Speaker 1: Matt Diggs talks all things Raging Cagen's Baseball this offseason
heading into twenty twenty seven, and we have it right
here on Raging Rundown's. Good ladies and gentlemen, and welcome
to another episode of Raging Rundown All Cajuns all the time.
I'm your guy, JaMarcus Fitzpatrick, but you know you can
always call me fits. And in today's episode, we will
be visiting with UL Baseball head coach Matt Daggs. They
had their postseason luncheon earlier this week on Wednesday, and me,
as a working media member, was and I was invited
to the event itself. They were given the opportunity by
a lot of supporters of the program to meet some
of the new players, to catch up with the old
returning players that are coming back, to get a glimpse
at the schedule that they have upcoming for a fall
and then also the twenty twenty seven season. So while
I was there, I know a couple of people had
asked could we get this interview, And so I did
my job going and talking to head coach Matt Diggs,
and we talked for about seven or eight minutes.
Speaker 2: Because it was right before the event started.
Speaker 1: So I didn't want to hold him up too long,
but there were four soundbites that I want to play
for you guys in particular that kind of broke down
what his thought process was going into this offseason, some
of the things that he was focused on, how important
certain aspects of the team would be for him, and
all of those things like that.
Speaker 2: So we'll get to every bit of it as we
go through the show.
Speaker 1: So the first thing that I asked him about was
kind of his philosophy of how he was recruiting guys
in the offseason, because, as we've talked about in previous
episodes on the show that you can check out here
on the channel, the freshman class coming in were just
two players, Evan Vincent and Miles Lidot. Everything else after
that was either a transfer, portal signing, or a junior
college player, And a lot of these players were experienced,
having just one to two years of eligibility remaining, meaning
that they had seen and played a lot of college baseball,
and so my assumption from what I had seen was
that they were looking to stay older. So I asked
Coach Diggs, what was his philosophy about recruiting this offseason.
Speaker 3: In this landscape, I don't feel like we have time
to go back. We've got to find guys that can
come to us and physically, maturity wise, baseball IQ and acumen,
they need to be ready, and I feel like we've
done that, especially on the mound with a two freshmen
coming in, so that class is small, but they're good.
I would expect them to make him packed right away,
and yeah, that was by design, just to stay old
and because that's what's winning right now in this game.
Speaker 2: That's what's winning baseball games now.
Speaker 1: So he made it pretty clear there that his thought
process is in order for this program to be contenders,
to compete and be very solid, to do what Troy
did getting to the College World Series, to do what
Coastal Carolina did two years ago and get to the
College World Series, you're going to have to have an
experienced ball club. And that means that you're not gonna
be going to try to go and get younger players.
You're trying to go get more experienced players, and they
did that. We've talked about it multiple times, but we'll
talk about the newcomers and list them that they have
Trent Lape, degg and Coubat, Maddix Sullivan, Charlie Cribbs, Blaine Albright, Griffin, Miller, Kendall, Dove,
Jackson Evers, and Joey Irving are all out of your
pitching staff. Evan Vinsent is your freshman pitcher, Miles Lodeou
is your freshman infielder. Eric Fernandez, Jeremy Kuiper, Michael Kendrick,
Manny Silas, who I did ask him about, Tanner Hornbeck
are all your transfer infielders. Kel Pizano is a transfer outfielder,
and Jose Carmona is a transfer catcher. So in total,
if I can get this all calculated for you guys
real quick, on my spreadsheet, nine pitchers, five infielders, one outfielder,
and one catcher. So that is nine ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen,
sixteen guys that are considered newcomers and two freshmen. So,
like I had been talking about before, this was not
about trying to go and get great young players that
you can spend a whole lot of money on. This
was about going and getting guys that you had seen
what they were able to do at the collegiate level
that we're looking to go and be a part of
something that could be special and bringing them into the fold.
Speaker 2: The main thing that they are staying young.
Speaker 1: At was the Core four, which we know what that is,
but in case this is your first time reaching the channel.
The core four, the big four of this baseball program
is the freshman class. That was Lais Rodriguez, saw your
prew it, Noah Lewis, and Colle Brown. Colp Brown is
your catcher, Noah Lewis is in the outfield, Blas Rodriguez
is your shortstop, and saw your prew it is there
on the bump. They were all impressive and that's why
they got all Sunbelt honors this postseason. And it was
imperative that you got not just one of them back,
not just two of them back, not just three of
them back.
Speaker 2: You needed to have all four of them back.
Speaker 1: Because that took care of every single level on the
field from the dish all the way to the wall.
So I asked coach Diggs, how much of a priority
was it for him to go and get all four
of the big four of that freshman class.
