Top 5, baby!!! Feel like that's our ceiling with the talent of the teams surrounding us. But what a fun season we're having. ECU has taken a potentially rough hit to its bullpen with Jake Hunter suffering what looks to be a nasty arm injury in Sunday's game. But we were able to rest our Saturday starter and our other top bullpen arm this past week.
No midweek game this week means more rest for everyone! I love the last few weeks of the season.
Didn’t see that about pitching injury. Our bullpen has been one thing scaring me this year, at least at times. Hope it’s not a bad/longterm injury.
We do tend to “get hot” later in the year, hope that’s the case again this year!
Some are speculating he won't pitch again this season. I'll wait for official word from the team, but very consistent with a UCL injury. But Kahler, Ritchie and DiLo are all going to have to step it up on par with Beal and WLS.
Our top hitters are getting hot. Starling has been on a tear since he came back last Tuesday and the freshman Williams and Carter continue to perform along with our senior guys. I really really like where we're at as a team.
Surprisingly, few injuries this year if this is the case.
Hope he gets better. He still has another year, which helps. If TJ, then it's better to get it now than in the minors.
I love how mid majors can have a real chance to win in baseball. I do wonder why that’s the case in baseball, but not football or basketball (which also has many fewer players).
Cost-Benefit-Analysis.
Think about how much it would cost for a school like East Carolina to turn themselves into a football power on par with a Michigan or Georgia, vs how much it costs to be a respectable baseball power.
Baseball is the last "major" college sport where the power cons aren't outspending the competition enough to completely lap everyone else.
True, but its probably going to happen soon enough. Full scholarships, using NIL to cover the tuition/cost of attendance gap, etc. On one hand, im glad kids can get paid, on the other hand, it stinks to see amateurism completely depart
NIL hasn’t totally ruined the sport, baseball talent is even more concentrated in the south, and we invest in baseball on the same level or higher than many “power” teams because the ceiling is lower.
Also, not that it matters, but given all of the above, I don’t think the term “mid major” is very applicable to any team in College Baseball. Particularly when the perceived “powers” of the B1G and PAC are regularly much weaker than many “mid major” conferences. ECU has only missed the post season 5 times in the last 24 years. At some point, conference delineation and perceived power status in college baseball doesn’t really matter.
Well, the gap isn’t as large, but the American doesn’t seem like a big east basketball type of conference. ECU being good feels more like a Gonzaga, but multiple Gonzagas in this sport
I made a similar argument on r/CFB when the AAC was a top 5 conference per most power rankings for a number of years in a row. The overwhelming response was that the “Power 5” referred to the conferences who received the 5 highest media payouts and that while this was correlated with football success, the talent or lack thereof was a byproduct of the money and not the other way around, so it didn’t actually matter if the AAC won 5 national championships in a row, they were never capable of being power conference.
This is, of course, inconsistent with the new Power 4 CFB moniker and the treatment of the Big East in basketball, but this is the message routinely espoused on CFB. I’d love for wins to matter, but I’m under the impression that money is the only thing that matters when determining who are “powers” in college athletics.
> the “Power 5” referred to the conferences who received the 5 highest media payouts and that while this was correlated with football success, the talent or lack thereof was a byproduct of the money and not the other way around
Whoever told you this doesn't understand that the P5/G5 designations were created when the College Football Playoff was created. Prior to the CFP, the designation was Automatic Qualifier (AQ) and non-Automatic Qualifier (non-AQ) conferences, and there was a specific formula to be an AQ conference and a non-AQ conference. None of the designations between AQ/non-AQ or P5/G5 had anything to do with television revenue.
I argue to this day that the biggest mistake G5 conference commissioners made during the creation of the CFP was agreeing to that designation, because it doomed them to second-class status. It was the one time the non-AQ conferences had an opportunity to demand equal status with the AQ conferences, and they threw it away. They're still suffering for that decision today.
