[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hey, welcome in Arkansas. Going to play Stetson this weekend at Baum Walker Stadium. Looks like the forecast is going to.
It's gotten better since earlier in the week. Now tomorrow's game, Friday's game has been moved to one o', clock, so that's five hours earlier than originally scheduled. The other games this weekend are as scheduled, so 2 o' clock Saturday, 1 o' clock on Sunday and it's four game series. So they're going to play Monday at noon as well. Looks like the rain is going to be out of here by Saturday night, so. So I think that they're probably going to be able to get all of these games in. Arkansas comes in 10 and 3, Stetson is 5 and 8. I think they're a much better team though, Bubba, than their record would tell you. They played a pretty competitive schedule the first weekend they played some, you know, they're in Florida so they get a lot of teams that want to come to Florida because of the weather early in the year and they had some good teams come in the first weekend. They lost to midweek, got swept by Florida. That got him off to an 05 record.
But since then, you know, they beat, they beat Virginia.
You know, we'll see how Virginia is after Brian o' Connor has left there and gone to Mississippi State. But that's been historically a pretty good program.
Won a couple of games last week, got beat by South Florida on Tuesday night. But you look at them, they've been to the regional two years in a row. They got a lot of the players back from that team that went to the regional last year. And then, you know, you look at the. It's kind of like we were talking about Arkansas State a week or so ago. You look at where some of these players are transferring in from and these are good programs. I mean, you know, guys from Florida, from Alabama, from SEC programs, ACC programs. I think this is going to be a good challenge for the Racerbacks this weekend.
[00:01:37] Speaker B: I think so. I did the same thing I did before Arkansas State kind of go through and I do it when we're playing the midweek games. I always want to know where guys are transferring in from. And yeah, they got some good players and they look to be another old team, a veteran team and boy, you never know what's going to happen. You're facing a team that's older like that and it seems like that's the story in college baseball right now.
[00:01:59] Speaker A: They picked off some teams before now I don't know that they've won a series but, you know, they've, they've won some games over SEC teams. Like I, you know, they beaten Florida in a midweek, those type of games.
[00:02:10] Speaker B: So who'd they beat last year? Didn't they beat. Was it Alabama they beat in a regional last year?
[00:02:15] Speaker A: Might have been.
[00:02:15] Speaker B: Because someone in a regional last year, an SEC team.
[00:02:19] Speaker A: Keep talking. I.
[00:02:20] Speaker B: Look, I want to say.
But on the Virginia, on the Virginia thing, I wonder how good Virginia is because it seems like half their team went to Mississippi State.
[00:02:28] Speaker A: Yeah. And, you know, and like last year, they were expected to be a lot better than they ended up being.
So let's see here. Last year, Stetson, at the regional, they beat NC State 11 to 2. Then they lost to Auburn 8 to 5. This was in Auburn.
And then they got eliminated by NC State, 1712. So they beat NC State. They might have beaten Alabama two years ago. I'm not sure. Like I said, you know, they've been in the tournament the last two years. They even, I think they hosted a super regional in 2018.
So, I mean, there's, there's, there's a history there.
Not under or not only under Steve Tremper, who's their coach now, but the coach before him, Pete Dunn, who.
He's one of the 30 winningest coaches in the history of college baseball across all divisions. If you look at just division one, I think it's top 20.
So there's a history there that, you know, is, it's, I guess it's one of those where it has a tendency to get overlooked a little bit because they're not in a power conference and, you know, they're not like Coastal Carolina, who's made that long, deep run into Omaha. But it's, it's a good program. It's. It's a, it's a program that I think gets some pretty good support there in Central Florida.
[00:03:33] Speaker B: Well, and if anytime you're in Florida, you're going to pull good players, looks like they pull a lot of guys up out of Miami, out of that area. And it's, there's good players all over Florida, so. And that's how big's our school? It's a couple thousand. It's not a big school.
[00:03:48] Speaker A: I don't know. I haven't looked at the enrollment.
[00:03:49] Speaker B: That's small school.
[00:03:51] Speaker A: They did beat Alabama two years ago in a regional, so you got that 2024. 2024. They beat Alabama Ford enough a year off in an elimination game in, in Tallahassee.
[00:04:02] Speaker B: Yeah, I remember. I just remember. I don't Know why that's, that stands out. But yeah, it was a big win for them.
[00:04:07] Speaker A: I want to tell you today's baseball podcast brought to you by H and R Tire and auto. They're a third generation family owned business serving northwest Arkansas since 1976. Just like great baseball programs, H and R is built on consistency, trust in doing things the right way with no shortcuts and no gimmicks. Arkansas, we'll talk more about the Stetson series here a little bit later. Like I said, I talked to Steve Tremper, their head coach this week and they got some good stuff from him. I want to go back and talk about ORU first though. Arkansas beat them 10 to 2 on Tuesday night and it kind of felt like they were in cruise control. I mean, you get up big about the fourth inning and add on a couple of more runs in the fifth inning, it certainly felt like you were about to get another run, roll, win there and then it just felt like it was very, a very maybe unclean operation the last three innings or so. And when Dave Van Horn came into the news conference on Tuesday night, you could tell that he was a little disappointed in how they had played for about the last hour, you know, before he had come in there. And that game took a long time to finish. 45 different players played in that game.
I can't remember a time where 45 players played in a game. There were 25 for ORU, there were 24 Arkansas. Both of the teams basically emptied out the bullpen, they emptied out the dugout.
It was, it was just a very strange game. I know you can get weird on the midweek, but that was, that was one of the more unique ones I can remember being at.
[00:05:33] Speaker B: Yeah, it kind of fizzled out at the end. But you know, for me I was excited to see guys that I hadn't got to see pitch like Lauren Zini. Excited to see him pitch. I felt bad for him. I think he fell behind a guy two zero and gave up a home run, which is no big deal. I mean, it happens.
And then Martin came in. It's good to see Martin come in and finish the game out.
But yeah, it's just kind of. But I do like seeing some of the players that don't get many at bats. I like to see them come out and get some at bats and get, get some experience from both teams. And you know, Chuck was joking about his scorebook was just a mess.
[00:06:08] Speaker A: Oh yeah.
[00:06:08] Speaker B: You know, and, and he doesn't, he does things a little different when he's keeping a scorebook.
And we just. Yeah, we just kind of lost control in the booth, so it kind of felt like on the field, too. It just kind of. We just didn't finish. We didn't finish strong.
But overall, I thought it was a good game. We still hit. And you and I were texting about this. I think you were asking me about some Velos.
16 balls over 100 miles an hour.
