**USC vs. Arkansas GAME #1 Thread**

[Singaporecock]

The bandwagon might get a little lighter...and the internet coaches will get a little louder.

It happens to the best of...Hey, we are the best of them!

It happens.

[scbuck]

Missing Ray Tanner more than I thought. Injuries are part of the game. Every team has injuries. No excuses please! This team is loaded with talent. The pitching let us down tonight. Also the coaching was terrible by Chad Holbrook. You have to take Beal out earlier. I do not want to sound like an arm chair coach. I just hope the coaches learn from this mistake and not allow a pitcher to spot the other team 7 runs before they go to the bullpen. GO COCKS win the next two and take the series!

[USCooper]

Originally Posted by scbuck

Missing Ray Tanner more than I thought. Injuries are part of the game. Every team has injuries. No excuses please! This team is loaded with talent. The pitching let us down tonight. Also the coaching was terrible by Chad Holbrook. You have to take Beal out earlier. I do not want to sound like an arm chair coach. I just hope the coaches learn from this mistake and not allow a pitcher to spot the other team 7 runs before they go to the bullpen. GO COCKS win the next two and take the series!

Or maybe since its a three game series and not a one game or your gone, they decided to save arms. But ya you are being an arm chair qb. I guess we will get to see who stays on the wagon and who jumps off.

[ucan'tlickourcocks]

Originally Posted by scbuck

Missing Ray Tanner more than I thought. Injuries are part of the game. Every team has injuries. No excuses please! This team is loaded with talent. The pitching let us down tonight. Also the coaching was terrible by Chad Holbrook. You have to take Beal out earlier. I do not want to sound like an arm chair coach. I just hope the coaches learn from this mistake and not allow a pitcher to spot the other team 7 runs before they go to the bullpen. GO COCKS win the next two and take the series!

Dude, unless Ray Tanner was a pitcher, he wouldn't have helped much yesterday! Jerry Myers was the pitching coach last year, and is STILL the pitching coach! Our coaches made a calculated decision, and it backfired. It happens, even to the great Ray Tanner!

You do realize we were missing 5 starters from yesterdays team, and that is not Counting Tanner English being back for the first time in weeks!

Losing one game, its not the end of the damned world! In Baseball, if you win 2 out of 3 games, you are considered a really good team!

We take care of business today and tomorrow, Last nite will be an after thought!

Bottom line, we do not have a perfect team..... but we will bounce back!

[U-Dub Gamecock]

It happens....win today, and go for the series tomorrow

It could be worse....my Alma Mater is 4-16

[Coulwoodwarlord]

I've already chalked this game up as an aberration. It's in my rearview and I'm losing sight of it.

[SECgamecock453]

Is today's game going to get rained out?

[Berry]

Originally Posted by SECgamecock453

Is today's game going to get rained out?

This.

[Garnet girl]

It is raining in Greenville and thunder storming in Atlanta. It looks like a good shot at rain.

[Garnet Army]

I seem to remember all this belly aching last year after we went up to Kentucky and got waxed. Everyone thought the sky was falling. Get over it people. We have one of the greatest coaching staffs and team in the country. They all know how to win and what it takes to win. This is only the second SEC series of the season.

[TheMule]

Originally Posted by USCooper

Or maybe since its a three game series and not a one game or your gone, they decided to save arms.

That's the way I looked at it. IMO it was either take Beal out when he walked in the first run or go with him a while longer. Once it got to 5-0 the odds of plating 6 runs against Arkansas pitching was pretty slim.

Another thought was to see if Beal could work his way out of it. Even though he failed this time doesn't mean that Beal can't study film and be coached to be successful the next time. It's a long season and we're going to need him to work out of jams whether as a starter or reliever before this season is done.

[gAmkok]

LOL
One game and Holbrook's a bum. It's incredible some people think life and work are supposed to be a string of high level successes without any valleys to complement the peaks. Congrats to them, I guess, for thinking they can pull that off (or is it just that OTHER people are supposed to live that way).

Anyhow, Holbrook and team will be fine. It's a long season.

[ReadR00ster]

Originally Posted by usc1

Injuries are a part of the game but what other team has lost their ace and leadoff guy along with whoever else didn't play tonight. Not many. I'm not offering it as an excuse but it's frustrating when we get blown out like this because I know we are much better at full strength.

Points to a lack of depth. We were counting on Holmes and Koumas to be much better, but they've struggled, so take out Montgomery, our best starter, and we are stretched a little thin. We need one more reliable bull pen guy I think. Right now I only feel good with Webb and Westmoreland coming into the game. If Montgomery comes back than we could move Beal or Wynkoop back to the bull pen and that is three studs starting and three studs in the pen, two for each weekend game. Offensively, we have too many players that just don't hit. Saiko, is probably our best hitter along with English. Dantzler and Pankake are streaky. Bright, Vergason, and Greiner hit okay, but after that we have a bunch of players that just don't get hits. These guys need to step up.

[ReadR00ster]

Originally Posted by Garnet girl

It is raining in Greenville and thunder storming in Atlanta. It looks like a good shot at rain.

I looks like it should clear out sometime by late afternoon. (fingers crossed)

[ReadR00ster]

Originally Posted by uscandy

Injuries are a part of the game. That same Beal that pitched so well against Mzzou last week didn't have it tonight. Gotta be more consistent.

It's the same Beal. I've seen him have bad inning before, we've just been fortunate to avoid it. He looked great early on. Credit to Arkansas for making adjustments and keeping the pressure on him.