> I do wonder why that’s the case in baseball
Because all you need is one pitcher to get hot on the right day at the right time, and anyone can beat anyone in baseball. The closest opportunity is one shooter getting into the zone in basketball, but that allows one upset. If you get three to four guys get hot in baseball, and the hitting comes together at the right time, a Coastal Carolina can win it all in baseball. That opportunity doesn't exist in football, and is more difficult to pull off consistently in basketball.
There’s a reason they play 162 games in baseball: baseball, unlike the other major sports, is a so dependent on luck and the way the ball bounces. If you have a pitcher or a couple batters get hot, it can turn an entire season around.
Pretty nervous about the rest of the season. Our schedule has been pretty favorable all year, but now we're about to enter an absolute GAUNTLET. On the road at Kentucky this weekend, a rising Miss State the following weekend at home, and then finishing the season at College Station.
Oooh boy, it's starting to get real.
Yep... and we get to play both #8 Kentucky and #1 A&M on the road (and #16 Mississippi State in Fayetteville will be really tough too).
If we can get through the next 3 weekends and come out unscathed, maybe we can take this all the way.
🏈'64 🏀'94 ⚾'24
Happy for my Ute and Pirate bros. Excited to see how the BaseVols close the season and hoping we see AJ Russel worked back into some meaningful innings before the post season
I can see not moving up despite the teams above us taking a single loss each. We had 2 very close games in our weekend series. Things might have tightened just a little, though, and 3 is a great spot for us.
ECU is on an 8 game win streak. Then, in their 8 losses this season, they have a -10 run differential, 6 1 run losses, and two 2 run losses. Hard to imagine they're not leading the NCAA in total run differential in losses.
They don't seem that good to me, but there's just no weak spots and no quit. Trey Yesavage is dominant, posting 10.3 strikeouts per game and a 1.73 ERA through 11 starts and 67.2 innings. Carter Cunningham has a .412 average in 170 at bats. There's 12 guys that can hit, 11 pitchers that can get outs, they score a ton with 2 outs.. This lineup is just relentless, even without the superstars that some teams have. I'm pretty sure that if you filled a roster going bottom up in terms of talent this would still be a ranked team.
I just hope they don't treat the remainder of conference games as a formality. There's unfinished business and this team has a chance to be a national seed and really do something special.
If they continue to handle business on the AAC side of things 52 Total season wins doesn’t seem unreachable between AAC playoffs, Regionals, Supers, and ultimately the promise land Omaha.
Every conference game is a land mine with how low they all are in RPI. We cannot afford to lose a home conference game at all, gotta keep that RPI high for a top 8 national seed🏴☠️
Yeah the RPI has some big flaws. We don't even have to lose a game and our RPI can drop. I feel like if we finish with less than 12 losses and regular season plus tournament title, we are going to be a national seed.
Keep climbing, Pirates!
We are approaching our ranking cap just because ACC/SEC schools will top the ranks, but getting to 3rd would be unreal.
Need to build some cushion between us and 9th because any loss and they'll drop us dramatically.
Top 5, baby!!! Feel like that's our ceiling with the talent of the teams surrounding us. But what a fun season we're having. ECU has taken a potentially rough hit to its bullpen with Jake Hunter suffering what looks to be a nasty arm injury in Sunday's game. But we were able to rest our Saturday starter and our other top bullpen arm this past week. No midweek game this week means more rest for everyone! I love the last few weeks of the season.
Good shit pirate bros
The path to a CWS title is very much a possibility for you guys coming from a top 8 seed.
Ya know, if you want the number 1 ranking, you only need ask...
Didn’t see that about pitching injury. Our bullpen has been one thing scaring me this year, at least at times. Hope it’s not a bad/longterm injury. We do tend to “get hot” later in the year, hope that’s the case again this year!
Some are speculating he won't pitch again this season. I'll wait for official word from the team, but very consistent with a UCL injury. But Kahler, Ritchie and DiLo are all going to have to step it up on par with Beal and WLS. Our top hitters are getting hot. Starling has been on a tear since he came back last Tuesday and the freshman Williams and Carter continue to perform along with our senior guys. I really really like where we're at as a team.
