlowski, WKU

clt says Charlotte has to do better, or we will have a new baseball coach

I'd be shocked if Powlowski gets COTY after Burroughs didn't last year (+5 preseason); especially since WKU has a losing record overall.

Many WKU fans are kinda blah on our coach, right or wrong. It’s gotten better this year, and he deserves to keep his job. He most definitely got a stud in Sanford to come here. They need more. They need better pitching. They need a little spark around the program. But, for this season, they’ve made some progress. It was about time.

Charlotte's Coach Hibbs makes $98, 214 and is quite capable of finishing 7th or 8th in the conference. What are we going to have to pay to get a coach that can keep us in the top 3?

(05-19-2019 09:19 AM)Nugget49er Wrote:  Charlotte's Coach Hibbs makes $98, 214 and is quite capable of finishing 7th or 8th in the conference. What are we going to have to pay to get a coach that can keep us in the top 3?

That's about what Mac started at when he took over for Cooney in 2009. His current contract is at $180,000 plus a 4% increase per year through 2023. Mams ~$65,000 and Kopp ~$55,000.

Berry is ~$180,000. But Melendez is also ~$160,000. So just because you pay a coach more doesn't mean it will produce a better result on the field.

(05-19-2019 09:19 AM)Nugget49er Wrote:  Charlotte's Coach Hibbs makes $98, 214 and is quite capable of finishing 7th or 8th in the conference. What are we going to have to pay to get a coach that can keep us in the top 3?

You know Charlotte finished 3rd and 4th the previous 2 years, right?

(05-19-2019 11:51 AM)PSCNiner Wrote:  

(05-19-2019 09:19 AM)Nugget49er Wrote:  Charlotte's Coach Hibbs makes $98, 214 and is quite capable of finishing 7th or 8th in the conference. What are we going to have to pay to get a coach that can keep us in the top 3?

You know Charlotte finished 3rd and 4th the previous 2 years, right?

I thought it was a reasonable question given how well Charlotte used to be in the A10. Hibbs certainly hasn't performed as well since rejoining C-USA.

ETA: You want a bad season to be the outlier, not the other way 'round.

(05-19-2019 12:01 PM)owlumni Wrote:  

(05-19-2019 11:51 AM)PSCNiner Wrote:  

(05-19-2019 09:19 AM)Nugget49er Wrote:  Charlotte's Coach Hibbs makes $98, 214 and is quite capable of finishing 7th or 8th in the conference. What are we going to have to pay to get a coach that can keep us in the top 3?

You know Charlotte finished 3rd and 4th the previous 2 years, right?

I thought it was a reasonable question given how well Charlotte used to be in the A10. Hibbs certainly hasn't performed as well since rejoining C-USA.

ETA: You want a bad season to be the outlier, not the other way 'round.

Charlotte kicked butt in the A10, which was a crappy baseball league. The quality of our teams the last 3 seasons was much better than those A10 squads. The first 2-3 years back in cusa (2014-2016) reflected that (we struggled). This years squad IS the outlier. 2017 and 2018 teams were the first 2 with all cusa recruits. We finished 3rd and 4th those years. This year, we were actually better in most statistical categories. The difference was our best pitcher and only returning starter was out hurt for 90% of the year. The new guys didn't perform as expected. If this team had 1-2 even average pitchers we would likely have been top 4 again. If you dont believe me, look at all non-pitching stats.

ODU has a pretty decent squad. They grabbed us by the throat and held us for 26 innings. We avoided the sweep due to the heroics in that last 27th inning

(05-19-2019 02:27 PM)PSCNiner Wrote:  

(05-19-2019 12:01 PM)owlumni Wrote:  

(05-19-2019 11:51 AM)PSCNiner Wrote:  

(05-19-2019 09:19 AM)Nugget49er Wrote:  Charlotte's Coach Hibbs makes $98, 214 and is quite capable of finishing 7th or 8th in the conference. What are we going to have to pay to get a coach that can keep us in the top 3?

You know Charlotte finished 3rd and 4th the previous 2 years, right?

I thought it was a reasonable question given how well Charlotte used to be in the A10. Hibbs certainly hasn't performed as well since rejoining C-USA.

ETA: You want a bad season to be the outlier, not the other way 'round.

