Speaker 1: All Star Toyota presents Off the Bench with Jacob Hester
and Matt Flynn.
Speaker 2: Okay, here we go where.
Speaker 1: The players get broken down and science gets denied.
Speaker 2: I gotta come off the bitch.
Speaker 1: Hour two of Off the Bench Live from the Mercedes
Benz Baton Rouge Studio starts now.
Speaker 2: All right, welcome back in.
Speaker 3: It is OTB here on one O four five ESPN
on this hump day morning. I'm gonna go now to
the phone lines. My colleague gets serious XM. Catch her
on ESPN not only on the sidelines, but hosting Squeeze
play there, which is one of the best things that
we have in sports, and also can throw an act
like Paul Bunyan. Chris Budden joins the show KB.
Speaker 2: What's going on?
Speaker 4: Hey, glad to be with you guys. What's going on?
Speaker 3: Don't lie like when we went to Dave and Busters
in Green Bay, Wisconsin and you threw the acts and
put me to shame. Please tell me you went home
and you bragged about that.
Speaker 4: I mean, let's be fair, like I just stuck the act.
There was a difference. It's not like you didn't think
it's the bullseye. I just figured out, you know, I
don't know what this says about some of the things
that we do on the road on a Friday on
college football weekends, but yes, have a little bit more
maybe experience than you do.
Speaker 3: Okay, okay, fair enough, fair enough. I know you're going
to be calling LSU in Arkansas, but I do want
to go back to Squeeze play. It is one of
my favorite things to watch, and y'all do such a
great job, and it's always kind of cool to see
y'all watch like some of the biggest moments as they're happening,
like you know, kind of the behind the scenes look.
Always look forward to kind of seeing your content there.
But which one this year?
Speaker 2: Right? And you and.
Speaker 3: Rooney and Burkie like you're all around like the TV's
kind of watching you can't believe that it's actually happening.
Speaker 2: Which one was that this year?
Speaker 4: Vanderbilt? I mean that the fact that the number one
seed lost, it was the way that it happened because
Burkie and I had just gotten done calling the SEC Championship,
which Vanderbilt won. Their offense had found this groove and
then it just it wasn't there at the regional. But
then you know, like the way that that played out,
and I can't remember who hit it, but there was
the ground rule double and it was like, had that
not happened, it would have been a tie ballgame. And
then you get R. J. Austin coming up, who was like,
oh for that weekend, and it was just you didn't
feel good about that matchup, and so to watch that
live and to watch the ball go over the fence,
you're like, oh, my gosh, that took a run off
the board, and that was the moment that we were
all just like that's the end.
Speaker 2: I guess there's a lot to choose from.
Speaker 3: When I'm asking the question, I thought you would go
Vaderbilt because that makes sense. They were the number one
overall seed, and I think all of us were right
there with you. But like, as you see how it
played out, and you and I have talked a lot
about Texas throughout the college baseball and they go down
to UTSA.
Speaker 2: I mean, there were so many different moments.
Speaker 3: Oxford Mississippi, the way Ole Miss had been playing, and
you just figure, like they're in Swayze, They're going to
find a way to win the game, and even though
they were down twelve to three, they're going to find
a way, and it looked like they were going to
find a way, only to not in Murray State is
still playing. I mean, the parody right now in college
baseball is really showing through.
Speaker 1: Yeah, especially you.
Speaker 4: Look at the conferences that will be represented in Omaha
and even the old brands, Like there's three teams that
were part of the PAC twelve. And you know, last
year we're sitting here saying, you know, is parody over
in college baseball because we had three fourteens from the
A SCC, four teams from the ACC and it's just like,
hold on, wait a year, and now we'll have a
four seat in this thing. So you know, part of
me is it's a representation of this year's college baseball season.
We didn't have a super team, we did, you know,
we had so many different teams at the top at
number one. We didn't have one team that dominated everybody else.
But I also think for everyone that thought that like
in Io will ruin things for the small schools, I
think it did the exact opposite, because now it's given
them the ability to have all these players beyond full rides,
you know, where we weren't able to before and now
that will change even more with the House settlement. But
whereas for so many years Vandergilt had this advantage right
because they had endowment scholarships, they were able to afford
an entire roster instead of just eleven point seven, Now
you're seeing more of these teams. And I think the
other interesting thing, and really and I have talked about
this off inner, is that when you look at the
way that we do know, it's not like any other
regular season series. And so you know, if you're LSU,
you got two great pitchers, you can pretty much win
every series. Well, now you get into a regional format,
if you lose a game, what does your bullpen look like?