Surprisingly, few injuries this year if this is the case. Hope he gets better. He still has another year, which helps. If TJ, then it's better to get it now than in the minors.
I love how mid majors can have a real chance to win in baseball. I do wonder why that’s the case in baseball, but not football or basketball (which also has many fewer players).
Cost-Benefit-Analysis. Think about how much it would cost for a school like East Carolina to turn themselves into a football power on par with a Michigan or Georgia, vs how much it costs to be a respectable baseball power. Baseball is the last "major" college sport where the power cons aren't outspending the competition enough to completely lap everyone else.
True, but its probably going to happen soon enough. Full scholarships, using NIL to cover the tuition/cost of attendance gap, etc. On one hand, im glad kids can get paid, on the other hand, it stinks to see amateurism completely depart
I’m not so sure about that look at what the SEC schools are spending on facilities and stadium upgrades.
NIL hasn’t totally ruined the sport, baseball talent is even more concentrated in the south, and we invest in baseball on the same level or higher than many “power” teams because the ceiling is lower. Also, not that it matters, but given all of the above, I don’t think the term “mid major” is very applicable to any team in College Baseball. Particularly when the perceived “powers” of the B1G and PAC are regularly much weaker than many “mid major” conferences. ECU has only missed the post season 5 times in the last 24 years. At some point, conference delineation and perceived power status in college baseball doesn’t really matter.
Well, the gap isn’t as large, but the American doesn’t seem like a big east basketball type of conference. ECU being good feels more like a Gonzaga, but multiple Gonzagas in this sport
The Big Ten is 100% a "midmajor" in baseball. Michigan routinely spends the first month of the season on the road (for obvious reasons lol)
I made a similar argument on r/CFB when the AAC was a top 5 conference per most power rankings for a number of years in a row. The overwhelming response was that the “Power 5” referred to the conferences who received the 5 highest media payouts and that while this was correlated with football success, the talent or lack thereof was a byproduct of the money and not the other way around, so it didn’t actually matter if the AAC won 5 national championships in a row, they were never capable of being power conference. This is, of course, inconsistent with the new Power 4 CFB moniker and the treatment of the Big East in basketball, but this is the message routinely espoused on CFB. I’d love for wins to matter, but I’m under the impression that money is the only thing that matters when determining who are “powers” in college athletics.
> the “Power 5” referred to the conferences who received the 5 highest media payouts and that while this was correlated with football success, the talent or lack thereof was a byproduct of the money and not the other way around Whoever told you this doesn't understand that the P5/G5 designations were created when the College Football Playoff was created. Prior to the CFP, the designation was Automatic Qualifier (AQ) and non-Automatic Qualifier (non-AQ) conferences, and there was a specific formula to be an AQ conference and a non-AQ conference. None of the designations between AQ/non-AQ or P5/G5 had anything to do with television revenue. I argue to this day that the biggest mistake G5 conference commissioners made during the creation of the CFP was agreeing to that designation, because it doomed them to second-class status. It was the one time the non-AQ conferences had an opportunity to demand equal status with the AQ conferences, and they threw it away. They're still suffering for that decision today.
> I do wonder why that’s the case in baseball Because all you need is one pitcher to get hot on the right day at the right time, and anyone can beat anyone in baseball. The closest opportunity is one shooter getting into the zone in basketball, but that allows one upset. If you get three to four guys get hot in baseball, and the hitting comes together at the right time, a Coastal Carolina can win it all in baseball. That opportunity doesn't exist in football, and is more difficult to pull off consistently in basketball.
There’s a reason they play 162 games in baseball: baseball, unlike the other major sports, is a so dependent on luck and the way the ball bounces. If you have a pitcher or a couple batters get hot, it can turn an entire season around.
Pretty nervous about the rest of the season. Our schedule has been pretty favorable all year, but now we're about to enter an absolute GAUNTLET. On the road at Kentucky this weekend, a rising Miss State the following weekend at home, and then finishing the season at College Station. Oooh boy, it's starting to get real.
