Is this weekend when we turn it around?

#1

Freak

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#1
In 2023 the Vanderbilt series was a turning point in our season, although it was played earlier in the year. (It's hard to believe we were 5-10 in the conference heading into that series). Can this instate rivalry light a fire under this year's team?

I mean, this picture makes me want to sweep these guys. What say you?

1746730189341.png
 
#4
#4
In 2023 the Vanderbilt series was a turning point in our season, although it was played earlier in the year. (It's hard to believe we were 5-10 in the conference heading into that series). Can this instate rivalry light a fire under this year's team?

I mean, this picture makes me want to sweep these guys. What say you?

View attachment 740668
IMG_6407.png
 
#5
#5
Don’t know if I’m accurate on this, but I believe there are 2 ways we get to the Top 8 without sweeping both of the last 2 series.

Scenario 1 : we sweep Vandy and get 1 in Arkansas.

Scenario 2 : we win both series even without sweeping.

I might be wrong with scenario 1, just a guess.
 
#8
#8
In 2023 the Vanderbilt series was a turning point in our season, although it was played earlier in the year. (It's hard to believe we were 5-10 in the conference heading into that series). Can this instate rivalry light a fire under this year's team?

I mean, this picture makes me want to sweep these guys. What say you?

View attachment 740668
I've got a suggestion for the placement of Whiney-boy Corbin's thumb.
 
#10
#10
If I could wave one, target-designated magic wand to improve our hitting, I would wave it over our infield throwing errors. Defensive confidence would make batting less critical.

I think those errors stick in heads and are effecting batting, either trying to "make up" for a personal error, or trying to "make up the difference" for errors that registered as runs.

I'm probably guilty of applying basketball thinking to baseball. But confidence that you can shut down a team on D certainly makes scoring each possession feel less critical.

Maybe a Zen approach would be better:

"The zone at the plate will be found in the glove."
---Dojo DiMaggio
 
#14
#14
I think we are all optimistic that we can regain our mojo, but with our play of late puts a huge question mark of how good of a team we really are. We definitely have the talent to win, but our lack of hitting, defensive mistakes, and Sunday pitching leads one to believe we have issues that we are battling mentally. Baseball is such a confidence driven sport, that when struggling it’s like treading water upstream. Don’t think for a minute that Tony is not challenging their will to overcome and conquer our problems. Ever since A&M rocked us in games 2 & 3, we have not looked the same, and I think Tony has tried to push every button to get it going in the right direction. Our time is running thin, we either put up or shut up these next two weekends. In Tony I trust! Go Vols!
 
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#15
#15
If we lose this series to Vandy at home that would be 4 out of 5 series lost at LNS this year in conference play. In early April, that would have been unthinkable. Say it ain’t so BaseVols, win this series over our bitter rivals from I-40 west.
 
#19
#19
I don’t think Tony has ever been a stickler for defense. He is an offensive minded coach. I think the defensive lapses have always been there, they were not so critiCal to the final score because the offense was so overpowering, and the pitching was so good they overcame the errors.
This team is still pretty good, just in the SEC pretty good puts you mid pack. Losing AJ as a dominant starter alongside Doyle, completely changed the pitching. Imagine having Doyle, Phillips, and early 24 season AJ Russell as the starting pitching.
I think the errors are hurting the bullpen the most. The pen is not as strong as past seasons, and errors are harder to overcome ( LSU 9th inning). Add in playing a lot of Fr and you end up mid pack.
if you look at LSU after the 23 NC, they seemed to have a dramatic drop off, but they were still a tuff out in the tournament, simply because the conference is so good it made them look average. I think fans get spoiled after a few years of success. Although I don’t see Tenn making it to Omahamthis season, I trust Tony’s coaching and recruiting to have us there many times in the future.
 
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#24
#24
Maybe next weekend. Our bats are just to cold. And our Saturday and Sunday pitching is not good. At this level at least. But it’s Baseball. Gotta get hot at the right time.
 

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