[00:06:33] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:06:33] Speaker B: That's two games in a row. And the threshold for a hard hit ball, you know, is 95. I don't even look at 95 anymore. I go 100. Anything over 100, and I don't even know how many balls we hit over 95. I didn't even count those. But to hit 16 balls over 100 miles an hour, that's. That's impressive. Now, Zach Stewart had four of them.
[00:06:52] Speaker A: All of his were 106 and above.
[00:06:55] Speaker B: Yeah, 106. Like 108, 110, 114 off the second base. That poor second baseman.
[00:07:02] Speaker A: How do you think his leg is feeling?
[00:07:03] Speaker B: Not good. So we were. We were joking. We're. I was. I was watching him because I know it had to hurt. And finally, about a pitch later, he finally reaches down and rubs it. I think he just wanted to see his leg was still there, but he did not want any part of that ball. It was. It was.
And it was. It was hit so hard, it got up on him, and he was just, like, in panic mode. But, yeah, it was. That ball was smoked. And he. When he. When Zach hits the ball, there's certain guys, when they hit, it makes a different noise, just a different sound off his bat.
[00:07:35] Speaker A: Well, it's like Caglion. And we talked about that whenever he was here a year or two ago, and I told you that's what that reminded me of. Remember Caglion? I think he grounded out 115 back to Hagen Smith.
[00:07:47] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:07:47] Speaker A: And that's what that reminded me of. I mean, I don't know that I've ever seen another ground ball other than, like, Cagliosis bomb, where we've got the trackman, you know, sitting right there in front of us. That's hit on the ground at that, you know, at that velocity. Like Kuhio, he had a. He won 117 last year against TCU. I think it was down in Arlington. But that was a home run.
That's a ball in the air. Yeah, like. Like 114 on the ground. That's a totally different.
Different deal, I feel like.
[00:08:16] Speaker B: Yeah, and. And. But he hits everything Hard. And I'll tell you, another ball that made a different sound off the bat was Pompey's home run. Yeah, that ball off the bat, you didn't even see it. You could hear that that ball was smoked.
[00:08:29] Speaker A: It was 110.
[00:08:30] Speaker B: 110.
[00:08:31] Speaker A: It went 437ft. Into a pretty good wind.
[00:08:34] Speaker B: Yeah, into a wind. You don't realize how hard the wind's blowing, do you? Get up there, you can kind of look at the flag, but yeah, it's.
[00:08:41] Speaker A: It was.
[00:08:42] Speaker B: That ball was. That ball was hit.
[00:08:43] Speaker A: Well, what did Dave Van Horn say? Like, you got to put a big boy swing on that.
[00:08:47] Speaker B: He did, yeah, yeah, something like that. Yeah.
[00:08:49] Speaker A: It was good to see him. I mean, he made contact, which is. Is. That's progress. I feel like for him, whenever he's had so many, not just swing and miss, but I mean, it's like so many three pitch swing and miss at bats for him up until that point.
[00:09:04] Speaker B: Well, I watch him take BP and boy, the way the ball comes off his bat, it's electric. You just want him to figure it out. You're just like, please figure it out. The same with Nolan.
I told Nolan Sousa after the game, his. His first swing, he swung in a fastball just above the belt, and it was an awesome swing. Fouled it back, but he's right on it. And I'm like, nolan, I love your first swing today. I said, that was awesome. Now he fouled it off, but I don't care. That was. He attacked it. And you know, you look at, you look at a guy like him and Pompey, they're so big and strong, boy, when they barrel it, it. You know it.
[00:09:44] Speaker A: Well, Poppy, he's got such good speed that if he can just put the bat on the ball, you just. Just kind of see what happens. Like he scored on that dirt ball read from third base, where I didn't know that. Like, like there aren't a whole lot of guys that can, number one, read it that well, but then number two, once they make that read, still beat that, you know, beat that play to the plate. It. I thought they might have an out at home plate right there. But, you know, credit to him, he read it well and then he's got the speed to back it up.
[00:10:12] Speaker B: I think he fooled everybody on that. I think the catcher was surprised. The pitcher, he didn't even come cover home plate because I don't think he anticipated anyone possibly scoring.
But that's a guy reading down angle out of the pitcher's hand. He Anticipated that it was going to be in the dirt. And I think he was already kind of moving. But that ball didn't get. I don't even think it got out of the, the circle.
[00:10:36] Speaker A: I don't think it did either. No. The catcher, catcher kind of had a little trouble finding it, but had he found it, he may have had a little bit of a play. I don't know.
Because, because Pompey was flying down the line.
[00:10:47] Speaker B: That was, that was a phenomenal read. But that shows you the stuff he can do.
[00:10:50] Speaker A: He had a triple in the fall. I think it was against dbu where, I mean, it looks like it's going to be, you know, maybe a stand up double at second out. And I mean, he, he just between first and second, he hit it into another gear where it's like everybody in the ballpark's like, whoa. And you know, he ends up with a slide in triple. And you know, again, he's got really good speed. It's just he's got to be able to put the bat on the ball. And he did that the other day. I think he went 2 for 3. He drew a walk, which was good to see. He hasn't had a whole lot of those this year. And he had the one strikeout. So I thought it was progress over what he had been doing.
[00:11:29] Speaker B: And what was the home run was a two strike pitch.
Um, I think it was two strike pitch. I think it was a split finger change that he hit out, but he stayed on it. So I mean, that's good. You know, hopefully we're going in the right direction.
I think it's a game of adjustments, Matt. I mean, you're constantly like, you look at pitchers are constantly, you know, they're playing catch, they're tweaking their pitches just a little bit. And the same with the hitters. I think Nate's constantly, you know, working with the guys and just making little adjustments where you're just trying to get a little bit more athletic in the box or you're trying to work on your swing direction. It's just, it's. I think we forget these guys.
We put them on such a pedestal, but they're college athletes.
You know, when, when they make an error, we're like, oh, well, major league players make errors. Yeah, you know, it's, it's going to happen. Major league players strike out. I think it's more how this strikeout is. Is it a competitive strikeout or is it non competitive? And I think that was the thing with Pompey early on. Some of them were non competitive.
You just felt like, wow, he didn't see that ball. And honestly, I was hoping that he went to the eye doctor. They were going to say, oh, your depth perception's off. There's a problem there, you know, but I think it's probably just more mental than anything. And once he gets his head right, I think he's going to start hammering the ball.
[00:12:49] Speaker A: If he had any type of eye adjustment, that collision with Peck might have. Might have, like, adjusted him back into 2020 vision.
[00:12:57] Speaker B: So who caught that? Did Pompey catch it?
[00:12:59] Speaker A: Pompey caught it.
[00:13:00] Speaker B: Okay. Because I couldn't tell.
[00:13:01] Speaker A: He was calling for it.
