I'm starting to really like this team.....

[Sir Oinksalot]

...pitching was suppose to be non-existent, hitting worse than last year which was terrible...

Right now I'd take this team over last year...Van Horn tells them to hit or pitch

and they seem to respond to his barks...

[pigture perfect]

I agree.

[Break & Run]

The MVPs of this team, so far, has to be Jalen Beeks and Eric Fisher.

[hogman64]

I started the first LSU game.....

[Hawgzinbowlz]

Excellent pitching, and the hitting is better than last year.

DVH is moving around the pieces to see what we can do (as usual).

Just get into the tournament, and get hot going in.

" GO OMAHOGS "

[Baseball Hog]

IF the hitting is going to stay like it's been for the last few weeks we are a top 3 team in the country.

[hoghappy]

Our hitting seems to be more consistent with our new hitting coach.

[bighog2255]

I like this team too, but to suggest this is a good hitting team is not looking at the facts.

Still dead last in batting average at .221 in league play, 2nd highest strikeout total in the league. Thanks mostly to small ball keeping us out of double plays, we have been able to scratch out a few runs to put us at 11th with 3.7 runs per game

This team is almost a carbon copy of last year. Ridiculous pitching and below-average hitting. Was hoping we would have a good hitting team this year, but it hasn't happened.

[ricepig]

We need MacAfee back, both the bat and fielding. Yesterday, both Fisher and Bax struggled, and we struggled scoring runs. Bax may not see another fastball over the plate the rest of the year.

[dotnet]

We need MacAfee back, both the bat and fielding. Yesterday, both Fisher and Bax struggled, and we struggled scoring runs. Bax may not see another fastball over the plate the rest of the year.

I agree about Bax and fastballs.  At this point, you're just stupid if you throw him one.  Though I do think one of his homers was on a hanging breaking ball.

[bighog2255]

We need MacAfee back, both the bat and fielding.

Can't be understated. While I think Bernal has done a decent job in the field, his bat is really hurting our offense. 6-53 for a .113 average, and all 6 hits were singles. 1 RBI, 1 BB, and 14 Ks.

If Mac can get healthy and hit somewhere around .250, that would be a nice boost to the bottom of the lineup.

[ricepig]

I agree about Bax and fastballs.  At this point, you're just stupid if you throw him one.  Though I do think one of his homers was on a hanging breaking ball.

Yep, pitchers make mistakes, better be ready to hit them.

[dotnet]

Can't be understated. While I think Bernal has done a decent job in the field, his bat is really hurting our offense. 6-53 for a .113 average, and all 6 hits were singles. 1 RBI, 1 BB, and 14 Ks.

If Mac can get healthy and hit somewhere around .250, that would be a nice boost to the bottom of the lineup.

I don't expect BM to hit 250 - at least if healthy. 

The people who were talking about Bernal never being moved off of short have gone really quiet.

At the beginning of the year DVH said he was playing Wernes because he thought he was better defensively.  He said Bernal would make the spectacular play, but then he would make a mistake that would make you shake your head.  Wernes was much more consistent.  I feel like this is exactly what we have seen since he has played short. 

Its almost as if DVH really knows what he is talking about...

[ricepig]

I don't expect BM to hit 250 - at least if healthy. 

The people who were talking about Bernal never being moved off of short have gone really quiet.

At the beginning of the year DVH said he was playing Wernes because he thought he was better defensively.  He said Bernal would make the spectacular play, but then he would make a mistake that would make you shake your head.  Wernes was much more consistent.  I feel like this is exactly what we have seen since he has played short. 

Its almost as if DVH really knows what he is talking about...

Soooie!

[Kevin]

interesting to see what our bats will do, with auburn, a&m, and mizzou pitchers.
we what ole miss will bring.

we have faced the gaunlet the last 6 weeks.

[Baseball Hog]

I like this team too, but to suggest this is a good hitting team is not looking at the facts.

Still dead last in batting average at .221 in league play, 2nd highest strikeout total in the league. Thanks mostly to small ball keeping us out of double plays, we have been able to scratch out a few runs to put us at 11th with 3.7 runs per game

This team is almost a carbon copy of last year. Ridiculous pitching and below-average hitting. Was hoping we would have a good hitting team this year, but it hasn't happened.

Yeah but looking blindly at stats isn't worth anything.

I'd say most people agree we've seen some sort of change in our hitting approach since the south carolina series.  Stats since then:

12 games
90 hits (7.5/g)
62 runs (5.1/g)

Factor in that during this stretch we faced some of the best pitching we'll see all year, and you can see that this isn't a poor offensive team, as of right now.

Now I'm sure you believe we'll hit .100 from here on, but if you actually watch the games, you can see a change in our approach.  I expect a big finish.

