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D1Baseball Weekly Chat: April 11
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Aaron Fitt
12:38
GCU has moved up into the Top 25 mix based on those two wins and its dominance of the WAC. But the thing holding the Lopes back right now is they have struggled against the best teams they've played in weekend competition, losing series to San Diego, UC Irvine and Nevada. So they'll need to sustain their success a little longer to make up for those blemishes and get into the rankings.
TigerTails
12:39
How much longer does Monte have to show some sense of life. Been 7 years and the Tigers aren’t a competitive ACC club. It seems there’s a track record of underperforming the talent level and guys not developing once arriving to campus. Patience wearing thin…
Kendall Rogers
12:39
Monte is one of my absolutely favorites in our game. With that said, this is a results-oriented business and it's no secret that the Clemson staff entered the season on the hot seat. Sitting at 2-9 in the ACC right now,  the series at Wake Forest pretty much looms as a 'must-win' series for a multitude of reasons. I think it's safe to say if his trend continues, you could see some movement.
John
12:40
What is the logic for Ole Miss still being ranked? This team just doesn’t seem to have it. Regression across the board
Aaron Fitt
12:40
Yeah, I don't feel great about having Ole Miss still in the Top 25 with a 4-8 SEC record, after getting swept at home by Bama... but they still have some better weekends on their resumé than most of the teams outside the Top 25 that we considered this week. Basically they're still in because of three road series wins: at Auburn, at Kentucky, at UCF. But man, they really need to win that series at South Carolina this weekend.
Zig Zag
12:41
Do you still feel strongly about the Zags chances of hosting? They haven't felt as dominant since Kempner went out. Any word on when he will be back?
Kendall Rogers
12:41
Zig -- My hunch is that he just keeps having issues with that finger tendon and that the Zags just want him 100 percent ready to go before they test it out. WTS -- RPI still in the Top 15 with a strong resume. I'd still have the Zags as a host as of today
Cartman
12:42
Oregon St seems to be the favorite to win the Pac at this point but they close the year with 3 straight series against Oregon, Arizona, UCLA. Do all five of the Pac projected bids have a shot at winning the conference with these jumbled standings at the moment? Who do you see coming out on top?
Aaron Fitt
12:42
It really does feel up for grabs between OSU, UCLA, Arizona, Stanford and Oregon, doesn't it? Right now I'm sticking with my preseason pick of Oregon State, but you're right that their rugged finishing stretch will be a major challenge, so they need to rack up as many Pac-12 wins as they can heading into those three weeks. Right now I'm planning to be in Corvallis for that Oregon series, which is shaping up to be a gem.
Maybe next year
12:42
Which would you rather? Leave a guy on third with less than two outs for four straight innings against LSU bullpen or slowly insert a 22 gauge needle into your cornea?  I would opt for the latter.  How about you guys?
Aaron Fitt
12:42
They both sound pretty painful. Hang in there, go watch some tape from Omaha last year and pour yourself a cold one!
Willie
12:46
What’s a reasonable expectation for where San Diego’s RPI lands, presuming a similar level of play the rest of the way? Currently in the top 20 and 6-4 vs top 50, including series wins over Oregon and GCU.
Aaron Fitt
12:46
I suppose it's time to start looking at the RPI Needs Report at Boyd's World, which can give you a rough feel for stuff like this. With 20 games left, Boyd's numbers suggest USD needs to win 14 or 15 games to finish the regular season inside the top 32, or win about 12 games to finish in the top 45. So it does feel like maintaining an at-large-caliber RPI is sustainable for the Toreros. If you're in the 40s, you've got a real chance.
SECbaseball
12:47
Gut feeling as of today: does Mississippi State make the field of 64?
Kendall Rogers
12:47
I can't believe I'm saying this fresh off a national title, but I have the Bulldogs finishing conference with either a 12-18 or 13-17 record. I'm actually leaning more toward 12-18 at this point. yuck. So, nope.
Guest
12:48
Missouri played great baseball this weekend but came away with nothing to show for it. So far, their SEC schedule has been brutal and they're 3-9 in conference. With their RPI at 25, realistically, does Mizzou have a shot at making a regional and what SEC record should fans be looking for them to reach if they want to get there?
Kendall Rogers
12:48
Guest -- Gotta get to 13-17 in the league with something to write home about on the weekend resume wise. If you don't have that, you won't get in, as is consistently the case with SEC teams in that range. You realistically want to be a couple of games over that mark and at least .500. But that's just a minimum bar to be in the discussion.
Wakefan
12:50
What is the reasoning for not ranking the Deacs?
Aaron Fitt
12:50
For us it always comes down to quality weekend series wins against regional-caliber opponents, and Wake Forest has just one of those (at Georgia Tech). Going 5-1 combined against BC and Duke (who are a combined 6-24 in the ACC) doesn't really move the needle. Wake is ahead of Va Tech in the standings thanks in part to those two favorable matchups, but VT has four straight quality series wins against viable at-large teams (vs. Pitt, at Notre Dame for one game, at UNC, vs. NC State). Plus the Hokies have a nice series win against Wright State, the perennial class of the Horizon and a team that routinely makes noise in regionals. So Virginia Tech's body of work is just louder. But that said, Wake has a good overall record and a 9-6 mark in the ACC, so it is knocking on the door of the rankings.
