Andrew: Kendall, I asked you preseason how many bids you thought the Sun Belt would earn, and you said the conference would be good enough to ‘earn’ 5. Any other thoughts on that number a few weeks into conference play?
Kendall Rogers: I don’t think five bids is out of the question at all for the Sun Belt. As of right now, Louisiana, Southern Miss and Coastal Carolina would be slam dunks for me to make the field of 64. There are others who are in the mix now or would be in the mix with a solid second half of the season. 4 is probably the safest bet right now, but five is doable for sure.
Jordan: Who is the best team in the Sun Belt right now?
Aaron Fitt: Right now, I think you’d probably have to say Louisiana based on body of work. Certainly impressed with the Cajuns being 8-1 in the Sun Belt with a road sweep of Texas State and a home sweep of ODU. That Rice series back in February is a blemish, but the Cajuns are playing a lot better now — and most of the other top teams have more recent head-scratching blemishes.
Andrew: How close are the Cajuns to being ranked? Are they ranked with a 3-1/4-0 week coming up? I know the series against Rice early on is a significant blemish, but it’s a completely different team right now.
Kendall Rogers: Andrew — They are really close. They were probably team 26 or 27 this week. Ultimately, I agree that the Cajuns are a MUCH different team, but the fact remains, they went 0-3 in Houston and lost a home series to one of the worst teams in major college baseball. So, there’s a make up process related to that. The good news? They are red-hot and it appears they’ll more than make up for those blemishes. Andrew Herrmann and LP Langevin have been terrific, and the offense is getting into a groove as well.
Kendall Rogers: I don’t think five bids is out of the question at all for the Sun Belt. As of right now, Louisiana, Southern Miss and Coastal Carolina would be slam dunks for me to make the field of 64. There are others who are in the mix now or would be in the mix with a solid second half of the season. 4 is probably the safest bet right now, but five is doable for sure.
Jordan: Who is the best team in the Sun Belt right now?
Aaron Fitt: Right now, I think you’d probably have to say Louisiana based on body of work. Certainly impressed with the Cajuns being 8-1 in the Sun Belt with a road sweep of Texas State and a home sweep of ODU. That Rice series back in February is a blemish, but the Cajuns are playing a lot better now — and most of the other top teams have more recent head-scratching blemishes.
Andrew: How close are the Cajuns to being ranked? Are they ranked with a 3-1/4-0 week coming up? I know the series against Rice early on is a significant blemish, but it’s a completely different team right now.
Kendall Rogers: Andrew — They are really close. They were probably team 26 or 27 this week. Ultimately, I agree that the Cajuns are a MUCH different team, but the fact remains, they went 0-3 in Houston and lost a home series to one of the worst teams in major college baseball. So, there’s a make up process related to that. The good news? They are red-hot and it appears they’ll more than make up for those blemishes. Andrew Herrmann and LP Langevin have been terrific, and the offense is getting into a groove as well.