[00:13:03] Speaker B: Chuck and I were talking about it on the air. I couldn't tell who caught it. But, you know, God bless Pack. I mean, he. He's a freshman trying to make a play. I think the wind pushed that ball.
It kept bringing the ball towards third base, but, boy, he came a long way to. To almost catch that.
[00:13:21] Speaker A: So I want to ask you about this, because you played first.
Van Horn, after the game, he made it sound like that might have been on Pompey, that he's got to, you know, he's got to make that call several times and he's got to make it earlier.
So the first baseman, you know, knows to steer clear, like, kind of take us inside that play. Like. Like, what are the dynamics between the first baseman and the third baseman on a play like that?
[00:13:44] Speaker B: Well, first of all, you need to know the wind. So the wind's blowing across, so anything that goes up, like, that's going to filter back that way anyway. So with the wind, it's going to come even more.
But, yeah, I want my third baseman early on to be vocal. You don't call it till it gets up to the highest point, you know, because you never know what a ball's going to do. But, yeah, he's got to let everybody in the ballpark know I got it, I got it. I don't know what their verbiage is. If they saw. They say ball or, you know, if it's ball, ball. But whatever it is, he's got to say it loud, multiple times. That way the first baseman doesn't come all the way across the field.
[00:14:20] Speaker A: I think he said it one time.
[00:14:22] Speaker B: Yeah, you guys say more than that. Because the big thing is what if, you know, what if Alexander saw the ball go up and, you know, when it gets up there, it looks like that's right on the mound, probably from his vantage point. He probably thought it was on the Mound. Because when it started coming down, it really started to filter towards third. So if they both call it at the same time, they don't hear the other person calling it. I think that's why Dave's like, hey, you got to call it multiple times.
I like, I got it, I got it, I got it. Or mine. Ball, ball, ball, mine, mine. Whatever it is, give me three of them. Then, you know, you know, you know, there's, you know, who's got it.
[00:14:58] Speaker A: I almost feel like in a situation like that, when you're so intently focused on tracking the ball that it can paralyze some of your other senses. Like. Like you're hearing and. And maybe even your. Your, you know, perception of where someone else is.
[00:15:11] Speaker B: Yeah. And I don't think Peck knew.
I doubt if he knew he was that far.
Cause he was on the other side of the mountain.
[00:15:18] Speaker A: He was on.
[00:15:19] Speaker B: He was over by third base.
I love the hustle, though. But, you know, he's a freshman. He's coming in, he's wanting to make a play, you know, so. But yeah, that was.
I mean, it would have been. Would have been an infield fly anyway.
But, I mean, I guess it could have hit Pompey and trickled into the dugout and everyone moved up.
[00:15:38] Speaker A: You know, there's always those plays when people get hurt at the ballpark where there's just like this groan.
And there was the groan.
[00:15:44] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:15:44] Speaker A: After that play.
[00:15:45] Speaker B: Yeah. Because Pompey stayed down for just a second.
[00:15:47] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, that's two big bodies. His sunglasses, they flew. I mean, they. You know, they may have ended up on the other side of the foul line. I don't know. It was pretty good collision.
[00:15:57] Speaker B: It was. That's two big boys. But I'll tell you the one that scared me. And was it. Or Robertson. No, it wasn't. Or Roberts.
[00:16:03] Speaker A: It was last weekend. Are you talking about when the center fielder. Fielder almost collided?
[00:16:07] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, that was Ruiz.
[00:16:09] Speaker A: And News and News, those are two very fast guys.
[00:16:12] Speaker B: They were flying in the gap, and I'm like, oh, no, this isn't good. Because from my vantage point, they were getting ready to hit.
And I would assume new at the last minute called it. Ruiz did the right thing. He peeled off. But boy, from. From the booth. And I don't know what it looked like to Dave and them in the dugout from the booth, it looked like they were getting ready to collide full speed. And that would not have been good.
[00:16:35] Speaker A: It was interesting. There was a play like that, similar to it. I can't remember exactly how it went in the fall exhibition against dbu, and it was Brenton Clark and Mike and new. I remember one of the two of them were telling me about how, like, you know, they'd kind of come up with this language they used to communicate with each other. And it's interesting, I mean, because you played outfield, too. How does that communication go?
[00:16:59] Speaker B: It used to be, I got it, I got it, take it, take it. And then they kind of took the take it out, where it's just, I got it. That way there's not too much, you know, because you get in a stadium, a lot of times, there's a lot of noise, you know, so you. You don't want to hear that. Sometimes you might misinterpret what, you know, the take it is. But here at U of A, way back in the day, Coach D was, I got it, I got it, take it, take it.
But, yeah, when you get into pro ball, it's really just, you know, because a lot of times there's a lot more noise, and you're just trying to say, I got it, I got it. But you say it multiple times.
[00:17:34] Speaker A: Very interesting how all that goes. Like the thing that I love about baseball, and it's this way with all sports. I know, but I feel like with baseball, maybe more so than any other sport, there's so many little intricacies of the game where, you know, like, people want to focus, you know, very broadly on, okay, pitching, hitting. But there's so many other little things that go into it.
[00:17:55] Speaker B: There is, and that's why baseball's so awesome.
We had a. We had a practice last week where I was talking to my middle infielders. A ball fell.
The. There was miscommunication between the second baseman and right fielder, and they were both kind of timid. Like the. The.
You got to have trust there as an. As an infielder going back, you're. You're taught to go get the ball until the outfielder calls you off. As an outfielder, you're taught that's your ball. Come get it. You've got priority. It's easier for you to catch it coming in, but your infielder has to trust the outfielder so there's not a collision. If the infielder doesn't trust that the outfielder is going to call him off, he's a little timid going back, and you end up, you know, kind of alligator arming it or just not getting to the ball. So there has to be a lot of trust there. And then as a Center fielder, you're the captain out there, so you're off. Outfielders, it's the same. You've got to trust that that center fielder coming across, if he's there, he's going to call you off, then you know, to peel off. If not, you're going to it until he does.
So it's all about trust and being just a good teammate, you know, and
[00:19:02] Speaker A: you probably only make that mistake once, right?
[00:19:04] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. And unfortunately, once it happens, once, you've kind of lost that trust because in the back of your mind, you don't. Do I trust this guy? Is he going to. You know. So. Yeah.
[00:19:15] Speaker A: Very interesting. I want to tell you Southern Loft believes your home should reflect your unique personality. That's why they offer a wide variety of stylish furniture pieces that are perfect for any taste. Whether you're looking for a new sofa for the living room, a sleek dining table for your kitchen, they've got just what you need. When you're looking for that piece of furniture that reflects you, visit Southern Loft at 3155 North College Avenue in Fayetteville or call 479-856-6100.