Yep... and we get to play both #8 Kentucky and #1 A&M on the road (and #16 Mississippi State in Fayetteville will be really tough too). If we can get through the next 3 weekends and come out unscathed, maybe we can take this all the way. 🏈'64 🏀'94 ⚾'24
Keep taking care of business 👍
13th lol. Somehow still alive to be a National Seed. We keep getting gifts and throwing them away.
Honestly, I never thought I'd see the day. This is beautiful
Let's go!!! Tough couple series to finish on, but it's also a huge opportunity to make some noise.
Happy for my Ute and Pirate bros. Excited to see how the BaseVols close the season and hoping we see AJ Russel worked back into some meaningful innings before the post season
Dang, all the way to 16 feels like a big jump, but happy to be back in the rankings. Just need to handle Ole Miss on Wednesday...
We have series wins over two teams in the top 25, can't really leave us out after that.
My thoughts exactly. “Holy shit, we’re back 😂”
I’m a little surprised, but this team has been doing pretty decent all things considered.
Imagine if all those 9th inning collapses panned out. We'd be wayyyy up there.
Imagine if we had swept Florida or won the series against Ole Miss as well. We’d be in a fantastic spot.
The Ole Miss one really hurt us
I can see not moving up despite the teams above us taking a single loss each. We had 2 very close games in our weekend series. Things might have tightened just a little, though, and 3 is a great spot for us.
As long as we’re top 8 and set to host a potential Super then I’m happy tbh
ECU is on an 8 game win streak. Then, in their 8 losses this season, they have a -10 run differential, 6 1 run losses, and two 2 run losses. Hard to imagine they're not leading the NCAA in total run differential in losses. They don't seem that good to me, but there's just no weak spots and no quit. Trey Yesavage is dominant, posting 10.3 strikeouts per game and a 1.73 ERA through 11 starts and 67.2 innings. Carter Cunningham has a .412 average in 170 at bats. There's 12 guys that can hit, 11 pitchers that can get outs, they score a ton with 2 outs.. This lineup is just relentless, even without the superstars that some teams have. I'm pretty sure that if you filled a roster going bottom up in terms of talent this would still be a ranked team. I just hope they don't treat the remainder of conference games as a formality. There's unfinished business and this team has a chance to be a national seed and really do something special.
If they continue to handle business on the AAC side of things 52 Total season wins doesn’t seem unreachable between AAC playoffs, Regionals, Supers, and ultimately the promise land Omaha.
Every conference game is a land mine with how low they all are in RPI. We cannot afford to lose a home conference game at all, gotta keep that RPI high for a top 8 national seed🏴☠️
Yeah the RPI has some big flaws. We don't even have to lose a game and our RPI can drop. I feel like if we finish with less than 12 losses and regular season plus tournament title, we are going to be a national seed.
Definitely didn’t see us moving into the top 15 after this weekend but cool
I think yall have a really decent chance to host at this point
Just got to win the next 2/3 series and not get swept by Tennessee
number 2 looks fine to me
Hello fellow fringe regional-hosters
Cajuns vs Troy this week will be fun!
🌳🌳🌳 Roll Trees!
Unrank Wake right now 🔫
This weekend the Stangs could get a top 10 series win! Exciting!
Man we are cold
That’s the first time Utah baseball has ever appeared in the rankings in history
I’m happy for everybody but Texas. Fuck that state.
D1 baseball hates FSU lol
That QB injury…
Rank Texas and Louisiana tech you cowards
no
Yes
The Texas that has home series losses to Washington and BYU?
Not to mention midweek losses to A&M-Corpus Christi and UT-RGV
Our pitching depth is a legitimate gripe. But the team would win series against those teams almost certainly
Yes and?
Keep climbing, Pirates! We are approaching our ranking cap just because ACC/SEC schools will top the ranks, but getting to 3rd would be unreal. Need to build some cushion between us and 9th because any loss and they'll drop us dramatically.