tmh8286 Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 Thanks for your input, OSB. The Southland IS a much better baseball league than the Summit, and has, without a doubt, provided stronger competition to ORU than that in previous seasons in the Summit League. That said, I think we all expected ORU to make a little bigger splash in the Southland than we did. I'm not quite sure what the problem has been - but I hope that we can get things turned around pretty soon. If I understand your post, your son was a senior this year? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldSchoolBaseball Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 Yes - he was a Senior and received his degree. I think you will turn it around - there's returning talent and this time next year ORU will be competing for a conference championship and regional berth. Best wishes and good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUJason Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 I kept thinking that the Southland must be very competitive in baseball since we kept struggling to win conference series after winning several out of conference games. But it seemed as if many of the better Southland teams still struggled to win quality out of conference games. It is definitely hard to understand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORU82 Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 Thank you OSB for allowing your son to share his talents in baseball with us. May his future always be bright. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 I agree with most of the comments - BUT I don't agree that the Southland does NOT have any nationally relevant teams. Even though they dropped out - Sam Houston was nationally ranked at one time and may return after coming back to win the conference title. And last year Central Arkansas finished ranked after making a strong showing in their regional. I can't comment on the quality of the Summit or Mid-Continent but I can't imagine the Southland NOT being a much better baseball league top to bottom. Instead of playing schools like Sam Houston, Lamar, Central Arkansas, SE Louisiana, McNeese St, and Stephen F Austin - I expect ORU to return to dominance against the likes of: Omaha 15-9 31-20 South Dakota State 11-11 27-27 Western Illinois 11-13 19-30 Fort Wayne 11-13 19-34 North Dakota State 10-12 22-24 Where one (1) school has a winning record... The Eagles finished in 9th place and STILL had a winning record. I would venture to say that if you took the top 5 teams from the Southland and matched them up with the Summit - the Southland would win all 5 series. Yes, I AM biased since I've lived in the South for the last 30+ years. But the biggest difference I noticed between ORU and other top Southland opponents is depth. ORU gave my son an opportunity to play two more years when other teams in the Southland did not so I'm grateful. Did the teams come up short the last 2 years when compared to prior Eagles - ABSOLUTELY! Do I think it's attributed to the lack of small ball, new coaching staff, or quality players? No - I think the Southland is a stronger baseball conference with quality teams from top to 'almost' bottom - including ORU. I'm disappointed that ORU is leaving - I would have enjoyed watching more ORU baseball in the South and I think the Southland would have offered some additional recruiting opportunities as well. Good luck next year and I will continue to read your comments and support the Golden Eagles! Great reply, OSB - appreciate you allowing your son to represent ORU on the field and in the world. To clarify about the "nationally relevant" comment: it was intended in contrast to playing in a league like the Big XII or even the Missouri Valley, which traditionally feature teams that advance in Regional and Super Regional play, even reaching Omaha. Despite some of their mid-week success this season, I just don't think there's a team in the current Southland configuration that has that kind of strength this year - the kind of "deep run" potential that ORU possessed as recently as just 2-3 seasons ago... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted May 19, 2014 Author Share Posted May 19, 2014 It seems like just yesterday that ORU was playing at Clemson in the SuperRegional and gave the Tigers a heck of a battle......what was that?....2006?...other than a couple years ago when we lost the regional final to Dallas Baptist we have not come close to reaching that kind of success.