Dave Van Horn threw BP last week. There was a little bit made of this and, you know, it's. This is kind of the nature of baseball. It seems like, you know, once something happens, everybody has to kind of pile on and put their own. Like, like, have you noticed in the press conferences here lately, everybody's asking about. I say everybody. I have not asked one question about it because frankly, I'm a little tired of it. But like, everybody's asking these questions about the eye black that the players are wearing.
[00:20:08] Speaker B: I've heard you guys talk about that.
[00:20:09] Speaker A: No, you haven't heard me talk about it. Well, you've heard other people talk about it.
[00:20:13] Speaker B: Well, when you guys. I just met the guys in the.
[00:20:15] Speaker A: I do think the first day it came up, I did ask a follow up. I said, I'm sure Cam had something to do with the I black. And sure enough, yes, he did. But no. So. But there's been a lot of little bit of talk about Dave Van Horn throwing batting practice last week. And when you see your head coach out there throwing BP and you know, he usually doesn't do it, I wonder what are you thinking as a. Or as a, as a player?
[00:20:43] Speaker B: I think you can look at it two different ways. They're like, you know, oh, no, he's doing bp. So we're in panic mode. We're looking at a different look, or you can say, hey, he just wants to see, he just wants to be out there and just see what the hitters are doing. You know, you notice Dave stands out in, just in left center, past shortstop, in between, and watches, watches bp. I remember a long time ago he used to stand by the turtle and watch. Now he goes out in the field. I think he just liked the view of being on the mound, just kind of seeing what the hitters were doing. And the hitters all seemed to like it. They went out and hit the ball. Well, the thing is, is it's a good thing Dave's not as superstitious as me because I would have had to throw in BP again and then if we hit the ball well, I'd have thrown it again and again. And I didn't get a chance to ask Dave if his arm was sore. I don't know if any of you guys did that next day.
[00:21:33] Speaker A: I did ask him after because, you know, he did it on Saturday and he said on the pregame show that he had thrown 175 to 200 pitches. I don't know if that's accurate. Maybe it's a little bit of an embellishment, I don't know.
But I said, you know, you guys hit well. He goes, does that mean I have to do it every game now? He goes, because if I do, I will die.
[00:21:53] Speaker B: Well, you know how important a good BP coach is. We're so lucky to have Bobby Warrenis and Clay Goodwin because you got to have good bp. There's a direct. I can go back and look at my seasons. There was one year with Dave Shuler. He's a left handed pitching coach, former pitcher, and I swear he's trying to get us out. During bp, when it, when the ball was on the inner third, it ran in outer, outer part of the plate. It cut, there was nothing straight and he never threw the ball over the middle of the plate. So we're, we're taking BP and he's just carving us up. Especially left handed hitters. Well, even righties because he'd cut it in on the righties. And we're getting, you know, righties are getting jammed, dribbling at the third base or hooking it foul.
And we know there's scouts in the stands watching everything you do. And you walk out of the cage like, I hope no one, you know, I'm, I'm putting my BP top or my, my pullover on so no one can see my number. I don't want anyone to see that round of bp. But then you have a horrible season. It seems like the bad BP translates to bad seasons where, you know, there were years like Trey Hillman was our. Our manager for a couple years, and Trey was also the great bp always through my group, and I hit great, and I had good season. So I think there's a. There's something to that.
[00:23:09] Speaker A: It's almost like the. That guy throwing bp, he's looking like he's trying to get the attention of the scouts, right?
[00:23:14] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. Shuler. I love Dave Shuler. Great, great pitching coach. Great guy. But I swear he just. Anytime a pitching coach stolen bp, like, I wonder how Hobbs would throw, what kind of bp.
[00:23:26] Speaker A: If he's a pretty good pitcher in college, he's got some records at Missouri or he. When he left Missouri, he had some records. I don't know if they still stand or not. He's a lefty pitcher.
[00:23:36] Speaker B: I'd like to see him out there throwing BP and then see if he. See if the competitive nature comes back in where, you know, you don't want to give up a hard hit, you know, and just see. See if that's the case with him or if he threw good bp. I don't know. I've never seen him throw. I wonder if he throws in. I've never asked him that question. I might have to ask him that if he throws in the cages.
[00:23:55] Speaker A: There was somebody in here two or three years ago who they really liked how they threw from the left side in batting practice. Do you remember that?
[00:24:03] Speaker B: Yes, I do. And I don't remember who.
[00:24:05] Speaker A: I forget who it was.
[00:24:07] Speaker B: But, I mean, that's valuable to have if you've got a lefty that can throw bp.
Hey, I played in Korea, Matt, and they had a BP coach for every type of pitcher we would face. If you were facing a sidearm lefty, they would bring in a sidearm lefty to throw bp. If you were facing a knuckleball guy, they'd bring a knuckleball guy in.
[00:24:29] Speaker A: Was that just by happenstance that they had somebody on the staff like that, or did they go recruit.
[00:24:33] Speaker B: They must recruit them. I don't know. It's crazy. But they had a different guy. Like, almost every day we faced a different guy throwing bp, and it was based off of who we were. FAC day. It's crazy. I don't know where they got these guys from.
So, I mean, it was just submarine dude. We'd see sub facing a submarine dude in BP sucks, by the way.
[00:24:55] Speaker A: Is it any better in a game
[00:24:57] Speaker B: it's easier in a game than it is in bp. Okay, but yeah, in a game. Yeah, a ratty submarine guy. I like getting off of those dudes, but not in bp.
[00:25:05] Speaker A: Some of this can be maybe fool's gold based on like who they're playing right now. Like, I mean, we all know that when they get to the sec, the pitching they're going to see is better.
It feels to me though, doesn't it to you, that maybe the lineup feels like it's getting a little bit longer. I think Zach Stewart doing what he's done, he's batting.429 and it's limited at bats.21 at bats is what he has, but his OPS I think is like above 1300.
You know, he's added something to it. It just feels like there's a little bit more length to the lineup than maybe what we felt a week and a half ago.
[00:25:39] Speaker B: Well, I just did Phil's radio show and I said, look, when I look at this lineup, I mean, I see studs, I really do. And you know, I told Phil I'm not going to read the whole thing. And you and I have already talked about it, but I mean, just look at Rhys, Helfrich, Kozil, Aloy, Robinette, New Stewart, Pompey, Sousa, Brumball. I mean those guys are all like dudes. They're good, they're strong, they're, they're, they're athletic, they're. I mean, I just look at the lineup and I'm like, they're really good.
And I just think it's. But to your point about getting longer. Yeah, I think Zach Stewart being in there's made a difference. I think it really has. Anytime you throw a big left handed bat in there, it makes, it definitely makes a difference. I don't know how Zach's going to do against lefties. You know, I don't know if he's got enough lefties at bats to really know the splits yet. But you know, I know he rakes righties and that's, and that's huge.