Charlotte kicked butt in the A10, which was a crappy baseball league. The quality of our teams the last 3 seasons was much better than those A10 squads. The first 2-3 years back in cusa (2014-2016) reflected that (we struggled). This years squad IS the outlier. 2017 and 2018 teams were the first 2 with all cusa recruits. We finished 3rd and 4th those years. This year, we were actually better in most statistical categories. The difference was our best pitcher and only returning starter was out hurt for 90% of the year. The new guys didn't perform as expected. If this team had 1-2 even average pitchers we would likely have been top 4 again. If you dont believe me, look at all non-pitching stats.

How about OOC when you were in the A10? Those teams beat some tough opponents while the early years back in C-USA could not. But, they had the same level of talent, right? When I refer to how well Charlotte used to be when they were in the A10, that’s looking at playing well against good teams. Not A10 itself. And how about 2016? You had 3 seniors on the squad. It was mostly "C-USA recruits." That's just a bit of hyperbole on my part. - And I just have to point out you were seeded 4th both years. Lol. Anyway, the point is that a healthy baseball program should never fall off the cliff. You can have a bad year, but this wasn't just a "bad year." You fell off the cliff. And you've been in the valley for most of the last 8 years. Charlotte has the 3rd best facilities currently in the conference (until Louisiana Tech rebuilds bigger and better!!). Charlotte is a hotbed for recruiting talent. Charlotte has so much going for it that it should not have losing seasons. And just glancing at the non-pitching stats, it's essentially the same. I wouldn't call +0.004 in some of those statistical categories necessarily "better." It's more consistent. And most rank near the bottom of the conference.

clt says our IPF made players weak.

(05-19-2019 05:29 PM)owlumni Wrote:  

(05-19-2019 02:27 PM)PSCNiner Wrote:  

(05-19-2019 12:01 PM)owlumni Wrote:  

(05-19-2019 11:51 AM)PSCNiner Wrote:  

(05-19-2019 09:19 AM)Nugget49er Wrote:  Charlotte's Coach Hibbs makes $98, 214 and is quite capable of finishing 7th or 8th in the conference. What are we going to have to pay to get a coach that can keep us in the top 3?

You know Charlotte finished 3rd and 4th the previous 2 years, right?

I thought it was a reasonable question given how well Charlotte used to be in the A10. Hibbs certainly hasn't performed as well since rejoining C-USA.

ETA: You want a bad season to be the outlier, not the other way 'round.

Charlotte kicked butt in the A10, which was a crappy baseball league. The quality of our teams the last 3 seasons was much better than those A10 squads. The first 2-3 years back in cusa (2014-2016) reflected that (we struggled). This years squad IS the outlier. 2017 and 2018 teams were the first 2 with all cusa recruits. We finished 3rd and 4th those years. This year, we were actually better in most statistical categories. The difference was our best pitcher and only returning starter was out hurt for 90% of the year. The new guys didn't perform as expected. If this team had 1-2 even average pitchers we would likely have been top 4 again. If you dont believe me, look at all non-pitching stats.

How about OOC when you were in the A10? Those teams beat some tough opponents while the early years back in C-USA could not. But, they had the same level of talent, right? When I refer to how well Charlotte used to be when they were in the A10, that’s looking at playing well against good teams. Not A10 itself. And how about 2016? You had 3 seniors on the squad. It was mostly "C-USA recruits." That's just a bit of hyperbole on my part. - And I just have to point out you were seeded 4th both years. Lol. Anyway, the point is that a healthy baseball program should never fall off the cliff. You can have a bad year, but this wasn't just a "bad year." You fell off the cliff. And you've been in the valley for most of the last 8 years. Charlotte has the 3rd best facilities currently in the conference (until Louisiana Tech rebuilds bigger and better!!). Charlotte is a hotbed for recruiting talent. Charlotte has so much going for it that it should not have losing seasons. And just glancing at the non-pitching stats, it's essentially the same. I wouldn't call +0.004 in some of those statistical categories necessarily "better." It's more consistent. And most rank near the bottom of the conference.

Trust me.....most of our teams in cusa are better than the a10 squads. You dont have to believe me our coaches have talked about the improved quality of recruiting in cusa alot. Also, we just opened our indoor facility 3 months ago which finally puts us on an equal recruiting field. We didn't fall off a cliff. Our ace missed the season. We improved in every other category. If you know anything about college baseball, you wouldn't read too much into a few midweek game results either, but we beat solid p5 teams every recent season, until this one when we lost several p5 games this year by 1 run. It happens when your staff is out of whack/ rotation due to injuries and you end with few arms late.

(05-19-2019 08:06 PM)PSCNiner Wrote:  

(05-19-2019 05:29 PM)owlumni Wrote:  

(05-19-2019 02:27 PM)PSCNiner Wrote:  

(05-19-2019 12:01 PM)owlumni Wrote:  

(05-19-2019 11:51 AM)PSCNiner Wrote:  You know Charlotte finished 3rd and 4th the previous 2 years, right?

