We’re 21 games into the regular season and the conference season starts this evening against Wichita State. Even Tulane fans like me, who don’t see much chance at getting an at-large bid to the NCAA baseball regionals, want Tulane to succeed. Most of us root fervently for the team. But, gaining a regional bid is a long putt at this point. Warren Nolan predicts us to have a 37-19 final record and an RPI of 90. Boyd’s World is more pessimistic and has us going 31-25 with an RPI of 128. I personally think Nolan is closer and I wouldn’t be shocked if we won 40 regular season games but, due to strength of schedule, would probably not be enough for an at-large bid. To reach 40 wins would mean winning at the same clip as we have done so far, 71.4%. But that won’t be easy. We’ve played an incredibly weak schedule so far. Our opponents have won only 38.3% of their games. As of today, future opponents have won 54.7% of their games. And we’ll be playing many more tougher away games than we have to date. Some thoughts:
We’re hitting OK but with very little power. Rasmussen, Haas, and the freshmen, Chun and Wachs, are doing better than expected, but Jackson Linn’s drop off has been devastating. Others are performing about as expected, though with a reduction in HR’s.
On the mound, Cehajic, Lombardi, and Montiel have been consistently good. Fladda, Wilcenski, and Clements have both good and bad appearances. Most of the rest have not been very good. To get an at large bid, we probably need four starters and four or more relievers who can be counted on.
What can be said about our defense that is positive? We make too many errors, don’t make simple plays, throw to the wrong base, and continuously miss cut-off men. Over recent years, our fielding average has never fallen below .970, but this year it’s at .962. That’s quite bad.
The next dozen games continue the trend of weak opposition where we must “make hay while the sun shines.” The latter part of the schedule is much tougher. Let’s sweep Wichita State.
Roll Wave!!!
We’re hitting OK but with very little power. Rasmussen, Haas, and the freshmen, Chun and Wachs, are doing better than expected, but Jackson Linn’s drop off has been devastating. Others are performing about as expected, though with a reduction in HR’s.
On the mound, Cehajic, Lombardi, and Montiel have been consistently good. Fladda, Wilcenski, and Clements have both good and bad appearances. Most of the rest have not been very good. To get an at large bid, we probably need four starters and four or more relievers who can be counted on.
What can be said about our defense that is positive? We make too many errors, don’t make simple plays, throw to the wrong base, and continuously miss cut-off men. Over recent years, our fielding average has never fallen below .970, but this year it’s at .962. That’s quite bad.
The next dozen games continue the trend of weak opposition where we must “make hay while the sun shines.” The latter part of the schedule is much tougher. Let’s sweep Wichita State.
Roll Wave!!!