But you know, going into sec, look at the guys we've struggled against. They've all been your guys that are 86, 87, 88 with sinker, slider.
You don't see a lot of that in SEC play. They bring in guys 90. Like Oral Roberts brought a bunch of guys, 93, 96. And we lit him up. Every guy that went out there throwing a fastball like that. And we, we hunted fastballs and we, we, we crushed them. And I Think that's more what you're going to see in the sec. Now, the, the secondary pitches will be better, obviously, but I feel, I feel good about it.
[00:27:16] Speaker A: There have been a couple of times in the last two games where, in the time against UT Arlington was during that inning where they put eight straight on base. I think it might have been eight straight hits that they had.
And then Oru. There were a couple of inning or there was, there was for sure one inning where, you know, the merry go round got spinning a little bit. And I'm just sitting there thinking like as a pitcher, you know, okay, well, I got past this guy, but now, you know, here's, I got past Kozal, but now here's Kahi Olloy who hits it, you know, a ton or, you know, maybe you get past him. But then there's. It just, it feels like if they can all. And you never have a lineup where they're all hitting at their, you know, they're never hitting their stride at the same time. But right. You know, if you can have four or five of those guys that are hitting their stride at once, the others are dangerous enough that it just feels like there's not a whole lot of breathing room. At least that's, I think there's that potential with this lineup.
[00:28:10] Speaker B: I said in the O. Roberts game, there was a situation where the runners at second and third, first base was open. I felt like they kind of pitched around Helfrick. It was a four pitch walk and it's like just no pitches were really close. And you know, it's like, well, it doesn't get any easier now. You got to face Kojal Tech, who's about as clutch as it gets. And so, But I do feel like that. And then, you know, you look, if you pitch around Kojo, you got Kuhio, you can't make a mistake with Kahillo. And Kahi was doing a really good job of staying on the breaking balls.
[00:28:46] Speaker A: Well, in that, in that sequence you're talking about, let's say Pompey walked, then Ruiz singled, Helfrich walked, Kozal struck out. But then the next at bat, Cajillo hits one like 112 to left center and it's a double. And then that gets the inning going.
[00:29:01] Speaker B: Yeah. So to your point, I mean, you can't, it's, it doesn't get any easier. And then even when you get down to the bottom of the lineup. I know, I know Brumbaugh, he showed what he's capable of, you know, hitting those doubles to right center. I mean, he's going to hit. I think he's going to hit. He hit our pitching, you know, in the fall and spring. So I think he's going to hit and then whoever you've got, whether it be Pompey or Souza, I mean, jeez, how about that? At the bottom of the lineup. I mean, that's pretty. It's pretty good because if you make a mistake, both those guys can hit it a mile.
[00:29:36] Speaker A: And that's the thing is like, you know, there is a lot of swing and miss with both of those guys now. I feel like there's been less with Sousa this year. I feel like he's making better contact. It seems like his problem right now is the fly ball to left field. It's, you know, he's just kind of playing catch with the left fielder, feels like. But, you know, to your point, I think both of them have, and Pompey showed this the other day, sometimes it's that one swing that can totally change the game. You know, in a four to three game, you hit a solo home run. And that's the difference in a game.
So there's potential there, even if it is inconsistent.
[00:30:07] Speaker B: Yeah, and one thing I say all the time is good hitters are defined by what they don't swing at.
And you watch the guys in our lineup, like early on, Helfrich swung in a few bad pitches and kind of went to a little bit of a funk. I mean, I wouldn't even call it a funk. I think he just tried to do too much. But once he stays in the zone, he starts hammering the ball. The guys that stay in the zone, I mean, and I hate to, you know, the, you know, it's obvious, I guess you swing at strikes, you're going to have success. But the key is what you don't swing at. Laying off. Even if it's a strike. Maybe it's an OO strike or maybe it's a 20 fastball down and away or, or up and in something that you don't want to hit anyway. The ability to take that pitch and then the, you know, the pitcher is going to fool around and make a mistake. And you see it, you see it a lot. Our pitchers don't, though, just to be clear.
But, but no, you're gonna, you're gonna. It's the whole three pitch rule. It's you, you're gonna get, you're gonna get a pitch to hit at some point in the at bat, might get more than one, but when you get it Be on time.
[00:31:14] Speaker A: Well tell you again our baseball podcast sponsored by H and R Tire and Auto. They're a local shop. They've been family owned for three generations. They've built their reputation on taking care of customers the right way. That kind of longevity doesn't happen by accident. H and R Tire and Auto, Arkansas co star Gabe Gackel, Hunter Dietz and Colin Fisher, in that order. The first three games of the series. They haven't announced who they're going to start on Monday. Stetson. They're changing up their rotation a little bit for this weekend. They're going to throw Zane Coppersmith, he's a right handed pitcher tomorrow against Gabe Gackel. His numbers aren't great this year. He's and this is only in five innings but he's got a 1440 ERA and a 1.8 WHIP. And so you know, you look at that and I haven't checked Bubba to see what his splits are but batters are hitting.348 against him and so it seems like there's an opportunity there to do some damage against this starter for Stetson mentioned earlier. I talked to their head coach yesterday.
They're doing some things with their pitching this weekend, trying to get them ready for next week. I mean they start conference play just like Arkansas does and so I think they want to come here and they want to win some games.
But you know, just like any team, it's all about getting yourself ready for conference play. Those are your most important games. And I would think especially so for a team out of a mid major league that's only going to get one bid.
[00:32:39] Speaker B: Right.
I looked at the fall report and the guys that they kind of penciled in as the rotation, it doesn't look like those guys are really pitching or they're not starting.
Do you know what I mean? So I don't know.
[00:32:53] Speaker A: Well, so like one of them would be Jake Gorlick.
And so Jake Gorlick was the preseason pitcher of the year in the A Sun, which is where Stetson plays. Their coach told me he's actually not going to pitch this weekend. He's dealing with a little bit of. He said it's a minor thing, something upper body. But you look at his numbers right now, I mean and maybe the injury is what's causing this but he's got their worst numbers on their team. Seven runs, seven hits, four walks in two and a third innings, doesn't have a strikeout.
Those are very atypical of what he's been.
I think their best Pitcher to this point and he's been starting for him on Friday. He's going to start Saturday this week. It's Ethan Phillips. He's a senior right hander right now. His number's 2570 or a 114 whip in 14 innings and hitters are only.163 against him right now.
[00:33:48] Speaker B: Well, you know, if they're, it's gotta be a tough place. You're a week away from conference and you're just scrambling to try to find out, you know, who your guys are. That's gotta be a bad feeling where I feel like we're in a pretty good spot with our rotation. I think it, it definitely helps knowing who you've got. Cause you know, think of all the times we've had TBA on Sunday. It hadn't been lately but there for a while we had a lot of TBAs on Sunday. It's nice to know you've got your guys penciled in there.