I thought it was a reasonable question given how well Charlotte used to be in the A10. Hibbs certainly hasn't performed as well since rejoining C-USA.

ETA: You want a bad season to be the outlier, not the other way 'round.

Charlotte kicked butt in the A10, which was a crappy baseball league. The quality of our teams the last 3 seasons was much better than those A10 squads. The first 2-3 years back in cusa (2014-2016) reflected that (we struggled). This years squad IS the outlier. 2017 and 2018 teams were the first 2 with all cusa recruits. We finished 3rd and 4th those years. This year, we were actually better in most statistical categories. The difference was our best pitcher and only returning starter was out hurt for 90% of the year. The new guys didn't perform as expected. If this team had 1-2 even average pitchers we would likely have been top 4 again. If you dont believe me, look at all non-pitching stats.

How about OOC when you were in the A10? Those teams beat some tough opponents while the early years back in C-USA could not. But, they had the same level of talent, right? When I refer to how well Charlotte used to be when they were in the A10, that’s looking at playing well against good teams. Not A10 itself. And how about 2016? You had 3 seniors on the squad. It was mostly "C-USA recruits." That's just a bit of hyperbole on my part. - And I just have to point out you were seeded 4th both years. Lol. Anyway, the point is that a healthy baseball program should never fall off the cliff. You can have a bad year, but this wasn't just a "bad year." You fell off the cliff. And you've been in the valley for most of the last 8 years. Charlotte has the 3rd best facilities currently in the conference (until Louisiana Tech rebuilds bigger and better!!). Charlotte is a hotbed for recruiting talent. Charlotte has so much going for it that it should not have losing seasons. And just glancing at the non-pitching stats, it's essentially the same. I wouldn't call +0.004 in some of those statistical categories necessarily "better." It's more consistent. And most rank near the bottom of the conference.

Trust me.....most of our teams in cusa are better than the a10 squads. You dont have to believe me our coaches have talked about the improved quality of recruiting in cusa alot. Also, we just opened our indoor facility 3 months ago which finally puts us on an equal recruiting field. We didn't fall off a cliff. Our ace missed the season. We improved in every other category. If you know anything about college baseball, you wouldn't read too much into a few midweek game results either, but we beat solid p5 teams every recent season, until this one when we lost several p5 games this year by 1 run. It happens when your staff is out of whack/ rotation due to injuries and you end with few arms late.

There's also a huge difference between acquiring better talent and playing better as a team. Take a look at FIU for example. They've had back-to-back top 25 recruiting classes and back-to-back losing seasons. I wasn't saying your A10 teams were more talented than C-USA teams - they simply played better against some tough opponents. This is true. And I guess we have a different definition of falling off a cliff. If we finished with a 200+ RPI, it'd be falling off a cliff for us; especially if the 2 previous seasons were in the top 100. And especially for the potential Charlotte has. Also, I'm not focused on midweek games at all; that really doesn't gauge a program's strength, but depth. And every single team has to deal with injuries. We had two possible starters get injured during the offseason (one started to throw a few innings 3/4 of way into the season). All I was trying to say was how well Charlotte performed during their time in A10 (OOC emphasized) compared to since rejoining C-USA. And that his question was valid. Charlotte should be a top 4 squad every season. And that's all I've got left to say.

I agree, Charlotte should be in the top 4 every season.

After winning (T-1st) the A-10 Regular season Title in 13, we lost a good bit of that roster to graduation and the draft. We entered C-USA in rebuilding mode. Hibbs said then it would take 3-4 years to upgrade the roster to be a consistent competitor in C-USA. That's exactly what happened. Then this year happened. I think we tried to bridge some of our pitching gaps with some JUCOs that didn't really work out. Losing our ace (Brooks) was a huge blow to an already shakey pitching staff. We were leaning heavily on him this year. He went down and then we had lots of Freshman throwing significant innings this year. We were picked 6th this year and were 4 games out of 6th. I think if we had a healthy Brooks, we would have easily won 4 more.

Hibbs supposedly signed a 4 year extension this past fall (it was never announced but his previous extension expired last September). If that is the case, I don't see anything happening now, but if things aren't back in the top 4 next season, I expect a move to be made. There may be a change in staff if anything.