Green Wave
12:50
Tulane is still just winning.  Will another 3-1 week have them in the rankings discussion?  If you just use a thick sharpie and scratch that Evansville weekend off the schedule we're looking at a top 10 team in the hosting discussion.
Kendall Rogers
12:50
Green -- Yeah, really, outside of that Evansville bizarro weekend, the Green Wave has been pretty good. The good news? I'll see the Wave a couple of times this week against Houston to get a pretty good gauge of where they stand in the pecking order. Excited to get a look at Jew's club.
Scott
12:51
Davidson baseball: good enough to break the top 25 in a weak conference?
Aaron Fitt
12:51
It is possible -- Davidson was on our board this week, after a nice series win against A-10 power VCU. At 24-6, Davidson is having a great year, with lots of guys putting up serious numbers. If they keep on winning, they could certainly break into the Top 25 despite their conference schedule. I like the sound of that club.
Guest
12:52
Is the socon a two bid league? What is Mercers ceiling seeding wise for a regional.
Kendall Rogers
12:52
Guest -- I'd have Mercer and Wofford both in right now, and by the way, those two have a collision course set for next weekend. That's going to be a lot of fun. I would say both teams have a shot to be high high two seeds. One seed seems like a pipe dream, but never say never if Mercer has a gaudy record and is within striking distance.
Mike
12:54
If you had to predict your 8 CWS teams at this moment, who do you have?
Aaron Fitt
12:54
I don't usually bother with this exercise because so much depends on the bracket matchups, but let's give it a whirl. I'd go with Tennessee, Miami, Oregon State, Oklahoma State, Arkansas, Texas, Southern Miss, and Georgia (I'm standing by my preseason Georgia to Omaha guarantee!).
Pokes
12:55
Oklahoma States Bryce Osmond threw 6 innings of 1 run baseball Sunday against OU. How big would that be for OSU for him to continue to pitch this well?
Aaron Fitt
12:55
Boy, that would be huge. Very talented guy, and we've seen flashes of his potential repeatedly. If he can settle in as a regular Sunday rock, everything really clicks into place for Oklahoma State. Cowboys remain my national champion pick, but Osmond is definitely a key, in my mind.
Todd (Nashville)
12:55
Wood bats in Kodak,TN tomorrow? I'm sure this has been done before but I can't remember it. Would love to see Joyce v. Hinchman with wood. You gonna cross the mountains for this one Fittsy?
Aaron Fitt
12:55
That does sound like fun! But a little far for a midweek game for me. Let's fire up the streaming devices!
Coop250
12:57
Surprised to not see GA Tech crack the rankings this week. Have series wins over Georgia and FSU, and swept VA Tech. Much more impressive resume than Ole Miss who is 4-8 in conference play. Any particular reasoning?
Aaron Fitt
12:57
I agree that the high end of the GT resumé is pretty impressive... but that team just went through a rough 2-6 stretch before this past week. Let's give them another week of good ball before bringing them back in.
Beavers2Omaha
12:58
So at this point how bad a weekend could Tennessee survive and remain #1? Pretty impressive season so far. As a Beav fan, hoping to see them fall short of the 2017 56-6 season we had.
Aaron Fitt
12:58
Heck, I think Tennessee could go 0-4 this week and still maybe be No. 1... though maybe not if Miami keeps its winning streak going and takes down Virginia Tech on the road this weekend. That Miami resumé is pretty darn good too. It would definitely be an interesting discussion, and it shows you how amazing Tennessee has been that it's even a possibility it would hang onto No. 1 after going 0-4.
SECbaseball
12:59
yall have said all year that UF will take their lumps and likely figure it out late. Well after losing 6 straight SEC games they bounce back by winning the next two, and the series over Arkansas. Was that more of a glimpse of what they can do or something you see them sustaining?
Aaron Fitt
12:59
I think it's a springboard. Gators are making a run down the stretch, stay tuned!
Aaron Fitt
12:59
OK gang, that's all I have time for today. Thanks for all the fantastic questions, another A-plus chat. #WinEveryChat
JEL
1:00
Big West Jumble-Bakersfield, Cal Poly, Anteaters, UCSB. Shake well and pour...who comes out to play Regional time?
Kendall Rogers
1:00
JEL -- The Big West has 2 or 3 pretty good teams, IMO, but I could see the league getting stuck with one bid if UCSB wins the league title. Right now, UC Irvine is at 74 and Cal Poly is at 81. Those aren't RPIs that will get you into the postseason. WTS, both of those clubs a very solid and certainly postseason. Will be interesting to see how things shape up the rest of the season.
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