[00:34:18] Speaker A: Stetson's going to go with again Coppersmith, Phillips and then they've got TBA for their last two days, which I thought was really interesting because they've gone with the same three man rotation each of their three weekends so far. So they're really, they're switching this thing up potentially. Now they may end up throwing, you know, maybe they throw this guy on Friday and then maybe they just go with the same, you know, kind of rotation they've had Saturday, Sunday, Monday, we'll see.
But that is something that really stands out to me. Pitching wise their numbers aren't real good. They're, they're give like their ERA is 6, their WHIP is 166 teams are batting.285 against them.
But I will say you look at them offensively, they've got some older players on offense and I don't think their power numbers are real good. Like I'm looking here, eight home runs, 22 doubles, three triples that they've got so far this year. But you look at the top right there, you got four guys who are batting.323 or better, including two who are.360 and above. So I mean there's some, there's some ability to create some havoc and get on base and do some things there.
[00:35:24] Speaker B: Well, it looks like they're going to be aggressive on the bases too. What are they? 26 out of 27 stolen bases. So I mean, looks like they do sacrifice. They probably play a little bit of small ball because they don't have a ton of power. But I would assume they've got speed.
But, yeah, they're a little bit top heavy on the top of the lineup. So, yeah, we'll see. We'll see what happens. But it's another one of those teams that's older, like I said earlier, and I think those teams that are older, it's. It's scary because you just, you. You don't know, because they're not veteran. No, they're not. They don't come in here and it's not like a freshman coming in and they're overwhelmed by the ball marker crowd. These guys aren't going to be phased by it because they've seen it.
[00:36:05] Speaker A: They played in a regional at Florida State, they played in a regional at Auburn, they played in midweek games at Florida. And I mean, so it's like, yeah, I mean, like, I don't know that the intimidation exists there. And one of the things that Steve Tremper told me, he said, like, I want to take my guys into a hostile environment and, you know, expose them to that and see how they'll handle it.
[00:36:28] Speaker B: Well, I like the fact that we're playing teams like this because I think they're going to be pretty good.
[00:36:33] Speaker A: When you think about the small ball component, like, it gets you ready for maybe a team or two that you might see down. They end the season with Kentucky on Kentucky's field. I mean, it doesn't get more small ball than that.
[00:36:43] Speaker B: Yeah, good. Well, good point there. So. Because we haven't really seen much of that yet, so. And that's. That can be a game changer, a team that can execute the small ball. But I know Dave, they work on it all the time, you know, so I don't think we'll be phased by it, but yeah, it can be. I think it's more when you get like a freshman out there on the mound that hadn't really seen a lot of that. I think that's where you worry about that, the small ball aspect of it. But a guy like Gackel ain't gonna be phased by it.
[00:37:10] Speaker A: So I want to ask you about Gackel because Matt Hobbs was talking about him on the radio today on Phil Elson's show.
And, you know, he said they're happy with what Gabe Gackel's given them, but he also said there's more there. We know there's more there, you know, and to be honest, we want to see more. What have you seen from him? And, you know, he's got these guys that are pitching so well behind him that you only, like, you only get so many weeks to show that you're the number one guy before. If you've got one of these guys that they continue to pitch so well, maybe they get that opportunity in the number one role. Kind of like what we saw last year when Zach Root was breathing down his neck and eventually became the number one starter by conference play.
[00:37:51] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, you look at Deets, Dietz pitched like a Friday night guy.
[00:37:55] Speaker A: Yes, he did.
[00:37:56] Speaker B: Last week. I think they kind of challenged him and he answered the call. And I think Gackel, I love, I love Gabe on a Friday night. I think, you know what you're going to get out of it. I think the thing I worry about, and not that he takes a pitch off, but I still think about the sixth inning pitch that was 92 that the guy hit over the fence.
I wonder why he's throwing a 92 mile an hour pitch.
Because that's not, that's not him.
And, and, and I don't know, maybe it was just a, you know, bad fastball, maybe he slipped, I don't know, maybe he was trying to, you know, run it in on it on the hitter. I don't know. But yeah, I see the 92 mile an hour pitch and I'm like, dang it. Because if it was 95, it doesn't get hit out.
[00:38:41] Speaker A: That's been that stuck with you all week.
[00:38:43] Speaker B: It really.
[00:38:44] Speaker A: I've heard you talk about this a lot.
[00:38:45] Speaker B: Yeah. Because I wonder. I've never seen him throw a 92 mile an hour fastball.
I haven't. So I just, and you're right, I'm a little bit on the psycho side, so I'm wondering why that pitch was 92 in that situation.
So curious about that. But he's got great stuff.
I just, I, I want to see the, the gackle that we saw come out of the pen where he's just, you know, he's got that intensity on the mound, you know, I don't know if he pitches with that same intensity right now, if he's trying to not save stuff, but not really go out there and just, you know, hair on fire type of approach. You know what I mean?
[00:39:26] Speaker A: Yeah. This was a quote from Hobbs. It's a little bit of a longer quote, but I want to read it.
Phil Elson asked him about Hunter Dietz having, quote, one of those starts, you know, like the one he had last week where he threw seven scoreless, struck out a bunch of guys, and kind of comparing it to Gackel and Hobbs said it's time for him to put together a couple of those starts. If I'm being honest, he said, if you go game one, that's part of your job, is to go out there and throw six, seven innings and punch out eight and give your team a chance to not only win, but put them in a commanding position when you leave the game. He said, the other part of your job is to do exactly what he's been doing, which is pitch well. He said, I think nobody wants to have one of those starts more than Gabe. You can tell it's kind of uneven. Even though it's been good, I think we all kind of feel that way. It's been very good. He's pitched very well. He's doing his job getting us into the game, but he's good enough to take the game over, just like Hunter did last weekend.
[00:40:19] Speaker B: Sounds almost like a challenge a little bit.
[00:40:23] Speaker A: And he went on to say he's like, I'm not telling you anything that we haven't told him.
[00:40:27] Speaker B: Right.
[00:40:27] Speaker A: So, yeah, I mean, it feels like it's a very, I don't know if I'd say make or break, you know, weekend for him. I certainly don't think they're going to take him out of the starting rotation. But, you know, again, it's. You got these guys that are pitching so well behind you. You got to go out there and you got to give them a good, you know, Friday night outing. And I thought it was really interesting what Hobbs said here. You know, it's not just about, like, leaving the game with the lead. It's about pitching well enough that. And he said this without, without saying it. I think it's about pitching well enough that, you know, you're leaving your bullpen in a good situation for the rest of the weekend. Like, as the Friday guy, you go out there with a lot on your shoulders to set your team up for success the rest of the weekend, even if you don't win game one because you're pitching against somebody who's really good usually, too. But you're trying to pitch well enough, you're setting your team up for success even if you don't get the win on that night.