And we can debate whether or not that's a great
way to determine a champion and determine your way to
a Super Omaha. But you know it's that's where teams,
you know, rise and fall and how you end up
with upsets.
Speaker 3: KB, what was your most surprising Super Regional outcome?
Speaker 4: Oh, I guess I would say North Carolina falling.
Speaker 3: Just you lose eighteen to two if you're Arizona the
first game too, like not only how Carolina probably came
into it, but after you lose two touchdowns.
Speaker 4: Yeah, like the resiliency of an Arizona team which, by
the way, like plowed their way through regionals and put
up thirty one runs and then to go out and
just get get an eighteen spot put on you and
to be able to rebound from that, to me, I thought,
I didn't see that coming. And I thought like, North
Carolina's got some superstars. They got some guys like Gavin
Gallaher who played fantastic in the postseason. Like I thought
after watch, like we start going through Rooney and I like, Okay,
which ones do we think are going to game threes
before the matchups even get started? And that was one
of Chapel Hill that I was like, Okay, that one's
going too, especially after the way they went the first day.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no question about it.
Speaker 3: I mean North Carolina they look like they were ready
to take like that next step. I know, if you
go back to the early two thousands, they were back
to back runner.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they was back to back runner up.
Speaker 3: They're at the College World Series and they didn't really
parlay that into extended success.
Speaker 2: They've had one offs.
Speaker 3: Here and there, but I felt like if they got
back to Omaha, this year, maybe they could start some
of them, but Arizona had other plans. As we kind
of look at some of the the Omahall matchups, KB,
it's gonna be hard, Like, even if you weren't doing
the game, it'd be hard to go away from LSU
and Arkansas maybe being the most intriguing to anybody that
loves college baseball.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and then like the importance of winning game one
of that one, right, like being able to get in
that championship series. It feels like the winner of that
game is your winner for the College World Series.
Speaker 5: It just does.
Speaker 4: Given the pitching matchup. It's also like that game one
is you know, you get eight versus eight. Yeah, the
way that this thing plays out really rare. Get that again,
and so to be able to get you know, Kate
Anderson versus Zach Rude, and like watching Zach in that
series against Tennessee, to me that that one wasn't surprising
in the way that Arkansas won. I was surprised that
that didn't go to a game three. Yeah, but the
fire that he had on the mound, you know, I
to me, it's it's almost a shame that they have
to match up on that day. One and if they're
not on opposite sides of the bracket, because what a
championship series that would be. But that's going to be
fire on a Saturday night.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's going to be incredible. And these two teams
know each other.
Speaker 3: They played just at the beginning of May, so it's
not even that long ago that we saw the series.
Speaker 2: LSU was able to take two of three.
Speaker 3: Game one goes to extras, they run roll Arkansas in
the second game, and then game three, Arkansas is victorious.
Speaker 2: There.
Speaker 3: So these two teams know each other incredibly well. But
you're right, like about getting off on the right foot.
It's not to say you can't go into the loser's
bracket and you know, make a run. LSU last National championship.
They did that. But kb to your point, if you will, you.
Speaker 6: Did.
Speaker 2: You had a couple of guys that we could certainly
highlight in that one.
Speaker 4: Well, that's that's interesting because I'm going through the notes
of this LSU team and while you have fantastic pitching,
like you had a Tommy White right like you had dudes,
and you had a dealing cruise like I'm thinking of dudes,
and that's not a slight to any of the guys
on this team. Now, it just it felt more star
powerish than this team. But it almost feels like Jay
believes in this team a little bit more the way
he talks about them.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, because I mean there's some spots that
that like, I think you could say that they're better.
I mean, I think they give up a full run
less per game than that team did. And obviously, like
ty Floyd stepped in and stepped up in Omaha, that
you're in the back half of that year. But if
LSU does win this game, KB, like, no matter who
wins UCLA, Murray State, no matter who they throw, the
thing about this team that you know, you're gonna have
the better pitcher, You're gonna have the better starting pitcher
with Anthony Jinson. Like there's not a lot of teams
in the history of college baseball where you can have
the number one and number three guys in strikeouts on
the same staff, and so that like, it's always always,
always important to win game number one in Omaha. But
if you're LSU and you can win game number one
knowing who you have in game number two, it makes
it that much more important to me.
Speaker 4: Absolutely. I mean, like I remember, it's it's so fascinating
watching this right because the way that it plays out.
You know, by the time you get to the Champ Series,
if you're able to win game one in game two,
then you can do your Champ Series with having it
be Kate Anderson, Anthony Iinsen and whoever you want game three.