More so looking forward to next season than reviewing this season but unless there's a hidden gem out there, USM could have it's least power hitting team in many years. Returning batting order based off what we have coming back with this year's stats and next year's classification

1) Montenegro (JR) - 4 HR
2) Guidry (SR) - 5 HR
3) graduated
4/5) will/should be a 1st round draft pick so highly unlikely he returns
4/5) Bowen (SR) - 9 HR
6) graduated
7) LeBlanc (SO) - 1 HR
8) Lynch (SO) - 1 HR
9) McGillis (SO) - 1 HR
sub Blaylock (SR) - 1 HR

FWIW...our top 2 HR guys is a senior and a soon to be MLB draft pick who combined to hit 30 of our 54 HRs this year.

(05-20-2019 09:25 AM)Mr. Bojangles Wrote:  I agree, Charlotte should be in the top 4 every season.

After winning (T-1st) the A-10 Regular season Title in 13, we lost a good bit of that roster to graduation and the draft. We entered C-USA in rebuilding mode. Hibbs said then it would take 3-4 years to upgrade the roster to be a consistent competitor in C-USA. That's exactly what happened. Then this year happened. I think we tried to bridge some of our pitching gaps with some JUCOs that didn't really work out. Losing our ace (Brooks) was a huge blow to an already shakey pitching staff. We were leaning heavily on him this year. He went down and then we had lots of Freshman throwing significant innings this year. We were picked 6th this year and were 4 games out of 6th. I think if we had a healthy Brooks, we would have easily won 4 more.

Hibbs supposedly signed a 4 year extension this past fall (it was never announced but his previous extension expired last September). If that is the case, I don't see anything happening now, but if things aren't back in the top 4 next season, I expect a move to be made. There may be a change in staff if anything.

Good post.

(05-20-2019 10:41 AM)usm99 Wrote:  More so looking forward to next season than reviewing this season but unless there's a hidden gem out there, USM could have it's least power hitting team in many years. Returning batting order based off what we have coming back with this year's stats and next year's classification

1) Montenegro (JR) - 4 HR
2) Guidry (SR) - 5 HR
3) graduated
4/5) graduated
4/5) Bowen (SR) - 9 HR
6) graduated
7) LeBlanc (SO) - 1 HR
8) Lynch (SO) - 1 HR
9) McGillis (SO) - 1 HR
sub Blaylock (SR) - 1 HR

FWIW...our top 2 HR guys both are seniors and combined hit 30 of our 54 HRs this year.

Technically, Wallner isn’t graduating, but I see no scenario he comes back.

(05-20-2019 12:47 PM)EagNBran Wrote:  

(05-20-2019 10:41 AM)usm99 Wrote:  More so looking forward to next season than reviewing this season but unless there's a hidden gem out there, USM could have it's least power hitting team in many years. Returning batting order based off what we have coming back with this year's stats and next year's classification

1) Montenegro (JR) - 4 HR
2) Guidry (SR) - 5 HR
3) graduated
4/5) graduated
4/5) Bowen (SR) - 9 HR
6) graduated
7) LeBlanc (SO) - 1 HR
8) Lynch (SO) - 1 HR
9) McGillis (SO) - 1 HR
sub Blaylock (SR) - 1 HR

FWIW...our top 2 HR guys both are seniors and combined hit 30 of our 54 HRs this year.

Technically, Wallner isn’t graduating, but I see no scenario he comes back.

True..will correct it

(05-18-2019 10:32 PM)BeagleUSM Wrote:  Actual performance vs preseason composite poll:

1) FAU (+2 preseason)
2) Southern Miss (-1 preseason)
3) Louisiana Tech (-1 preseason)
4) WKU (+6 preseason)
5) Old Dominion (+4 preseason)
6) Marshall (+5 preseason)
7) Rice (-3 preseason)
8) UTSA (-1 preseason)
9) UAB (-1 preseason)
10) FIU (-5 preseason)
11) Charlotte (-5 preseason)
12) Middle Tennessee (+0 preseason)

If I was giving out awards....

Player of the year: Jake Sanford, WKU
Pitcher of the year: Matt Canterino, Rice
Freshman of the year: Andy Garriola, ODU
Newcomer of the year: Jake Sanford, WKU
Coach of the year: John Pawlowski, WKU

I think USM's Walker Powell has a chance as well to win this when comparing stats:

Powell:
6-2 record, 2.58 ERA (13 starts), 3 complete games with 1 being a complete game shutout, 64 K to 10 BB
**only 2 other pitchers had multiple complete games and both had 2 each

Canterino:
6-5 record, 2.90 ERA (14 starts), 1 complete game, no shutouts, 102 K to 21 BB