[00:41:16] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, you're right, but we know he's got the stuff. We've seen him do it over and over. So you just wonder, you know, if this is the week where he just goes out there and just lights it up and does exactly what Hobbs says right there.
[00:41:31] Speaker A: He had one of these last year, remember, like he was struggling early in the season and I think it might have been Charlotte, so it may have been the third non conference weekend series, but I can't remember for sure. But he had struggled, you know, first game, second game's a little bit better. Third game or fourth game was really, you know, a lot better. Like I think he got him into the sixth inning and was close to getting him out of the 6th and maybe there was a base hit and a walk or something where it's like he had hit the end of the line, he's at his pitch count and they took him out.
So I'll be interested to see if he can have. Because one of the things Matt said in this interview today was that, you know, you can kind of see some of the parallels between this year and last year. But he does think he's pitching better this year.
[00:42:15] Speaker B: Yeah, well, so he didn't throw in the fall. Didn't throw in any, any fall scrimmages. He sprang his ankle early spring, so he's a few weeks behind where these other guys are in his build up. So that could have something to do with it too.
[00:42:32] Speaker A: Yeah, he was a week behind in the preseason.
[00:42:34] Speaker B: Yeah. So I mean that, that could be part of it.
[00:42:38] Speaker A: So I mean it's all eyes, I think, are on Gabe tomorrow. I think, you know, this is the kind of game where honestly you feel like this is every game with a Friday starter. But like, like certainly where last week didn't go so well for him. Eight hits and two walks and, you know, gave up the runs in a low scoring game.
A lot of eyes are on him, I think, to see how he's going to pitch this weekend.
[00:43:00] Speaker B: Yeah, but you know what if, if we had, if we had six outs to get and I think about guys, I would want the ball in their hand, I'd want it in Gabe's hand.
[00:43:12] Speaker A: Okay, how about Cole Gibler? Because one of the other things Matt Howe. So one of the other things Hobbs said today was that they got to figure out the back end.
[00:43:19] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:43:20] Speaker A: And you know, one of the things that I, you know, by listening to him that I took away from it was it sounds like Gibler may get a look at closer as opposed to the role that he has right now where he comes in and just kind of takes over whenever Gackle goes out of game one.
[00:43:35] Speaker B: Yeah. So you know this. The last three outs are the hardest outs to get. You got to have someone locked down the end of the back end of that game. The eighth, ninth. Inn I say last three Outs last, really six outs, but especially the last three outs are the hardest to get and you've got to have, you got to have a lockdown guy. And I mean, there's the guys back there. I mean, I want, I want Dawson to get going. Dawson's got the stuff to be a back end of the bullpen guy, closer, whatever you want to call it. We know Gibler does, Kersher does too as well. I mean, he's got, he's got that kind of stuff. Who's really impressed me is McIlvaine. McIlhein's come in and just thrown the crap out of the ball. I mean, he's looked really good.
But to my point is I still love Gabe Gackel and you know, if he ends up staying as the Friednik guy, great. If he goes in a different role, great.
I still love the ball in his hand. I always feel really good when Gabe's out there.
[00:44:33] Speaker A: You know, we haven't seen a whole lot from Gacklin. I'm looking back through last year, excuse me, when he pitched. We haven't seen a whole lot of back to back days or you know, like twice on a weekend, that type of stuff. Looks like last year he went on a Saturday or on a Sunday and then on a Tuesday.
And then there was another series here. I saw it a second ago. Oh, at Georgia where he pitched on, on back to back days and the second day didn't go so well for him.
You know, like Matt Cronin, a lot of people remember 2018.
Do you know the only two times that he went on back to back days?
[00:45:12] Speaker B: I know one of them, it was
[00:45:13] Speaker A: game one and game two of the College World Series championship against Oregon State. And we know how the second outing went. And he got a lot better at that his second year. Like that was one of the big things that they talked about with him is being able to go back to back days. And then 2019 rolls around and there were a lot of times where on Friday he'd come out and he could throw that off speed pitch. And then maybe the second day he's just throwing straight 95, 96 at the batters and he was having a lot of success doing that in 2019.
So with Gibler, like that's one of the things I'm really interested to see with him, just because we haven't seen it yet. How does he go two times on the weekend if that's what his role ends up being?
[00:45:54] Speaker B: What was his quote? Someone asked him a question Friday after the Game. If they needed him on Sunday, could he go. Do you remember what he said?
[00:46:03] Speaker A: It was something along the lines of, I'm going to pitch whenever.
What's like the games on the line?
[00:46:08] Speaker B: No, I think I want the ball when the. If they need me, I'll pitch.
[00:46:11] Speaker A: I think that's what it was.
[00:46:12] Speaker B: I think it was short and quick. If they need me, I'll pitch.
[00:46:15] Speaker A: Very. Yes. Yeah, very gauge Woodish.
[00:46:18] Speaker B: Yeah. And that. I like that. Yeah, I like that mindset.
And, you know, but he threw a lot of pitches. We. Fortunately, we didn't need him on Sunday, but. But, yeah, I think he could. But you gotta. There's a difference in a guy like Steel Eaves. Of course, now he's, you know, throwing 95, 96, or he's hit 96 multiple times. It's. I don't know how well he can bounce back.
[00:46:45] Speaker A: He thinks he can bounce back.
[00:46:47] Speaker B: Yeah, I know Dave Davis is. Somebody had a rubber arm or something like that. But it's one thing when you're throwing 91, 92 versus 95, 96, how quick that arm's going to bounce back. Where, you know, a guy like Gackel is a max effort guy. You know, Cole Gibler, he's pretty. I don't know, he's.
I wouldn't call him a max effort guy. I mean, I guess he kind of is. I don't know how that arm bounces back, and I think we have enough depth where we really don't need it.
But I just, I do worry about the back end. I worry more about the back end of the bullpen right now than I do the starting, you know, just finding the guy. I know the guys are there just figuring out what role they're going to settle into. I know, I know they're. We have 81 outs in that, in that, that bullpen.
[00:47:35] Speaker A: I think that's a good point. I think. I think that kind of mirrors what Hobbs said on the radio today. He said, I have confidence that we can get that we have the stuff at the front end to get to the back end. It's a matter of.
The question with them right now is how do you handle the back end? You know, like, are you, are you pitching guys in roles right now that give you the best chance of success in the bullpen? Or do you, you know, like, like what we're talking about with Gibler? Do you potentially think about using him in a different role?
[00:48:06] Speaker B: Well, you think about.