But if you have to go through this other route,
by the time you get to the Champ Series, those
guys aren't always available. Like we're sitting there wondering, like
when is Paul Skiens gonna pitch and is he going
to come out of the pen on game three and
he's not in the spikes and he's warming up and
they put a towel over the camera like they're just
becomes so much more of having to figure it out
than if you win game one and game two. You basically,
especially like because it's different than Regionals because you had
the day off in between, can set your pitching up,
you know from the beginning.
Speaker 3: But you're acting like you had a coworker that was
like trying to get information out of you. Last time
LSU was there and he was trying to ask, hey,
does Paul had his cleats on. Is Paul getting warm
or is he just moving around? You act like that happened.
Speaker 4: Oh my god, it's so funny because like I have
access kind of wherever I can walk in the dugout
and we have this room in the back which is
basically for cages, but you know, pictures go up there
to warm up, and we have a camera in there,
like it's our camera that we're allowed to show on it.
And it started getting new like it started we put
it on air, and they must have gotten word, like
we're showing him warming up and stretching. Then they put
a towel over the camera and I want to be like,
you guys can't hide from me, like I'm here whether
you want to show it or not, like I'm watching
him stretch.
Speaker 2: Oh man?
Speaker 3: That who That was such great drama. And you know
this it was you know, our daughter Harlowe was being born.
Like during that College World series. I mean literally, Katie
is watching the Wake Force LSU game Tommy White hits
a walk off home run and she's like basically calls
the doctor out of the bullpen, like all right, you
can come in here time.
Speaker 2: We're ready to go Harlowe's born.
Speaker 3: So we're watching that whole College World Series from the hospital,
so just incredible memories. And I'm sitting there trying to
figure out how Paul sk He's gonna pitch you. But
thank you for LSU. He didn't have to go in
that game.
Speaker 6: That's true.
Speaker 4: And I'll say this like I know my audience and
talking to people from Louisiana, but on the other side,
and it's for Arkansas. Like Dave Van Horne is a
wonderful guy. He's the guy that, like, you know, there's
so many people underneath him that have gone on to
do great things, like at Tony Bytello and to be
where he's at and had to not win a national championship,
you know, it feels a little bit, you know, like
we were talking Houston and Kelvin Sampson during basketball season,
like to be so close so many times and not
have won one and he's been number one overall, like
the year they had Kevin Cops, you know, like that
was the year that they were supposed to win, and
like this is the team that maybe hasn't been the
most serialeded and they've just gotten better and better and better.
And so is this the year that the DVH finally
wins one, that would be pretty cool for him.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean it is certainly like with his resume
what he's done to your point to be a fly
ball away, like you catch it, you win it, and
then you don't end up winning it. I mean, certainly
like somebody like him with his resume. It's almost that
deal though, okb It's like, is it inevitable that it
is going to happen? Or are they the Buffalo Bills
and they're gonna go oh for four in the Super
Bowl and they're just never going to win one. And
you just thought it's like Dann Marino got to the
super Bowl in his second year and you're like, Dan
will be back at like seven more super Bowls.
Speaker 2: He never gets back.
Speaker 3: So it's at that point where it's like, I think
it's gonna happen eventually because he's too good not to.
But we've seen him play out in sports before where
whatever reason, that last final out, twenty seventh out just
continues to be so far away you can't even grab it.
Speaker 4: Yeah, being in twenty seven outs, you did ask, like
my one super regional watching the end of Game one
Florida State Oregon State, that might have been the most
like they were down to their last strike, able to
come back and tie that thing and win it in
the tenth. Which is funny because I just thought about
this when you mentioned twenty seven minch Kanam has a
has a that they do every day. Word it's called
twenty seven outs, and you got to get twenty seven outs,
you know, rather before you guys can actually start practicing,
start vp a twenty seven out.
Speaker 3: It's a hard one to get, it is, and then
look when you've got one hundred push ups on air
on the line. If Oregon State does not win, you
are watching that very closely. And it's it's wild EJ
wasn't at work on Monday.
Speaker 2: You wouldn't at work on Monday?
Speaker 4: Me about that?
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was on the schedule, but he wouldn't it
work on Monday. kV. I don't know what happened.
Speaker 4: There, not sure, but that's I mean, like you think
about dis Field and Omaha. It's, first of all, it's
crazy that none of the teams that were there last
year are back this year, right, And you know, we
were wondering about Oregon State and how they were going
to be able to do this as an independent for
Mitch Caanam. There's three coaches in this field that have
played and won a World Series, So that's pretty crazy.
Speaker 6: You know.
