Tigahs say Eric Walker will get the ball tonight....

[thekimmer]

He is 5-4, 4,86 and has mostly been their #3 this season. He has has occasionally pitched in the 2 slot but noticed this past weekend he pitched game 1 vs the barn. He pitched the 3rd game in vegas and pitched well giving up no runs on 4 hits in 7 innings. He would be pitching on the same amount of rest as would Small if we chose to throw him.

LSU believes they still have work to do to secure a regional host. Their fans have been very smug about their dominance of us even when we seemingly have the better team. I would LOVE to put a lid on all of that tonight by handing these corn-dog-eating, maneri-whining 17ers their coonasses. I say throw Small.

 

[maroonmania]

I really believe we should go with Small tonight. Our national seed status would be more comfortable if we got at least one win in the SEC tourney and LSU is much more vulnerable to left handed pitching. Throwing Small and Ginn the next 2 days is the best way to ensure we get at least one win. Yes, that would have them throwing on one day shorter rest but they will have extended rest after that prior to the regional which is the most important. If we had won this past Saturday we would have been the 2 seed playing the first game in the morning and would have thrown Small on Thursday anyway. Seriously, is there much difference in Small pitching at 8:30 Wednesday night or 10 a.m. Thursday morning?

 

[MSUDC11]

I really believe we should go with Small tonight. Our national seed status would be more comfortable if we got at least one win in the SEC tourney and LSU is much more vulnerable to left handed pitching. Throwing Small and Ginn the next 2 days is the best way to ensure we get at least one win. Yes, that would have them throwing on one day shorter rest but they will have extended rest after that prior to the regional which is the most important. If we had won this past Saturday we would have been the 2 seed playing the first game in the morning and would have thrown Small on Thursday anyway. Seriously, is there much difference in Small pitching at 8:30 Wednesday night or 10 a.m. Thursday morning?

While I get your point, I would still hold Small for Auburn or Vandy tomorrow and hope you can get through tonight with Johnny Wholestaff. I expect to see Barlow and/or Eagan at some point tonight with the amount of lefties they have.

I agree that I’d feel more comfortable about our national seed status with at least one win this week, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be tonight. I’d still like our chances tomorrow in an elimination game with Small on the hill.

 

[maroonmania]

While I get your point, I would still hold Small for Auburn or Vandy tomorrow and hope you can get through tonight with Johnny Wholestaff. I expect to see Barlow and/or Eagan at some point tonight with the amount of lefties they have.

I agree that I’d feel more comfortable about our national seed status with at least one win this week, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be tonight. I’d still like our chances tomorrow in an elimination game with Small on the hill.

If its Walker for LSU vs. Johnny Wholestaff for us tonight then we are the BIG underdog in the game.

 

[msu_wx]

I am 100% confident we have a national seed locked up, even if we go 2 and que. So I really wouldn’t factor that in too much.

I want to beat LSU more than any other college baseball team. However, I would really feel Small out and see how he feels. I like the idea of giving him an extra day of rest prior to the regional, but some pitchers don’t like that.

Also, is our goal to beat LSU or win the SEC tournament? If we want to win the tournament (which I put as a less important goal than normal this year), holding Small til tomorrow is wisest.

 

[Drebin]

If Small pitches tonight, he's probably not going to go more than five innings. So, you're going to need the pen, and you don't really want to blow through the top part of your pen on the first night.

Save Small for tomorrow, where he can throw on regular rest and give most of the pen a night off. In the grand scheme of things, this game doesn't matter, and truthfully, it's a great opportunity to throw some less-used arms and see how they fare in that setting. Maybe someone gets hot and it carries over to the regionals - which would be huge.

You never want to throw your ace on short rest unless you absolutely have to - like a regional elimination game. This game tonight is not a must-win scenario for us.

 

[MSUDC11]

If its Walker for LSU vs. Johnny Wholestaff for us tonight then we are the BIG underdog in the game.

Which is fine. I get that our fans are sick of constantly losing to LSU in baseball, but this week I’m more concerned with what best prepares us for the Regional. If that means no Small tonight then that’s not a big deal.

Besides, it’s a double elimination tournament. LSU might have a slight edge tonight, but we’d probably have an advantage each of our next three games with our full rotation still available.

 

[maroonmania]

I am 100% confident we have a national seed locked up, even if we go 2 and que. So I really wouldn’t factor that in too much.

I want to beat LSU more than any other college baseball team. However, I would really feel Small out and see how he feels. I like the idea of giving him an extra day of rest prior to the regional, but some pitchers don’t like that.

Also, is our goal to beat LSU or win the SEC tournament? If we want to win the tournament (which I put as a less important goal than normal this year), holding Small til tomorrow is wisest.

Just going on your last comment, if LSU puts us in the loser's bracket with a pretty big pitching advantage tonight, I don't see how that helps our cause IF we want to win the tournament. In fact, win tonight and tomorrow night and you don't even play Friday which is one less day of pitching you use up. Now yes, if we win tonight with midweek guys tonight we are sitting pretty but that seems unlikely to happen if LSU is throwing their current Friday night guy who shut us out for 8 innings in Starkville.