Do you follow up, do you use Gibler? Friday night, after Gackle to come in and just finish out the game. I guess there's so many variables. You know the score, there's a lot that goes on.
[00:48:19] Speaker A: Well, and you know, like, I mean, you know this as well as anybody. You get into a conference game, like getting that Friday night win is a big, big deal. I mean, and so many coaches, I think, and I think more go into this kind of style of thinking now where it's like, just get the win on Friday and figure it out the rest of the weekend. And you know, I mean, we've seen Arkansas really subscribe to that theory. Whether it be, I think like in 2023 when, you know, they would throw Hunter Holland and Hagen Smith and have them piggyback off of each other.
You know, it may not make a whole lot of sense that you're throwing your two best arms and certainly your two best left handers like that, but you know, you get to that first win, it's, it's, it's, it's like a race to the first win. And a lot of times that can lead you to a second one. I feel like.
[00:49:03] Speaker B: Yeah, no, I agree. And like I said, it's about, it's about 81 outs. How do you get them? And, and I've been, I talked about the lineup here, but when I look at the pitching staff, I mean, there's just so many, so many good pitchers, so many good arms down there.
[00:49:18] Speaker A: What, they haven't pitched yet?
[00:49:19] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. And so, yeah, I wish, I wish we'd have got a chance to see Dosset.
I wish he would have got a chance to see him on, on Tuesday just to throw an inning. I think he's a guy that's going to be a big part of that bullpen at the end. You know, when it's all said and
[00:49:35] Speaker A: done, you know, he's just chomping at the bit to get in the game. It didn't go well for him against Texas Tech. And then I thought in the second outing, who pitched against the second time?
[00:49:43] Speaker B: It was Arkansas State, wasn't it?
[00:49:46] Speaker A: Was it Arkansas State or was it.
Who came in here the second weekend? Xavier. I think it was Xavier.
[00:49:51] Speaker B: It might have been Xavier.
[00:49:52] Speaker A: I think it was Xavier. And it was. Yeah, it was Xavier. It was, it was, it was one of those days where they were having to kind of play.
I can't remember. Anyway, somebody made a play in left field and cost him a run. And then he throws the next pitch and it's a home run. I think it was Arkansas State.
[00:50:10] Speaker B: It was Arkansas State. Because it was cross.
[00:50:13] Speaker A: Yeah, it was.
It was Zach Stewart playing in left field. Yeah, Zach Stewart's not a natural left field. That's what it was. And so it's like, you look at his numbers right now, I don't know what his era is. It's probably like in the 30s or the 40s, but it could be so much lower because, you know, again, if everybody's not sick and you got a normal left fielder in, like, what kind of conversation are we having about him? You're saying, well, he didn't pitch good against Texas Tech, but he came back the next and he got the job done against Arkansas State.
[00:50:41] Speaker B: Yeah, he would have been out of that inning, but then he throws cross jumper cutter instead of a fastball. And so I think that was. I think he sped his bat up a little bit. I think. I think if he throws him a fastball, he throws it by him right there. And I think. But it just. It just. Just a backup cutter just kind of stayed over the middle and kind of hit his bat. Not taking anything away from, you know, jumper. But, yeah, I think. I think if I'll take that match up every time with Dawson against him.
[00:51:08] Speaker A: Two quick thoughts before we get out of here. Arkansas State, have you noticed, like, they've won, they haven't lost since they left Fayetteville. Now, I know they played uapb, but they went down to Ruston and swept Louisiana Tech, like, beat them pretty good. I think both games looked fairly dominant. We know Louisiana Tech's a good program most years, so that's interesting. And then, you know, did you see what happened with LSU this week?
Like, they lose to Northeastern on Monday night, and then they go to Lafayette last night and they lost seven to two.
That's three midweek losses for them. I just think it's a great reminder for people who listen to this and who are Arkansas fans who freak out over the slightest, you know, Tuesday, Wednesday night, not going too well. This happens to the best programs.
[00:51:55] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:51:56] Speaker A: Like it. And I think it's getting harder and harder and harder to win in the midweek because there are so many more opportunities that are popping up at other places. And teams are getting so much older with the way that the draft and, you know, the transfer rules and everything. It just. It seems like.
I think college baseball has never been deeper or better, frankly.
[00:52:20] Speaker B: Well, you said it. The draft, the transfer rules, and then the money side of it, too. I mean, guys are turning down draft money to come here because they can make more in college.
But I said this on Phil's show and I've said it multiple times and I don't want to beat it to death, but life's like baseball, you know, you can, you can go through life and you can pick out the positives or you can pick out the negatives. And I jokingly say my wife's not a, the best cook in the world, but she looks really good trying, so you got to take the positive out of it. And she probably won't listen to this. So I say, I get away with saying that, but it's the same with baseball. You can dwell on the negatives. Oh, we lost the Arkansas State. Well, who cares? It's. It's February.
You know, if that loss gets us wins in Jan. In June, we're, we're good. And then Arkansas State, they're a good team. They're win a bunch of games.
The, the. What's the guy's name? Dieger that beat us?
[00:53:13] Speaker A: Yeah, Kalin Dygert.
[00:53:15] Speaker B: He would have beat that night. He would have beat every school in sec, I think. I don't know. I. The guy had really good stuff he dotted up. He's just really good location.
The guy knows how to pitch. I'm interesting. Just interested to see. I'm going to look and see his line for tomorrow. After throwing 130 pitches, I'm curious to see how he's going to do on Friday night. I don't know who they play yet, but I'm going to look that up. But you know what I mean though, you, it's. You can pick out the positives and I look at this team and I see so many things, so many positives and I don't know, I mean, I get excited about it. My glass half full.
[00:53:51] Speaker A: Yeah, always. In case. Yeah, always. And you never take a drink.
Bubba. Appreciate you being here. Once again, our baseball podcast brought to you by H and R Tire and Auto. They're proudly family owned since 1976. Trusted across northwest Arkansas, committed to keeping you safe on the road all season long. You can learn more or schedule service at H and r tire and auto.com Again, tomorrow's game, 1 o', clock, you can listen to Bubba on the Razorback Sports Network. That's going to be your only way to track the game if you're not there.
No TV and no stream for this game tomorrow. If you want to know why, we're going to have a
[email protected] this afternoon that will explain why RSN is not going to be able to broadcast this game. We got a ton in our sight. Basketball team beat the snot out of Texas last night. Nolan Richardson's getting a statue.
Lou Holt's passed away. We've got a memory, a story remembering him and his tenure at Arkansas. You got the Tyson Foods. You got board of trustees this weekend. So much going on here in Fayetteville. You can read all about it@whole hogsports.com we'll have another podcast tomorrow. Hope to see you there or at our website and have a great day.