Speaker 4: Mitch did it for two years under Pat Kelsey. He
takes over this team and they go and they play
only nineteen home games all during the regular season to
put together a schedule because they didn't want to be
part of the WCC. They were never going to have
the RPI. You kind of stopped from the outside looking in,
You're never going to be able to do this. Who's
going to want to come to core Vallis in the
middle of conference season? And they made it work. I mean,
like of all the storylines, the Murray States and Dan
Skirka who mowed their own field and Coastal getting back, like,
it's just it's it's shaping up to be pretty cool,
certainly is in.
Speaker 3: I can't wait to watch it all play out real
quick though. If it's not LSU or Arkansas, who's the
third team that you think can win it all?
Speaker 4: Ooh, Ucla looks really good over the postseason. But I'm
gonna say Oregon State. I have a believe in this game.
I do think like you learn some things when this
team's on the road and they've had to play on
the road. They've been battle tested, so I would say
Oregon State.
Speaker 3: All right, there she is Chris Budden, colleague at sirius XM.
Does a fantastic job for ESPN. Gonna be on that
LSU Arkansas call this weekend coming up. They're in o
Them Hall for the College World Series.
Speaker 2: KB. We appreciate the time as always, and we'll catch
up again soon.
Speaker 4: Feeling thanks sake.
Speaker 3: All right, there she is Chris Budden good enough to
join us, and uh, man, that is true. Like Katie
and I were in the hospital, like Paul Skeens is
kind of warming up. I'm like, hey, I need you
to find out like does he have spikes on? Is
he like warming up because he's bored or is he
warming up because he might be going in the game.
Like I was trying to get the inside information and uh,
I'm be trying to get that inside information again depending
on what the situation is for l s U. Uh thirdeam.
If it's not elish in Arkansas, I'm going coastal. Final answer,
that's that's kind of the team. The oh look at US. Yeah, yeah,
roosters showna clears again, clears to clears.
Speaker 6: You go to Seawna clears. Yeah, you go to Auburn
and punch them right in the mouth, punch them right
in the mouth as the underdog. Yeah yeah, So I'm
all in on Well I'm not all in the thirteen.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know what you're saying. It's okay,
I'll back you up here.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 3: And also like when you look at what Coast was
able to do to even to get to that position.
Remember they win their opening game against Fairfield, like, okay, whatever,
but then they beat East Carolina eighteen to seven. After
East Carolin and beat Florida, and then they beat East
Carolina again. So I mean total dominant performance in regional play,
super regional play. I believe it's Coastal in Arkansas. I
know have not lost the game yet. LSU's only lost
one game, but UCLA well was UCLA's final tally. I
believe they haven't lost the game either. So it's three
teams Arkansas, Coastal, UCLA have not lost the game yet
in postseason play.
Speaker 2: So all right, we are going to take a break.
Speaker 3: We've got Anthony Ronaldo joining US in about fifteen minutes
from now, certainly going to lean on his experience, omahall
what it's like to go all the way, go the distance,
staying there basically for two and a half weeks, and
just the mental physical fatigue that it takes, and also
get inside his mind when it comes to like ace
on ACE game like Arkansas and LSU are going to
have coming up on Saturday, and we'll have that for
you right here on ot Beat Dopter Ben Well, Well, well,
I am sure that the co host of this show
is probably already enjoyed.
Speaker 2: An airport do sekis.
Speaker 3: He's probably right now because his flight I think was
like at six forty five. He's probably enjoying an airplane
do skis. He's probably gonna land in some tropical location
in about an hour from now, and he's got a
couple options. He can pick up another airport do skis,
which is elite, or he can put his toes in
the sand at whatever fancy resort he's probably staying in
and he can have a beach do skis. But it's okay,
you know why, because well we can have studio do skis,
we can have tailgate do skis for the LSU baseball game.
So joke's on him, not on us. Sure he's gonna
send his pictures of an ice cold do skis on
the beach in an incredible location. We're not gonna be
jealous because we can go for dose as well. Matt,
You're not the only one that can enjoy do sekis,
drink responsibly, go for dose.
Speaker 1: I don't want another pretty face. I don't locked in
on LSU football twenty four to seven. You're listening to
off the Bench waaste on you and your.
Speaker 3: Beautiful crushing the ones in tuesdaday No big deal.
Speaker 6: I know then, I don't know what made me want
to play this stuff, but like it's taking me so back.
Speaker 3: Yeah, doing a great job as always, all right, Tay, Tay.
Speaker 2: Let's see if you're doing a great job.
Speaker 3: Let's see if you have this video ready to go,
and I'll let you intro because it's your cousin.
