2026 Baseball Mega Thread

[311neers]

Has the defensive shift worked once tonight? Southern Miss always hits it in the right spot.

Shift hasn’t worked in 4 years.

[BambooRdApp]

I think our losses are talent based. We have a terrible bullpen. We have one of the worst fielding % in the conference. Coaching can only go so far. .in the 8th, the hit to 3rd base should have been an easy catch and throw. However, 3rd basemen decides to peak at runner before he actually catches the ball. Not sure how much coaching can be done to solve that riddle. Recruiting is a part of coaching. If our coach is not recruiting the right guys, that can be attributed to the coach, whether pitching or a position player... And some of it is nil. Lost our freshman starting SS to Miami I believe in portal last year.
With that said, we took the 11th ranked team to the wire yesterday with much lesser talent in my opinion. No moral victory though. Play the game to win.

[AppDawg]

The team plays to competition and has the Yips. 100% late game mental block - they tighten up and are playing scared not to make a mistake. It’s as if they cannot believe they are winning and the “don’t mess this up” / “how are we going to mess it up this time” / “here we go again” thoughts starts to percolate.

That is the only thing to me that can explain all of the losses snatched from jaws of victory during the opponents last 3 to 6 outs of the game.

The talent is there. It feels to me like once they can break this block by “learning how to win” the sky is the limit.

[Stonewall]

“Deja vu , all over again “

[BambooRdApp]

Hopefully, we play well today and tomorrow. In theory, our two most difficult series will be behind us with Beach Chickens and USM. We can still finish in upper half if starting pitching continues to be good

[311neers]

The team plays to competition and has the Yips. 100% late game mental block - they tighten up and are playing scared not to make a mistake. It’s as if they cannot believe they are winning and the “don’t mess this up” / “how are we going to mess it up this time” / “here we go again” thoughts starts to percolate.

That is the only thing to me that can explain all of the losses snatched from jaws of victory during the opponents last 3 to 6 outs of the game.

The talent is there. It feels to me like once they can break this block by “learning how to win” the sky is the limit.

Schedule harder early on and maybe these things don’t continue to happen.

[Appmountaineers19]

It’s been said on here and I’ve said it. I think they have enough talent to compete and scare better teams. They have two quality starters that can keep them in games. They have 9 to 10 position players that they can mix and match. They have a few more bullpen pieces then in years past. They are middle of the pack in both batting and pitching. They are dead last in fielding and it’s not even close. Even the teams with more talent would have a hard time winning given a lot of these mistakes come in critical times. Also lots of mental mistakes going on whether it be on the base paths or in the field.

[AppDawg]

The team plays to competition and has the Yips. 100% late game mental block - they tighten up and are playing scared not to make a mistake. It’s as if they cannot believe they are winning and the “don’t mess this up” / “how are we going to mess it up this time” / “here we go again” thoughts starts to percolate.

That is the only thing to me that can explain all of the losses snatched from jaws of victory during the opponents last 3 to 6 outs of the game.

The talent is there. It feels to me like once they can break this block by “learning how to win” the sky is the limit.

Schedule harder early on and maybe these things don’t continue to happen.

One would like to think, but that doesn’t explain the Gardner Webb series or the High Point game.

[Bigdaddyg1]

At this level of baseball there are certain things that should be basic, catching fly balls, fielding routine ground balls, laying down bunts, not getting picked off at first- the only time this ever happens is because of a mental lapse of the runner. I really have a hard time blaming coaches for mental mistakes that continue to happen. If you make good pitches and the other team simply hits the ball then losses happen. Numerous walks and HBP is ridiculous. I do hate the overuse of “analytics” and the shift. Just field your damn positions and hustle for the ball. This approach worked for decades until coaches got cute and tried to create advantages that don’t always work.

[T-Dog]

Has the defensive shift worked once tonight? Southern Miss always hits it in the right spot.

Shift hasn’t worked in 4 years.

Southern Miss did a shift last year where the SS went to shallow right and the 2nd played in close to the bag and it worked like a charm on certain left handed hitters.

[311neers]

Has the defensive shift worked once tonight? Southern Miss always hits it in the right spot.

Shift hasn’t worked in 4 years.

Southern Miss did a shift last year where the SS went to shallow right and the 2nd played in close to the bag and it worked like a charm on certain left handed hitters.

Their pitchers can locate. Especially on dead pull lefties.

[BUTCH1991]

Zamora to the pine today.

[311neers]

Didn’t think I’d see Zamora and Xuereb benched but here we are. Got to produce to play! Next man up.

[BambooRdApp]

Nico injured? Get why he did not face lefty last night. Got righty today

[AppGrad78]

Nico injured? Get why he did not face lefty last night. Got righty today

He’s in a fairly deep slump.

[BUTCH1991]

Looking like another long day and another inconsistent umpire.

[AppGrad78]

24 pitches for Peterson. Still no outs.

[BUTCH1991]

Over 30

[BambooRdApp]

Way to get out of a self inflicted jam with only one run given up. Gage may not last 3 innings with number of pitches in first. But, job well done given circumstances

[AppGrad78]

Kam with his fifth-straight strikeout (most of the backward Ks) since his return to the lineup.