[bighog2255]

Yeah but looking blindly at stats isn't worth anything.

I'd say most people agree we've seen some sort of change in our hitting approach since the south carolina series.  Stats since then:

12 games
90 hits (7.5/g)
62 runs (5.1/g)

Factor in that during this stretch we faced some of the best pitching we'll see all year, and you can see that this isn't a poor offensive team, as of right now.

Now I'm sure you believe we'll hit .100 from here on, but if you actually watch the games, you can see a change in our approach.  I expect a big finish.

I don't know why I embolden you by responding to your posts, but intimating that our hitting is somehow a lot better than it was 3 weeks ago just isn't true.

I see you conveniently threw in the 3 non-conf games to help your "argument". Last 9 SEC games:

.224 batting average, 39 runs (4.3 per game)...So yeah, I was WAY off....your posts lose credibility with each one.

I watched just about every pitch of the Vandy series. I watched us scratch out 4 hits on Sunday...all singles

[TuckFexas]

Along with the lineup change, I've noticed we've gotten a little more aggressive with the small ball. We're not just bunting over and giving up an out every time. I've seen more straight steals and hit and runs. If we're gonna play small ball (and frankly, we have to), that's what I want to see. We're also getting good secondary leads and taking off as soon as the ball hits the dirt.

[Baseball Hog]

I don't know why I embolden you by responding to your posts, but intimating that our hitting is somehow a lot better than it was 3 weeks ago just isn't true.

I see you conveniently threw in the 3 non-conf games to help your "argument". Last 9 SEC games:

.224 batting average, 39 runs (4.3 per game)...So yeah, I was WAY off....your posts lose credibility with each one.

I watched just about every pitch of the Vandy series. I watched us scratch out 4 hits on Sunday...all singles

I didn't expect you to notice any changes in our hitting.  That was for other posters.

[bighog2255]

I didn't expect you to notice any changes in our hitting.  That was for other posters.

And I didn't expect you to make any sort of fact-based argument to back up your statements. That's for those of us who haven't been banned from this board

[Kevin]

we have been using a different strategy on offense (depending on who is at the plate) over the last weeks.

i like what we are trying to do.

[ucahogfan]

I don't know why I embolden you by responding to your posts, but intimating that our hitting is somehow a lot better than it was 3 weeks ago just isn't true.

I see you conveniently threw in the 3 non-conf games to help your "argument". Last 9 SEC games:

.224 batting average, 39 runs (4.3 per game)...So yeah, I was WAY off....your posts lose credibility with each one.

I watched just about every pitch of the Vandy series. I watched us scratch out 4 hits on Sunday...all singles

And the respective ERAs of each team entering that series was 2.40 and below.  So, we scored, on average, a little more than 2 more runs a game that they were normally giving up on the year.  Not too shabby for a "horrible" offensive team like we are.

If we had hit this hot streak against our first 3 SEC opponents, we would have probably scored 6-7 runs/game on average.  Those 3 staffs aren't nearly as good as the 3 we just faced and went 5-4 against.  Plus, 11 of the 12 games we just played where BH is getting his numbers from we faced 4 of the top 15 pitching staffs in the country.

And I don't think I have ever seen a college team with the number of power arms Vandy has.  It seems like all of their players minus the two Millers threw in the mid 90s this weekend with very good offspeed.

[ucahogfan]

we have been using a different strategy on offense (depending on who is at the plate) over the last weeks.

i like what we are trying to do.

This is the strategy we should have been using all year as a team.  We should be leading the SEC in stolen bases, but DVH was terrified to run the first half of the year and the last 10 games we have stolen like 15-20 bases it seems like and have only been caught like 2 or 3 times.  It looks like Auburn's main C only throws out about a quarter of attempted base stealers so we should run wild this upcoming weekend.

[bighog2255]

Not too shabby for a "horrible" offensive team like we are.

Ridiculous pitching and below-average hitting. Was hoping we would have a good hitting team this year, but it hasn't happened.

Please don't put words in my mouth. Saying someone is "below average" does not equal "horrible". I think you would agree that "below average" isn't an unfair characterization of this offense.

I do think the potential is there for our offense to really boost these numbers in the last 4 weekend series. While Auburn & Ole Miss have good pitching, A&M and Mizzu's are the worst 2 in the league.

[TNhawgfan]

IF the hitting is going to stay like it's been for the last few weeks we are a top 3 team in the country.

That's a stretch. Hitting has been better lately, but we still struggle to score runs at least twice a week against decent pitching

[ucahogfan]

That's a stretch. Hitting has been better lately, but we still struggle to score runs at least twice a week against decent pitching

We haven't struggled to score runs against decent pitching in quite a while unless you think future big leaguers like Nola and Fulmer equals "decent pitching."  We have average over 4 runs/game the last 3 weekend in SEC play against the best staffs in the conference along with Ole Miss and the Hogs.

