.....you've got to have more than one starting pitcher, and one relief man that you work to death. After 4 seasons, you'd think... This year's team wins on Friday, gets our hopes up, then opponent bats go crazy all weekend. There seems to be a distinct lack of long-ball hitters, too. We are middle-of-the-pack, in hitting, but the runs aren't getting driven in. We're tied for 11th in home runs, and 9th in RBI's. And, we lead the league in number of times caught stealing. Someone's making some mistakes on those signals...

.....We're mired around 8th place in earned run average, but that's only because of excellent fielding. We're in 11th place on strikeouts.

.....So, Auburn is where they are, due to not scoring enough, along with some less than average pitching. After 4 years, is it a teaching problem, or a recruiting one? Either way...

I'm in agreement about the unreasonable loose-rope policies for both Lebo and Slater. It's typical for fans to call for changes when your teams aren't performing up to your standards, but these coaches have few excuses to lean on. Sure, Lebo had to deal with sanctions and a crap-hole for a arena, but Cliff Ellis still managed to be competitive. Hard to believe that the excuses of "lack of depth and inexperience" can be used for every Lebo team. Put up or hush up, Jeff. Stop waiting for that new arena to build the program.

As for Slater, I think he's a good coach. Unfortunately, good doesn't win you championships...or take you to the SEC Tournament for that matter. I was only able to attend Auburn baseball this year when they visited Vanderbilt, but three things stood out to me...

1.)Vandy recruited baseball talent from Maine to California, and those guys were ball players. How far out of the South does Slater even look? I count 3 out of SEC country...and 2 of those are from VA.
2.)I've never seen more undisciplined batters than AU's players. I was amazed to watch players not even swing until 2 strikes were already on top of them. And just like strategy out of little league, the Vandy pitcher would sling out the old curve and get our boys to chase an unhittable strike 3. This wasn't just one player. Nope, several followed the same hitting "strategy." Guys, this isn't a good sign when your batters are undisciplined at the plate. Coaching should've corrected that much earlier in the season.
3.)Pitching sucked. We went through 4 pitchers on the Sunday finale.

Lets hope either the young AU team matures in time for a competitive run next year. With top-notch facilities, this baseball program shouldn't be struggling like it has.

But valid points, nonetheless. I can't even pretend to know what's best for Auburn baseball.  all I can do is remember the decent teams we had under Hal Baird...