 

[patdog]

5 days rest after throwing only 5 innings last Thursday is NOT short rest. It's plenty. Absolutely no reason not to start Small and pitch him approx 90-100 pitches (whether that's 5 innings or 7 innings) unless Lemonis just really wants to get Smith some innings, which is also a legitimate approach to take to this tournament. Really, no wrong way to play it, unless you pitch Small and leave him out there for 130 pitches.

 

[maroonmania]

Which is fine. I get that our fans are sick of constantly losing to LSU in baseball, but this week I’m more concerned with what best prepares us for the Regional. If that means no Small tonight then that’s not a big deal.

Besides, it’s a double elimination tournament. LSU might have a slight edge tonight, but we’d probably have an advantage each of our next three games with our full rotation still available.

If we think the SEC tourney is absolutely meaningless, I agree that we should hold Small until Thursday.

 

[Go Budaw]

You never want to throw your ace on short rest unless you absolutely have to - like a regional elimination game. This game tonight is not a must-win scenario for us.

It’s not short rest. It’s the exact same amount of rest he had multiple times this season (and throughout his career) when he threw on Friday night one week and Thursday night the next week. It’s basically a normal start for him. I don’t get the hand wringing over this.

 

[Drebin]

I assumed he was throwing on short rest based on another comment I saw without doing the math, so my bad.

That said, he only threw 5 innings in his last start, but they were 5 hard innings with a high pitch count. 90+ pitches while laboring through five innings is not the same thing as 90+ pitches while cruising through 7. Those are precisely the types of outings that you want to try to get a little extra rest afterwards if possible.

 

[MSUDC11]

If we think the SEC tourney is absolutely meaningless, I agree that we should hold Small until Thursday.

Even if one is in the camp of really wanting to win this tournament, you have to win four games. That means we’ll have to win once without one of our starting rotation guys to win the tournament. That either mean doing it tonight or in the championship game.

 

[thekimmer]

Very good point....

Just going on your last comment, if LSU puts us in the loser's bracket with a pretty big pitching advantage tonight, I don't see how that helps our cause IF we want to win the tournament. In fact, win tonight and tomorrow night and you don't even play Friday which is one less day of pitching you use up. Now yes, if we win tonight with midweek guys tonight we are sitting pretty but that seems unlikely to happen if LSU is throwing their current Friday night guy who shut us out for 8 innings in Starkville.

I agree completely that getting into the losers bracket right out of the gate is not going to save pitching. Losers brackets eat up pitching. Also, its not like we are playing memphis in a mid-week game. We are playing a ranked team that beat the brakes off of us twice at home.

If winning the tourney is not vitally important for us then why not just start with the weekend rotation to hopefully win a few games then let the chips fall in the latter games with the pen? What better test of our lesser used arms than pitching in a tournament semi final or final. If we lose, so what?

 

[RPOdawg]

If we are smart we treat tonight like a midweek game. And if we win we treat tomorrow like a midweek game. Then we have Small, Ginn, Plumlee for the weekend which gives us the best chance to win the tournament. Tonight means nothing. We’re a top 4 national seed. It would just be nice to beat them

 

[thekimmer]

If we are smart we treat tonight like a midweek game. And if we win we treat tomorrow like a midweek game. Then we have Small, Ginn, Plumlee for the weekend which gives us the best chance to win the tournament. Tonight means nothing. We’re a top 4 national seed. It would just be nice to beat them

Throwing mid-week guys in consecutive games against SEC starters is virtually guaranteeing a trip to the losers bracket. I fail to see how that is a wise strategy. A wild gamble perhaps.

 

[Cooterpoot]

Small is going tomorrow.

 

[StarkVegas Steve]

If we are smart we treat tonight like a midweek game. And if we win we treat tomorrow like a midweek game. Then we have Small, Ginn, Plumlee for the weekend which gives us the best chance to win the tournament. Tonight means nothing. We’re a top 4 national seed. It would just be nice to beat them

If we win tonight you treat tomorrow like a Friday. 2 wins guarantees you don't play til Saturday which puts you on regular start days for JT and Peyton.

 

[philduckworth]

Small is going tomorrow.

that's the smart move. the right move. I've been impressed with Lemon's common sense factor.

 

[RPOdawg]

If we win tonight you treat tomorrow like a Friday. 2 wins guarantees you don't play til Saturday which puts you on regular start days for JT and Peyton.

Ah yes my bad I forgot about that. Yes small should go tomorrow if we win.

 

[rem101]

I really believe we should go with Small tonight. Our national seed status would be more comfortable if we got at least one win in the SEC tourney and LSU is much more vulnerable to left handed pitching. Throwing Small and Ginn the next 2 days is the best way to ensure we get at least one win. Yes, that would have them throwing on one day shorter rest but they will have extended rest after that prior to the regional which is the most important. If we had won this past Saturday we would have been the 2 seed playing the first game in the morning and would have thrown Small on Thursday anyway. Seriously, is there much difference in Small pitching at 8:30 Wednesday night or 10 a.m. Thursday morning?

Our national seed is more comfortable than me on my couch on a rainy Sunday during football season. I would like to get a win or two to keep momentum, but this tournament doesn't matter for us. Stay healthy, get some guys some work in and get ready for next weekend.

 

[$altyDawg]

^^^^ This is absolutely true. Our best chance to beat LSU is with Small. If we follow that with a win tomorrow we get Friday off and rest our #3 starter for the semis on Saturday.