Speaker 7: Yeah, cousin Bauer or just be as I like to
call him, the Bowers. Yeah, the l Shue tight end.
LSU gives out you know, every off season, whether it's workout, conditioning,
they combine it.
Speaker 2: They call it the.
Speaker 7: Freak of the week. And the first one of this
season goes to bower sharp.
Speaker 2: Do you want Sounder?
Speaker 6: Do we want? I mean I don't really know, you know,
I don't think we need doing.
Speaker 2: You know. There you see him pulling a sled. There
you see him getting ready. Oh his name in led
do a sprint.
Speaker 3: It looks like with a sports sports brawln I forget
what the catapult what they call it? Yeah, so he's
got the chain on there. You see it if you're
watching this on YouTube. L s U Football Freak of
the Weekend. The reason we play this video is because
that's going to be an important position for the old L.
Speaker 2: S U Fighting Tigers.
Speaker 3: You just lost a second round draft choice, a tight
end that had every single record possible for tight ends.
Speaker 2: In school history. So you're losing a lot.
Speaker 3: You're losing the biggest safety blanket that your quarterback, Gary
Nesmeyer had. If it was a crucial moment, eighty six
was probably going to get the football last year, all right.
So you're trying to replace somebody that was very productive
for you in the locker room on the field with
the quarterback, all right. So it's gonna be by committee.
We know you got trade as Green who is a
freak athlete. He played a lot of receiver last year.
They're trying to move him back. He's gonna be your
f right, He's gonna be the guy a la Antonio
gates Travis Kelcey in the slot trying to create that mismatch.
Is he going to have to do some blocking in
the run game to be effective? Absolutely? Does he need
to get better there? Absolutely? Right, he's a freshman. He
is somebody that has always been probably the point of
focus in the offense.
Speaker 2: The role is gonna change. Is he up for the challenge?
Sounds like he is.
Speaker 3: Every coach that you talk with talk about his off season,
what he's done to try to get ready.
Speaker 2: All right, So then you got Boar Sharp, who's.
Speaker 3: Coming over from Oklahoma's played a ton of football right
starts at the FCS level to Oklahoma. Now he's at LSU.
We're talking about somebody that is a red shirt senior.
He has been through the fire. He has played a
ton of plays. He is going to be your mixture, right,
He's going to be that guy that does a little
bit of everything. He's going to be a y, He's
gonna be an f He's going to move around. He's
going to have his hand in the dirt, probably gonna
line up at h back in play like a pseudo
fullback role, like that's going to be what he's asked
to do a little bit of everything. And then you've
got Donovan Green coming over junior transfer from Texas A
and m who he is going to be somebody certainly
that's going to fit more into that y role of
having his hand in the dirt, connected to the offensive
line kind of in line blocking.
Speaker 2: So you've got somebody for everything.
Speaker 3: Now it's on the coaching staff to be able to
make sure those three players are in the right situation
at the right time, but also not creating tendencies where
the defense can say, oh, man, well, if trade As
is here, this is gonna happen. If Sharp's here, this
is gonna happen. If Green's lined up there, the ball's
coming right behind him in a stretch lead or something.
Speaker 2: Of that nature.
Speaker 3: That's on the coaching staff to be able to put
them in position to succeed without creating those tendencies that
we always talk about. Now we know about trade As Green.
We saw what he could do throughout the season. We
saw what he could do in high school. We saw
what he did in the ball game. Cannot wait to
see him as a sophomore. We know a little bit
about sharp because we saw him the last game of
the regular season. I'm not talking about the past he
tried to throw and if we ever have him all in,
which I think that could happen next week, we're gonna
ask him about that. We're gonna ask him about the
pass he threw in that game. But we know who
he is because he's been a really good player in
multiple spots, played a long time for Donovan Green. He's
a little bit more of an unknown, okay, But all
I can tell you is when Jimbo Fisher was the
head coach at A and M, as a true freshman,
he played a lot, a lot of snaps. Now with
the new regime they come in Elko did not play
a lot as a sophomore.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 3: I have been through Jimbo's offense. It's really hard. It
is a very difficult college offense.
Speaker 2: It just is. There's a lot of nuances to it.
There's a lot of code words.
Speaker 3: There's a lot of things that are very similar although
they mean something completely different. Him playing as much as
he did his freshman year tells me a lot. And
I asked Jimbo straight up. This news came across the wire.
I was doing radio with Jimbo on a Tuesday, and
I'm like, hey, give me the breakdown. He's like, oh,
he's a great player.
Speaker 2: It's like, I.
Speaker 3: Can't believe they did not use him more this year.