[ucahogfan]

Please don't put words in my mouth. Saying someone is "below average" does not equal "horrible". I think you would agree that "below average" isn't an unfair characterization of this offense.

I do think the potential is there for our offense to really boost these numbers in the last 4 weekend series. While Auburn & Ole Miss have good pitching, A&M and Mizzu's are the worst 2 in the league.

I wasn't trying to put words in your mouth.  There have been several posters who think this offense is horrible.  I would say that this is a "below average" offense with "average" offense potential.  We have been playing pretty good offense the last 3 weeks or so and Ole Miss is about the only equivalent of a staff to what we have faced each of the last 3 weekends.

About the only players on this offense who haven't been heating up are Wernes and Bernal and one of those 2 will be siting on the bench if/when McAfee returns.

[ricepig]

We haven't struggled to score runs against decent pitching in quite a while unless you think future big leaguers like Nola and Fulmer equals "decent pitching."  We have average over 4 runs/game the last 3 weekend in SEC play against the best staffs in the conference along with Ole Miss and the Hogs.

Well, it took a bases loaded walk and a passed ball to score 2 of the 3 yesterday.

[ucahogfan]

Well, it took a bases loaded walk and a passed ball to score 2 of the 3 yesterday.

And Ferguson and Ravenelle have big league type stuff.  Mid 90s fastballs with quality offspeed is tough to find on most staffs in the country outside of Vandys.

[ricepig]

And Ferguson and Ravenelle have big league type stuff.  Mid 90s fastballs with quality offspeed is tough to find on most staffs in the country outside of Vandys.

Seems like we see them every weekend, just like we have.

[ucahogfan]

Seems like we see them every weekend, just like we have.

Not so much on Sundays and to the degree that Vandy has them.

And we have done a decent job at producing runs whether it be by the walk or a sac fly, but at least we are scoring at a higher clip than weeks past.

[Amityvillehogger]

Anyone know what Vandys game 2 starter was hitting on the gun? I was there, looked to be low to mid 90's for sure.

[ucahogfan]

Anyone know what Vandys game 2 starter was hitting on the gun? I was there, looked to be low to mid 90's for sure.

He was 94-97 pretty much the entire time he was out there.  Would have been a 2nd-3rd round pick out of high school if it weren't for his commitment to Vandy.  In fact, Vandy is redshirting a guy who will be 95-98 next year because he had TJ last spring.

[tennesseehogwild]

He was 94-97 pretty much the entire time he was out there.  Would have been a 2nd-3rd round pick out of high school if it weren't for his commitment to Vandy.  In fact, Vandy is redshirting a guy who will be 95-98 next year because he had TJ last spring.

Jordan Sheffield! His younger brother, Justice who regularly hits 98 on the gun is also committed to Vandy!

[JayBell]

I was cautiously optimistic heading into the season, while everyone else seemed to be expecting a season where Arkansas might not even make a regional.  I thought with Anderson, Serrano and Spoon back, the offense would be even better than last year.  And Van Horn has been awesome at recruiting top pitchers ever since the new stadium opened up in Omaha.

They are starting to surpass my expectations right now.  I think this team is way better than everyone thought they would be.  It's still a relatively young team and had a gauntlet against the best teams in the SEC over the front half of the conference schedule.  They have a big opportunity to really distinguish themselves as a top team by rolling over the bottom teams over the next few weeks and taking that momentum into the SEC tournament.

[JayBell]

The top six in the order is built pretty much exactly how you'd want a lineup to be now.  You might hope for some more power in the cleanup spot, but you can see how this team can manufacture runs right now.

Hopefully they'll be able to get their bats going more and more over the next few weeks.

[hogman64]

Baxendale has been huge with his 2 out hits, something we didn't get before he was given the DH spot.  If Fisher starts hitting again we will score  runs.......

[hawgcraZ]

Agreed.  I love 1-6 right now.  7-9 is atrocious.  Hopefully McAfee will be back soon to get geared up for the post season.

[ucahogfan]

Agreed.  I love 1-6 right now.  7-9 is atrocious.  Hopefully McAfee will be back soon to get geared up for the post season.

Wise is slowly but surely heating up.  He raised his average like 40 points last week and is hitting the ball as well right now as he has during his time at Arkansas.  Definitely need McAfee back ASAP though.

[Brewerfan10]

Wise is slowly but surely heating up.  He raised his average like 40 points last week and is hitting the ball as well right now as he has during his time at Arkansas.  Definitely need McAfee back ASAP though.

I hope you are right about Wise, it is a whole lot easier though to raise a BA 40 points thought after it is so low with a couple of hits.