How 'Bout Them Bull Dawgs? Statistical Preview of Starkville Regional

I was listening to some more George Strait this morning and heard the song "How 'Bout them Cowgirls?". It talks about how no matter where you travel and what you experience there still is nothing to compare to "them cowgirls". I thought about those words but subbing in "Bull Dawgs".

I believe we will all be taking some deep breaths when this weekend is over but still smiling as we sing "How 'Bout Them Bull Dawgs (maroon flavor)". I am sure detailed scouting reports have been mined and prepared for consumption. The better you know your opponent the better you can match up your pieces to theirs and hopefully overcome them. Make no mistake, anyone can get hot and make a run but I believe we are in position to take the next step to Omaha.

Here are some comparisons and nuggets I found this morning.

Team                 W/L       RPI       BA        HR        Fielding %    Errors      SBs

Miss. State        41-16     11        .312       42         .974               59        50/62

SE. Mo. St        39-19      54        .310* 59* .964                78 74/90

Cal. St. Full.      35-21     42        .273       47         .973               62         62/?

La. Tech           40-18     31* .273       47        .973                61         89/120 Run like Deer from DAWGS!

So as you can see, statistically all of us are pretty close. Note SE. Mo. State's team BA and HRs. They will hit the ball and put it in play.

Nuggets or Dangers:

Miss. State -- Our ss (Ridley) and 3rd baseman (Collins) have combined to make 26 errors!! The rest of the team only has 23. Our pitching stats were a little eye opening also and I can see why we threw the kids in at Hoover that we did.

Pitcher                        ERA                 Record        Saves   IP        BB     K       op. avg

Zac Houston               1.93                 5-0                 x        32.2     16      32      .216

Ryan Rigby                  1.76                 5-1                x        41        12      35      .203*

Dakota Hudson           2.35                 9-4                 x        103.1 30 107 .244

Austin Sexton             3.83* 7-3                 x         89.1     23      88 .264

Konner Pilkington       2.08                 3-1                 x         43.1     15       42 .229

Blake Smith                 3.18                2-1                 4        22.2      11       24     .264

Reid Humpheries        5.48 0-1                  7        21.1       6       28      .286

Our pitching is deep and talented but had some unexpected twists to me. I think we go with Zac or Ryan the first game then come back with Dakota or Austin depending on the opponents batting line-up (lefties and righties). Relief work goes to Konner, Blake and also Ryan Cyr (1.01 ERA in 17 IP) or Jacob Billingsley (1.80 ERA in 10 IP). The others I think you take a tranquilizer if they come in. I had thought Reid would be a strong reliever but the stats don't lie. He's been roughed up pretty good.

We are also 29-5 when we score 1st. So get on and play small-ball to score 1st!

SE Mo. State -- Chris Osborne  .373 BA  with 15 HR    This whole team will and can hit!

Brandon Boggetto    .335 BA   10 HR   but this kid made 16 errors! (Find him guys) 78 team E's

Joey Lucchesi      10-4    1.87 ERA  (The kid is OUTSTANDING! We will have to get his counts UP)

Justin Murphy       4-2   5 Sv   3.00 ERA   These are their best pitchers, get into their BP and runs

come by the bucket full.

Cal. State -- They come in having won 6 of their last 8. They have a chip on their shoulder (look at their FB page) because they thought they would host a regional out west until Hawaii (snicker) swept them near the end. They plan to come here to enjoy the atmosphere (they know the reputation Dudy Noble has) then go play ULL after they slide through Starkvegas.

They beat 2 out of 3 this year and KNOW they got them covered! Caution -- when they get on base  these guys can run!!! 89 stolen bases this year! They have their whole INF and OF back from last year so they are experienced but amazingly they have made 61 errors!

La. Tech -- Chase Lunceford (Clinton HS)  .325 BA  11 HR      49 RBI

Raphael Gladu                                          .365 BA   12  2b 2 HR

Cody Daigle                                              .281        10 HR    37 RBI

Adam Atkins                            6-0     1.1 ERA    9Sv  10 BB      53 K

Casey Sutton                           7-1     1.63 ERA   0Sv   20 BB     42 K

Ok, so that is my scouting report. Remember, "If you don't plan for success your destined for failure."

Play our game and we'll move on singing "How 'Bout them Bull Dawgs!"