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D1Baseball Weekly Chat Transcript: April 8 (Sunbelt and Southern Miss)


MB: Georgia Southern getting hot; how close are the Eagles to a postseason projection?
Aaron Fitt: Good call — Georgia Southern will definitely be a team we discuss at length in the next Nerdcast. They are now 8-4 in the Sun Belt and have climbed inside the top 50 of the RPI. Definitely on the bubble right now, and trending in the right direction!

Mason: The Sunbelt seems to be a gauntlet again this season – Where do you see the pecking order now that we’ve had a few weeks to parse through.
Kendall Rogers: Right now, I would go with, in order:

  1. Louisiana
  2. Coastal Carolina
  3. Southern Miss
  4. Georgia Southern
  5. Troy
CajunJoe: Cajuns in top 25 for first time in awhile. How would you compare this team to the 2014 team that made it to the supers?
Kendall Rogers: Cajun — This team isn’t near as offensive as some of those teams back then, but they’re getting better and they’ve got a superstar to lean on in shortstop Kyle DeBarge. I do really like the profile of this pitching staff more. Morgan/Herrmann/Langevin/Holzhammer, etc, are all high end arms … and they’ve got a few more talented arms beyond those guys as well.

D1 Baseball - Rogers Rewind: Everything we learned from Week Eight + RPI/DSR thoughts (Southern Miss and Sunbelt mentions)


More info about DSR - https://d1baseball.com/news/643charts-d1baseball-collaborate-to-launch-diamond-sports-rankings/#:~:text=Unlike RPI, which primarily focuses,insight into a team's performance.

Another huge week of college baseball action is in the books, and in this week’s column, I touch on a lot of teams plus analyze some intriguing rankings in both the RPI and DSR rankings.

– Louisiana is the hottest team in college baseball (they enter top 25 at 19)

I really liked what the Cajuns had on the mound when I saw them a few weeks ago at the Astros Foundation Classic, but I’d be lying if I said I thought the offense would be rocking and rolling at this point. The Cajuns looked like a team with a very long way to go in that department. Good thing they have an offensive master in Matt Deggs leading the charge. The Cajuns have been getting plenty of offensive production in conference play thus far. They’re hitting .305 in league play, and several guys have stepped up offensively. Kyle DeBarge has been on a tear in league play with a .386 average, 1.178 OPS, four homers and 16 RBIs, while Jose Torres, John Taylor, Conor Higgs, and Duncan Pastore have all heated up since conference play began. Then, there’s the pitching staff, which has continued to perform at a high level with a 2.66 league ERA. Andrew Herrmann, fab freshman Chase Morgan, Matthew Holzhammer and LP Langevin have been outstanding in Sun Belt play. Overall, the Cajuns have formed into the team I thought they could be coming into the season — balanced, and very dangerous. The RPI is still not Cajuns-friendly just yet at 50, but the DSR has the Cajuns at a much more accurate No. 26.

KyleDeBarge1.jpg


– Some RPI rankings that have my attention:

* Indiana State is right back in the saddle once again this season from an RPI standpoint. The Sycamores would’ve entered our Top 25 this week if not for a midweek loss to IU. The Sycs’ RPI? An impressive 12. (mentioned this since Southern Miss won the series)

Some DSR rankings that have my attention
* Louisiana is another team that I feel has a poor ranking in the RPI vs. reality. RPI has the Ragin’ Cajuns at 50. The DSR? The Cajuns are up to 25, which again, for a top team in the Sun Belt, is a more accurate depiction of where this team stands on the national stage.

* DSR looks to be more accurate on Southern Miss than the RPI. The RPI has USM at 44 while the DSR has the Golden Eagles at 31, which seems to be more accurate for a team with series wins over Indiana State and Louisiana Tech, and who has just one series loss (Georgia Southern) this season.

Southern Miss wins Saturday baseball game at South Alabama...


Southern Miss wins in extra innings vs South Alabama Friday night....



Article from WDAM on football transfer...


Article from WDAM on football transfer...


Spring Football: I thought it would be interesting to closely examine what is happening.

I have been reading articles throughout the Spring regarding what is taking place. I will start today with the defense.
Defense
  • Bignell appears to be doing a fantastic job of establishing unity and enthusiasm among the players. Last year’s individuality is a thing of the past.
  • The problems last year on defense were: Lack of communication left the players out of position. Poor adjustment on motions and shifts led to big plays. They were not able to line up quickly to adjust to hurry-up situations. Also, injuries played a big part. These problems were manifest in the defensive inability in the South Alabama game.
  • The defense will be a fly-to-the-ball and aggressive style. Last year, this was not the case with the wait-and-see style that did not work well.
  • Coach Bignell appears to be a fiery one who demands total effort but is also a fair one.
  • There are two main reasons to look for a better defense next year: the injection of SINGLE WORD play calling (more on that later) and two deep-in players.
  • I will have more on the defense later with my depth chart. I will also cover the new offense.
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