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmh8286 Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 Those games gave me a headache, eagleman! With their orange smoke and obnoxious fans, and ORU taking leads into the late innings but still coming up short - very painful games indeed! I've commented on this more than once on the board since then, but I thought Geoff's closing statement was classic - something along the lines of, "I'm ready to get out of this snake pit!" I think those listening at home felt the same way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted May 20, 2014 Author Share Posted May 20, 2014 TheEagleman understands the pain, TMH....I was watching that last inning meltdown in the Clemson game on ESPN and it did hurt....but at least ORU got there....those were good times....our teams the past two years have played mediocre baseball and I am being kind.....we have surely taken a step back in both baseball and basketball.....I am sitting here watching Jackson State and some other pathetic SWAC team play for the right to get to the NCAA tournament while ORU can't even make the Southland Tournament.....heck, we can't even make the Friggin' top 8 in our mediocre league....so what does that make ORU?.....changes need to be made....this is not acceptable, Mr. Carter.....so what are you gonna do about it????.... :puke: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrueBlue82 Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 Validation that the Southland tournament is "wide-open"? The four teams remaining in the semifinals are seeds 4, 5, 6 and 7. Crying shame we aren't among them... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmh8286 Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 Validation that the Southland tournament is "wide-open"? The four teams remaining in the semifinals are seeds 4, 5, 6 and 7. Crying shame we aren't among them...Amazing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUJason Posted May 23, 2014 Share Posted May 23, 2014 Parity or parody? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 Every time I think about it, I just shake my head: ninth-freaking-place in a league whose automatic qualifier will now undoubtedly be a 4-seed. The question is whether regular season champion (and occassional mid-week giant-slayer) Sam Houston State will rate an at-large bid. Depending on what happens to the regular season champions during tournament play in other leagues, they might have a good shot. Can only imagine that, at some point in the selection committee room, someone promoting SHSU's at large bona fides may say something like, "Hey, that's a tough league: Oral Roberts went .500 in that league, and didn't even qualify for the Southland tournament - and look at some of the teams they beat this year!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORU82 Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 Yea, I hear you OT. How do we beat the OOC teams we did this year and basically finish .500/9th in the Southland? Twilight Zone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted May 24, 2014 Author Share Posted May 24, 2014 TheEagleman is also scratching his head this morning and wondering how we could beat Top 20 teams mid week then fare under .500 on the weekends against some mostly mediocre competition....Losing 3 of our last 6 games at home when everything was on the line is just unacceptable....our pitching was more than decent this year....but our bats just weren't clutch....sort of reminds me of my hometown Philadelphia Phillies......very disappointing....how can we NOT be one of the Top 8 teams in the Southland Conference.....whatever.....we didn't get the job done on the weekends......and we got what we deserved.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted May 24, 2014 Author Share Posted May 24, 2014 So it's 6th seeded SE Louisiana vs. 7th seed Central Arkansas in the Southland title game today for the NCAA bid.....LOL.....I can't bear to watch that......had we beaten Lamar last Saturday or Sunday that could be us......TheEagleman needs a drink.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted May 24, 2014 Author Share Posted May 24, 2014 SE Louisiana beats UCA 9-4 in the final and earns the automatic Southland Conference bid.....their first one.....congrats!..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted May 25, 2014 Share Posted May 25, 2014 If Sam Houston State's name is not called as an at-large on Monday, they may have none other Mike Minyard's Liberty Flames to thank for the snub. The Flames were eliminated as the No. 1 seed and overwhelming favorite in the semis' of the Big South tournament, but with a gaudy 28 RPI are a shoo-in for an at-large berth, likely as a 3-seed, thus bumping a lot of mid-major hopefuls down a rung in the selection pecking order. In related news, the Summit League crowned their champion on Saturday. North Dakota State, the 4th place team in a 5-team league with a dubious 10-12 record, ran undefeated through the opposition in Sioux Falls for their first ever NCAA D-1 berth in baseball. Regular season champ SDSU was stunned in the semi's when 2-seed Western Illinois scored four runs late to win, 5-2. Of particular note to ORU fans: as regular season champ, SDSU has the option of again hosting the Summit League tournament in 2015, which I would imagine they would eagerly accept. They not only set attendance records this weekend, they would also avoid having to travel to some place like Tulsa for the tournament. Bottom line: plan on a trip to South Dakota next May if you want to see the Golden Eagles try to get back to the NCAA tournament. At least it's nice to know in advance ORU should qualify for their conference championship this time around... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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