He's like, I trusted him like week three on and
if you know Jimbo, like we had him on right
and LSU fans y'all remember because he was a coordinator
here for a very long time.
Speaker 2: For Jimbo to say that it's a lot.
Speaker 3: Tight end is a position that outside of quarterback, Jimbo's
the hardest on. I don't like, I don't know why
that always happened, but every time that we had at LSU,
and like we could call up Keith Zinger, we could
call up David Jones, we could call up Easy E.
Speaker 2: We could call up you.
Speaker 3: Know, any like Dick Dixon, Like we call it any
and they'd be like, yeah, man, Jimmo was tough on us.
It was a position he was always hard on. So
all those things combine, right, because we know more about Sharp,
we know more about Green Trade es Green. Donovan Green
is somebody I'm highly intrigued with because.
Speaker 2: We don't know as much.
Speaker 3: But when you go back to his freshman year, when
you talk to the guy that brought him into school,
I think he's gonna be a pleasant surprise.
Speaker 7: Yeah, I did too, And because of everything you just
said right, like the drop off in production year wonder
year two. But it was a different coaching staff and
when you signed him, a lot of people said, oh,
this guy is gonna be plugged in. He's gonna be
a yack hole. He's just gonna be a blocking tight end.
He's more than that. And then going back a little
bit to Bower Sharp, you were talking about, Okay, they
they got to not get into too much of a
tendency of this is going to happen, Like you go
back at spring, there's a lot of formations. Bower Sharp,
traded is Green on the field at the same time,
like that's something else.
Speaker 2: She likes to do. And then you have JD.
Speaker 7: Lafleur coming in freshman tight end six seven two sixty
three on the LSU roster, by the way, like that's
a big guy as well. You lose Mason Taylor but
I mean, Jake, top to bottom, this tight end room
could be better than it was a year ago.
Speaker 2: No, I don't disagree with that. You were very thin
at that position. It's what we talked about.
Speaker 3: We were talking about the other day in the expectation
for this team, and we were talking about the roster,
and I had some pushback on that, Like the roster
has always been loaded, the rosters had front end talent, yeah,
JD five Moleague BTJ Yeah. Sure, changing the game in
the NFL. I'm talking about what Taylor just said. None
of these tight ends are more complete than Mason Taylor.
I'm not gonna argue that, but in the totality of
the room, you have more pieces than you had a
year ago. Tight ends, one of the positions we're talking about,
you were uber thin there, right, and so now that
looks a little bit different, and I'm excited. I'm excited
about that position group and to see where it can
go in the future.
Speaker 2: Where we're gonna go in the future.
Speaker 3: I got Anthony Ronado was going to join us LSU
legend major League Baseball pitcher, gonna ask him a thousand
questions about trading cards, all that coming up when we
come back here on OTB off the bench, all right,
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Speaker 1: From the locker room to the Airwaves gets off the
bench with Jacob Hester and Matt Flynn.
Speaker 2: Except my first, stupid.
Speaker 3: First, All right, welcome back in OTB one oh four
five ESPN Baton Rouge, big boys.
Speaker 2: Lady had it wrong.
Speaker 3: It is not Matt Flynn, Anthony Nardo who joins us
here because LSU's going to Oma Hall. Let's go, let's
let's get excited about that. And nobody better to break
it down than our guy, Anthony. So I kind of look,
you told me what your schedule was. I'm like, ah,
I know where that's at. I'll close that. It's the studio.
I'm gonna need you to pop in.
Speaker 2: If you can.
Speaker 5: Well, dude, anytime you have me on here, it's an
honor first and foremost. And yeah, anytime we get to
chop it up about the tigers and there in Omaha,
it's a good thing.
Speaker 2: So, man, I am so excited about it.
Speaker 3: And we had you on before the West Virginia Super Regional,
and like, I don't know that any of us had
it on our bingo card to kind of work out
the way it did. LSHU scores sixteen runs in the
first game. They explode in the second game as well,
like you know, LSU starting pitching Kate Anderson, Anthony Jinsin,
it's like, okay, well you're gonna have five to three games.
The offense exploded, and really it's what we talked about,
like if LSU gets into trouble, sometimes it's when the
offense goes to sleep a little bit. But you look
the last three games, I mean going back to the
game seven against the Little Rock, I mean, the offense
and the little changes that Jay made in the lineup
certainly paying off absolutely.
Speaker 5: And that's what you know we you guys asked me.
I think you were like, are they limping into the
super Region? I was like, I think they faced a
good team. They were hot, and this team knows how
to win, right, So they just did the things they
knew how to.