Speaker 3: Well, it was job one, and you know that's where
it started. In the exit meetings, and in the fundraising process, etc.
That was job one, and it's got a chance to
be one of the more special younger groups that's ever
come through here. And it's not just those four, there's
several others, but yeah, to have them back, and then
the guys that were inexperience but not freshmen like Markle
and LaSalle and those guys. Simo coming off injury, you
know he could have There's a lot of options for
Semo and for him to be back, and I see
him in the room today and just excited. Man, sky's
the limit for this team. We're gonna have a lot
of fun and it's gonna be a great time.
Speaker 1: So, like I mentioned that, these guys were truly important
for them to be able to get themselves ready for
the twenty twenty seven season and be a part of
the success of what he believes this program can truly be.
I had mentioned about how programs out of the Sunbelt
needed or had a lot of experience, and then that's
why the ones that went on deep runs had a
ton of experience this past season.
Speaker 2: Troy. The roster, the baseball roster that.
Speaker 1: They had, I'm counting only five freshmen, including red shirt
freshmen seniors. You had one two three, four, five, six, seven,
eight nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, sixteen
seniors one two, three, four, five, six, seven eight nine
ten juniors five freshmen one two, three four five sophomores.
So it's literally proven that in order for you to
be in a position to be deep in the postseason,
you have to have a much more older and experienced roster,
and that's proven to be true not just in college baseball,
but across all collegiate sports.
Speaker 2: The more experience that you have, the better off you
will be.
Speaker 1: And that had to come with financial stipulations and where
they needed to raise funds to make sure that they
could retain these players, not giving them a million dollars,
because once you start getting into those figures, nine times
out of ten, you're gonna lose a guy. If a
guy has an opportunity to sign a major league contract
or getting the portal and go to a power for school,
making that type of money occajuns are just not in
a position to be competing in that type of arms race.
But when you're able to get enough money in the
pot where you can say, hey, we can put together
enough to get guys that are experienced enough and have
enough talent that as we developed them because of the
coaching staff that we have, the Seth Thibodeau's, the Taylor Sanderford,
the Matt Diggs and company. I mean now the Ryan
Patterson that's added to the mix. I did not ask
him about that, and I'm hitting myself in the back
of the head because I didn't ask him about it.
But I'm sure we'll talk again at some point. But
like I said, these young core for Big Four guys
that they have retained were truly important towards the success,
but having that experience level that they're bringing in now
was just as important in the mix.
Speaker 2: And you heard him mention about that.
Speaker 1: Guys like Donovan LaSalle and Drew Marko coming back as well.
The retention level was extremely high. You didn't lose nearly
as many players as what you may have lost in
twenty twenty five, and the ones that you did lose
were in positions that they may have not been playing
as much for you anyway in this upcoming season. So
they went and found a place that they can go
and actually be able to play, and that is fine.
We also talked about the pitching staff and their perspective
on how they decided to do things this offseason and
what it was going to take for them to be
successful ultimately in twenty twenty seven. And we're going to
hear more about that when we come back here on
Raging Rundown. Hey, guys, thank you so much for tuning
into another episode of Raging Rundown. We're going to get
back into the action in just a second, but before
we do, if you are watching this episode on YouTube,
please do me a favorite, like it, share it, and
leave a comment down below, but most importantly, make sure
you subscribe to the channel. If you're listening, please follow
the podcast feed, rate the show, and leave us a review,
because that will help us get in front of more
Raging Cajun fans just like yourself. Matt Diggs and company
put together a phenomenal off season approach and was able
to bring in sixteen newcomer players that I rattled off
to you in the first half of this episode, but
in particular, the area where.
Speaker 2: They needed to lean in the most was the pitching staff.
Speaker 1: After the startfield Regional, I asked Coach Diggs did he
feel like his team was tired, and he said, no,
we had more in the tank, but it was simply
that we ran out of gas when it came to
the arms. And so he felt like if they could
go and get enough good arms, even great arms, to
add in that bullpen on top of the positional players
that they had and what they would be bringing in,
that this would be not just a regional hosting team,
but a team that could contend for a national championship.
So they go into the offseason and like I mentioned earlier,
they would sign nine transfers and then your freshman pitcher,
Evan Vincent, And so I asked coach Diggs about the
perspective of the type of pictures that he had to
go and get and how important it was going to
be for the success of the program to go and
get some pictures added into the bullpen.
Speaker 3: Well, it's been a phenomenal summer, and I think you're right.
