2026 Baseball Mega Thread

[appvette]

Excuses won’t carry a lot of weight going forward. My read anyway.

Not trying to find excuses to say it's ok. I'm trying to understand if we're in a slump that'll likely carry into the tournament, or if there were external factors that suggest we'll be hitting well again in the tournament.

[Stonewall]

Not directed at you or anyone. Just making a statement.

[BUTCH1991]

Well, if his job is still on the line after 3rd place finish, he's doomed.

[Stonewall]

I have no reason to believe that he won’t return next season.

[AtlAppMan]

I am glad we finished 3rd in SBC.
But you want to compare yourself to winners. In last 10 games,
USM - 9-1
CCU - 4-6
App - 4-6
We have to figure out to finish the season if we want to be relevant in the playoffs.

[Stonewall]

Louisiana is a good team and we almost stole that series. G State however is not a good team and except for one inning we were worse.

[AppContrarian]

To be fair, Georgia State posted wins over No. 2 Georgia Tech and No. 7 Coastal this year.

[appvette]

I am glad we finished 3rd in SBC.
But you want to compare yourself to winners. In last 10 games,
USM - 9-1
CCU - 4-6
App - 4-6
We have to figure out to finish the season if we want to be relevant in the playoffs.

Technically, you just showed we're on par with a former national champion (and last year's runner up)

[311neers]

I am glad we finished 3rd in SBC.
But you want to compare yourself to winners. In last 10 games,
USM - 9-1
CCU - 4-6
App - 4-6
We have to figure out to finish the season if we want to be relevant in the playoffs.

Technically, you just showed we're on par with a former national champion (and last year's runner up)

Unfortunately, we got swept by them. But, we should have won 1 or 2.
I think that's where Stonewall is coming from. The "should haves" are piling up the past 5 years.
Time to actually beat some of these guys and make a run in the tourney.

[appvette]

I hope we can do that, but I don't think it's realistic to say we SHOULD be beating those guys regularly. In 2024 we beat Coastal 3 of 4 games and the single loss was in extra innings. Doing that regularly would be a miracle. I think Coastal spends 3 times as much as us, and we all know the recruiting advantages they have with weather, facilities, attendance, and history. USM is top 10 in the nation in attendance and the only program to win 40+ game every season in the last decade.

[AtlAppMan]

In baseball, I am not expecting sweeps against top competition but you MUST be able to win the series, 2-1. I have followed the Braves forever and that is how the best teams perform. You can't pad your stats only against weak teams only while losing most series against better/middling teams and then think you can win in the playoffs. Some years the Braves did just the above (i.e. beat up lessor teams and then can't compete when playoffs are only the good teams).

[Stonewall]

We have had a “ good season” certainly by our historical standards. Had we turned some of those “ could have won” into victories it would have been exceptional. Be that as it may , we start anew Wednesday with an opportunity to show who we are in 26.

[AppinVA]

We have had a “ good season” certainly by our historical standards. Had we turned some of those “ could have won” into victories it would have been exceptional. Be that as it may , we start anew Wednesday with an opportunity to show who we are in 26.

How do our “could have wons” balance with our “could have losts?”

[BambooRdApp]

Congratulations to Colton Denton who has been named to the inaugural All-Sun Belt Freshman Team!

https://x.com/i/status/2056465093530157229

[BambooRdApp]

Congratulations to Charlie Evans who has been named a All-Sun Belt second team outfielder

https://x.com/i/status/2056465345251098634

[BambooRdApp]

Congratulations to Steven Smith who has been named the All-Sun Belt first team shortstop!

https://x.com/i/status/2056465596972401134

[BambooRdApp]

Congratulations to Gage Peterson who has been named the Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year and an All-Sun Belt first team pitcher!

https://x.com/i/status/2056465848529977380

[311neers]

DuPont probably missed a few too many but he had a heck of a year.
As did Puig.

And DiRito.
Fisher
Wilson
Tramontana.

[311neers]

I hope we can do that, but I don't think it's realistic to say we SHOULD be beating those guys regularly. In 2024 we beat Coastal 3 of 4 games and the single loss was in extra innings. Doing that regularly would be a miracle. I think Coastal spends 3 times as much as us, and we all know the recruiting advantages they have with weather, facilities, attendance, and history. USM is top 10 in the nation in attendance and the only program to win 40+ game every season in the last decade.

It’s realistic that We should beat Gardner Webb.
And at least split Western.
And High Point.
Not lose to Queens.
ETSU wins were great.

I believe this is the hesitation from the decision makers about where we currently are. Winning in the Sun Belt is great, but if you keep finishing 3rd-8th and never win the tournament with no ALB…what do you have?
Nothing really other than a competitive ball club in conference. And maybe that’s enough. We’re light years ahead of where we were 2015-2020 but we need to pick it up OOC if we really want to make some noise.

[BUTCH1991]

It is sad/bad/something when D1Baseball.com projects the #1, #2 & #7 seeds in the Sun Belt to make the tournament and the #4, #5, & #6 seeds are all 3 listed in the 1st 4 out of the tournament. What about #3? Granted, I don't think we deserve consideration for an at large, it just looks weird.