Speaker 2: Do to win.
Speaker 5: And just to your point, right, Kate Anderson hasn't given
up five or six runs this year, so like, what
do you have to do to win?
Speaker 2: You got to outscore the other team, right, and that's
what they did.
Speaker 5: So and that's what I've seen all year, Like if
they need to score sixteen, they've done it, you know.
And then in the games that they need to just
do what they need.
Speaker 2: To do, they do it. So yeah, that's a good
quality team.
Speaker 3: So we had Jay Mitchell in yesterday and he brought
something up that I was like, you know what, that's
that's gonna be perfect for Anthony tomorrow.
Speaker 2: He's like, I'm not saying that.
Speaker 3: Kay was not going out there and trying to get
everybody out and strike people loud and not allow runs.
Speaker 2: He goes. But for a starting pitcher, it is different.
Speaker 3: When you had this big lead, It's like the last
thing that you want to do is get free passes. Yeah,
and so he was obviously throwing more in the zone
maybe than he would have normally.
Speaker 5: And to me, that is definition of a good picture, right,
or a good starter too, is understanding your role. So
one thing that I was taught and that I always
took to heart as a starting pitcher was your job
when you leave the game is to make sure we
are in a position to win or ideally winning, right,
And that's what he has done all year long. So
the situation determines that in games where we're only scoring
one run and we're facing a Friday ace, you know,
I got to be on my stuff and I got
to make sure I'm not allowing any in games where
the offense is on and I just sat in the
dugout for an hour. I want to get these guys
back in the dugout. I want the fans back, you know.
So I'm throwing fastballs down the middle until they can
prove they're going to put a bunch of runs together
and beat me. Like, I'll let them pop up, I'll
let them get out. You have VP like hitters get
themselves out all the time. So that's kind of the concept.
Speaker 3: Yeah, And so last time Kate faced this Arkansas lineup,
I mean he only gave up three runs, strikes out ten,
only walks one. So as a starting pitcher, like, what
would your mindset be if you're going against a team
that you had a lot of success against, certainly a
quality start the first time that you face them, and it.
Speaker 2: Was what it was about a month ago? Yeah, it
wasn't It wasn't crazy long ago.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 5: So I'm basically gonna go back on film, right, I'm
probably gonna look First of all, I'm gonna watch the
game and just feel it honestly and just be remind
myself put my mindset out there. Then I'm gonna go
through the lineup and probably take some notes of like
how I pitch certain guys. Then what I'm gonna do
is really watch their last weekend and see and match up.
Are these guys still taking the same approach as they
did against me? Is the batting order the same? Are
the same guys hot as they were a month ago?
Speaker 2: Right?
Speaker 5: So there's a lot of different things, But for the
most part, I'm looking at my success against them, and
then what are they doing in the current moment, and
how can I Do I need to manipulate anything, Do
I gotta change anything?
Speaker 2: Should I stick with the same plan? That kind of stuff.
Speaker 3: Oh, man, I see it gives me nerves because like
in football we always called that chasing ghost.
Speaker 2: It's like, okay, like am I over preparing for this? Like?
Speaker 3: Am I overthinking this because I played this team, you
know at the end of September, we're here in the
middle of November, we're playing them again. Like am I
worrying about too much? And it's like you're preparing, You're
doing what you're supposed to be doing, but it's like
am I doing too much? Like that that comes into
your mindset absolutely, and sometimes when you're on the mound.
Speaker 2: Dude.
Speaker 5: I can't tell you how many times I have prepared
and been like, oh so I thought my curve bow
is going to be here today. Don't have that, you know,
So it's like, all right, you got to adjust. So
that's what you know at the end of the day.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: See, that gives me night sweats, the fact that, like, man,
last time I faced them, like the all speed stuff
it got them every time.
Speaker 5: And I'm trying to throw. It's like, that's not breaking
out there, that's not moving the same way that it
was last time. Yeah, exactly, No, But that's but to
me again, that that's what was the fun part about pitching,
was like, all right, you got to go figure this
out now, you only you don't have a choice, right,
And so the best ones figured it out and they
figure out a way to stay out there and and
get the outs that they need to get to get
so the way the bullpen doesn't come in early.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was. It was definitely a little challenge on
the mind sometimes.
Speaker 3: I Mean I always like use the saying like lonely
on the dance floor. That's what I feel like. A
starting pitcher is like you literally the mounds your dance floor.
You're out there, you're trying to get the vibe going,
and you're just dancing with yourself.
Speaker 5: It can be join literally, it can be the loneliest
spot on planet Earth. I think it's like the movie
for Love of the Game where he's like it's the
loneliest or something like it's the loneliest spot on.