The way those kids played captured a lot of hearts
and minds, and not just of adults, but of players
that are coming up right. And so that kind of
transitioned into unbelievable recruiting summer. And you know it's yeah, arms,
you know, pitching runs, the world and you got to
have the arms. And I don't think we ever got tired,
but we did just because the injuries or whatnot. We
ran out of some steam on the mound. I thought
we played well against Mississippi State. They just had a
few more arms than we did. And so I think
we've addressed that. We'll find out in about six weeks,
but I do. I think we've addressed that and have
a chance to go above and beyond where we finished
this year.
Speaker 1: So leaning into going to get those pictures, he feels
confidence about what he has going into that bullpen, and
he's also confident because of the type of coach that
he has leading the troops. Taylor Sanderford came in this
past season and he came from Marshall and he did
a phenomenal job with guys like Andrew Herman and Cody
Brash and ty Rowman, and the list goes on and
on and on of the guys Tyler Papenbrock, who's now
in the Majors along with Cody Brash, so many guys
that he worked with to enhance the level of play
that they had this past season, and it proved just
how phenomenal he was even more so to the point
that they were able to go. After the portal had opened.
Three Marshall pitchers entered the portal, guys that had played
under coach Sanderford while he was at Marshall talking about
Charlie Crabbs blaying Albright and Griffin Miller. And after each
one of them entered the portal, the Cajunds did their
due diligence going and seeking those guys out, having those conversations,
and each one of them committed before taking a visit
and coming to campus. And all of them committed because
they believe in the picture that Taylor Sandeford pitching coach,
that Taylor Sanderford is. So I asked Coach Diggs about
getting those Marshall pitchers and how important coach Sanderford is
to this program and ultimately how his skill set as
a coach will help them be a great team in
twenty twenty sevens Well.
Speaker 3: It speaks to Sandy right and just the respect that
he has garnered and has from players and former players.
And look, those kids, in their own free will got
in the portal and were available, and Sandy had that relationship.
And that's not just those three. It's every returning pitcher
on this team and a lot of the new ones
that are coming out.
Speaker 1: So it's going to be extremely fun to see how
this team will gel. We know from a positional standpoint
what these guys did last season and how good their
bats were, especially on the back half of things. But
now that you've added some really talented arms through the
portal and through the JUCO levels along with what you
already had, the saw Your Pruetz, the Chase Morgans, the Jr. Tiletts,
the Tie Romans, the Parker Smith's, the Hayden Pearson's. Because
you have so many of those guys in the mix,
it now puts you in a true conversation to say,
if we're able to stay healthy, if we're able to
continue to compete at a high level, then we have
the opportunity to not just be a good team, but
to potentially compete for a national championship. So Cajun's Baseball
will open up the fall ball season in the month
of October. They will play four games, and if I
can get it pulled back up here on my computer,
I will rattle off to them. But I do know
that they have the likes of McNeice and Northwestern States
and Lamar a lot of Southland Conference teams that they
will be facing off against. I can tell you exactly
what it is. October second, it will be at Nichols.
October sixteenth, it will be versus Northwestern State. October twenty fourth,
it will be against McNeice, and then October thirtieth it
will be against Lamar. So that'll be your first opportunity
to be able to see what this team will look like.
And then the twenty twenty seven schedule. The dates and
times have not been set, but we know the opponents.
The non conference weekend series they will have will be
against Missouri State again, North Dakota State, and Oakland. Their
conference series that they will host will be against app State, Troy,
LA Tech, Old Dominion, and Arkansas State. Their road trips
and conference will be South Al, Ulm, Southern miss Coastal
and Marshall. They'll have some neutral site games at Kentucky
or versus Kentucky that'll be in Pensacola, if I'm not mistaken,
Texas A and M, Yukon and Utah. They'll have midweek
scheduled games. Kansas State comes back for another season. Nichols,
Southeastern Southern Texas, Rio, Grand Valley, West Florida, McNeice, Jackson State,
Texas A and M Corpus Christy and Nickel State. I
mentioned them already. The Cajun's Road Midwek slate will be LSU,
McNeice and Rice. Like I said, all of those dates
will be announced at a later date. So exciting times
for Raging Cagen's Baseball. We'll be seeing what Team one
thirteen will look like once we get to fall Ball
in October. That's going to wrap up this episode of
Raging Rundown. If you've made it to this point in
the episode, thank you so much. Please do me a favor.
Please like this video, share it, and leave a comment
down below. But most importantly, make sure you subscribe to
the channel. If you're listening, please follow the podcast feed,
rate the show, and leave us a review because that's
going to help us get in front of more Raging
Cajun fans. Just like yourself, I'm your guy, Ja Marcus Fitzpatrick.
We'll see you guys next time
Speaker 2: You