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Darin Erstad deserves a ton of credit

HuskerWeatherman said:
I'm quite pleased the Huskers won the regular season title. Even if we don't win the conference tourney, there is great satisfaction.

However, I do expect this to happen at least once every three years. Simply because the Big Ten is truly a poor baseball conference. Regardless, it's better to win in a poor baseball conference than it is to lose! :)

The Big Ten conference RPI puts it as the 7th best conference. By far, the lowest of the Power Five conferences. And behind the American Athletic and Conference USA. That's where a bit of gravity sets in for me.

Ultimately, we need to perform well in the post-season, outside of the rotten Big Ten. If we flame out quickly in the Regional, it will take a bit of wind out of the sails. I actually don't think we need to win the Regional and go on to a Super to have this be a very successful season. But ideally (assuming we will be a 2-seed), we need to make it to the regional final.
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I would agree that winning conference or the tournament once every 3 years is a pretty reasonable expectation. I just am lumping the last 5 seasons together where we have been at the top of a conference we should be at the top of. I'm happy he got it done this year to ease some pressure.
 

Mojo Hagge, a freshman walk-on that was just going to go to school in Lincoln and someone alerted the staff to have him on the team. That guy was a huge piece of the puzzle for us, and I am a huge fan so don't let this next statement upset anyone, but that guy has no business starting in the OF for a team that is looking to host a regional.

I attend a number of games with a friend each season and this fact has been central to many of our discussions on just how successful the Erstad era has or hasn't been. There is something very wrong, either with recruiting or player development, if a guy who intended to be a regular student can show up and make as much of an impact as Hagge has this season. I'm glad the team has been as successful as they have been this year, but there are holes and issues all over the place. I'll enjoy the rest of the season and look forward to ***'s post-season discussion.
 
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Deer&Ducks said:
Mojo Hagge, a freshman walk-on that was just going to go to school in Lincoln and someone alerted the staff to have him on the team. That guy was a huge piece of the puzzle for us, and I am a huge fan so don't let this next statement upset anyone, but that guy has no business starting in the OF for a team that is looking to host a regional.

I attend a number of games with a friend each season and this fact has been central to many of our discussions on just how successful the Erstad era has or hasn't been. There is something very wrong, either with recruiting or player development, if a guy who intended to be a regular student can show up and make as much of an impact as Hagge has this season. I'm glad the team has been as successful as they have been this year, but there are holes and issues all over the place. I'll enjoy the rest of the season and look forward to ***'s post-season discussion.
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As a person who was at UNL from 94-98, I can give a couple of positive spins to your post.
1) "I attend a number of games with a friend." At least people are going to games now. I went to games occasionally at the old field, with it's resplendent brown infield and bright green astroturf outfield. There were usually ~20 people in attendance, primarily family members. :eek:

2) The mid-90s teams were horrible. And Hagge would not have even been looked at by Sanders, who did not have a fondness for Nebraska talent for some reason. At least Erstad and staff will look at walk-ons and recruit in-state! There were times we speculated that you could make an all-star team of the intramural softball leagues, and crush the Husker team (provided there was a pitcher, of course). And yes, I understand that may be just a bit of a stretch now in my later years. ;)
 
Husker Mort said:
Let's see how the postseason goes. I'm glad the Huskers were able to finally break through and hope it is a sign of things to come.

At this point, the ranking and likely #2 regional seed are more exciting than the conference W/L...although BA's Baton Rouge prediction is a tough draw.

Gotta take care of business in Bloomington.
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Another postseason collapse shows this program hasn't changed a bit. Officially off the Erstad wagon.
 



HuskerWeatherman said:
Yep, that too. I just decided to look back a bit further.

Erstad has been here for six seasons. That's a lifetime for most coaches at one stop. Our postseason record is not a coincidence. It's a trend and a harsh reality.
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Difficult to argue. Also tough to puff out your chest (over a regular season title) when looking at the postseason results of an already weak conference.
 
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I listened or watched every inning this year. Not sure I'll pay any attention next year if Erstad is still here. there is simply no point.
 
Deer&Ducks said:
Mojo Hagge, a freshman walk-on that was just going to go to school in Lincoln and someone alerted the staff to have him on the team. That guy was a huge piece of the puzzle for us, and I am a huge fan so don't let this next statement upset anyone, but that guy has no business starting in the OF for a team that is looking to host a regional.

I attend a number of games with a friend each season and this fact has been central to many of our discussions on just how successful the Erstad era has or hasn't been. There is something very wrong, either with recruiting or player development, if a guy who intended to be a regular student can show up and make as much of an impact as Hagge has this season. I'm glad the team has been as successful as they have been this year, but there are holes and issues all over the place. I'll enjoy the rest of the season and look forward to ***'s post-season discussion.
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With very few recruits coming in next year, I'm not sure if we will even have nine bats to put on the field. Better hope for a few more Mojo's to magically appear. Of course replacing our current bats wouldn't take much.
 
HuskerDB said:
I listened or watched every inning this year. Not sure I'll pay any attention next year if Erstad is still here. there is simply no point.
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I can all but guarantee you Erstad will still be here in 2018. Not that I believe he's a good coach. But because you can't easily fire a coach that won the regular season title (even if it doesn't excite me too much when we win the 7th rated conference in baseball).
 
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Erstad for sure is at fault for the postseason record. But we can't forget when he almost beat an Indiana team that made it to the CWS and almost won the B1G tournament. The fact is we were the only team to win 7 B1G series and we brought a trophy home. If there's "no point of watching" when a team is bringing home conference titles, I don't know what to tell ya.
 



Baseball is a game of differing philosophies. Get them on, move them over, drive them in versus get them on and swing for a double or homerun. You cannot blame a coach for their opinion on how to score runs. That being said, you also do not reinvent the wheel. The Husker hitters had terrible approaches at the plate and the pitchers, for the most part, were less than reliable. I don't care for the ho-hum demeanor. Show some emotion, show some want to for gosh sakes. Get a hitting instructor in there, get rid of Silva. I like Erstad and I can live with his approach to offense but he has to make some changes.
 

skerinks said:
Baseball is a game of differing philosophies. Get them on, move them over, drive them in versus get them on and swing for a double or homerun. You cannot blame a coach for their opinion on how to score runs. That being said, you also do not reinvent the wheel. The Husker hitters had terrible approaches at the plate and the pitchers, for the most part, were less than reliable. I don't care for the ho-hum demeanor. Show some emotion, show some want to for gosh sakes. Get a hitting instructor in there, get rid of Silva. I like Erstad and I can live with his approach to offense but he has to make some changes.
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I'm with you here... the whole "each game means the same, you shouldn't get up for one game more than the other" is a nice talk point, but impossible to execute on from February all the way til' June. When we were struggling early in his tenure during the season, we got up for the post-season because it was our chance to salvage something. I definitely don't think they are "satisfied" but there's definitely teams that want it more in my opinion. Losing to Yale and Holy Cross is not a talent or coaching issue in my opinion.
 
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