Speaker 2: Earth or whatever. Yeah, And it really can be when
it's when it's dark.
Speaker 3: It certainly can can feel like that just from the
outside looking in, speaking of the LSU pitching staff outside
of cad And and we'll get to Anthony Iinson, but
like going through super Regionals and never having to have
Caseen Evans or Zach Cowan step on the mound. All right,
So I like, again my novice baseball mind, thinking, okay,
that's a good thing, Like those guys gonna be rested,
ready to go, or do you think maybe, like, hey,
you got a big lead, Hey.
Speaker 2: Let's that go out there for an inning.
Speaker 3: He's been struggling a little bit, certainly to his standard,
Like let him go out there, let him maybe get
the ninth inning against West Virginia and get some of
that confidence back.
Speaker 5: I thought it was I lived the last three innings,
I was like, he's going Cohen or Evans right, Like,
I just was like waiting for it. So again, I
don't know what Jay's mindset is. And this is the
thing that fans we always forget.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 5: The team knows what's going on. They know why those
guys did or didn't pitch in those situations. They might
be nursing a little something that we don't know about
and they don't want anybody to know about. You know,
you know how many times that happens and it's nothing major,
but the media would probably blow it out of proportion, right,
So I from the outside looking in, you would think
they would want to get the work and not go
two weeks without throwing, you know, especially relievers guys who
are like one inn guys, two and in guys.
Speaker 2: But I don't know, we'll see.
Speaker 5: I would have liked to see them get the work,
especially Caseen Evans, who was kind of stretched out a
little longer and we might need him for three innings,
five innings. He might need to start a game, right,
so I would have liked to not see him go
that long.
Speaker 2: But again, we don't know what's going on. But it's
a long season.
Speaker 3: All right, So if you don't go in that situation,
what's those two guys like? In particularly, I absolutely like
a hell shoot if they if they win to a
World Series, it's going to be like those two.
Speaker 2: Guys have to be involved.
Speaker 3: Like what would their workload probably be like since they
didn't throw in there?
Speaker 5: If it were me, if I were Evans and I
had to make sure that I was going to be
available to stretch out, I probably would have told Jay, Hey, Monday, Sorry,
I know we won a regional, but I need batters.
I need I need to go and simulate three innings
and we need to get I need to get up
and down. I need to throw and feel like I'm
exerting myself a little bit, you know, and everything just that.
That's what I probably would have done. And maybe they'll
do it midweek, maybe depending on the schedule and how
it came out. And again I don't know what it
looks like down the road. You know, Jay probably has
that all mapped out and planned out and so he
knows a lot better. But that's what I would probably be, like,
I need to face batters, get me up and down.
Speaker 2: I need to throw.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Like one thing that I do think they probably
got though with not using Evans our cow is probably
like the confidence that Cooper Williams probably got from going
out there.
Speaker 2: What did he go two and two thirds?
Speaker 3: I think he only gave up one hit and you know,
obviously the home run, but like he gives up one
hit and then Chayse Shores comes in and absolutely slams.
Speaker 2: The door shut as well.
Speaker 3: Like so for those two players, probably gives him uber
confidence as well going into them all. So that's like
an added benefit of those guys going absolutely.
Speaker 2: I mean, Jay threw Cooper right into the fire because
I didn't expect Cooper Williams to the bullpen at all. Literally.
Speaker 5: I mean, I know he stretched out a little bit
in the regional and pitched some big innings, right, But
to me, this is what is the most fun part
of the year. We were talking about it last time,
but there's always a reliever, a guy that steps up,
somebody that pitches in a big role that you were like,
oh my god, I didn't know who that guy was,
develops a name for himself, right, And I think that's
what Cooper Williams did, was he came in a huge
situation that in that fourth inning or whatever inning it
was that he came in. It was such a make
or break moment. It was we were either going to
blow that game open and like be able to separate,
or they were going to come back. That was going
to happen, right, And so he pitched critical moments, critical innings.
He made huge pitches for him to command his fastball
the way that he did as a true freshman coming
from the left side ninety one ninety two. I was impressed.
I thought it was awesome.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, and then Chay Shortes comes in, closes the
door and you would be able to speak to this
way better than I.
Speaker 2: Like I just my sport.
Speaker 3: You don't have Tommy John surgery have arm injuries, right,
and you always hear it's like, okay, when you first
come back, there's there's things that mentally also going in
your mind and you're not quite to where you were,
and we all just assume, like in football, like guy
Terrace at acl comes back like we expect him to
be full speed right now, let's go. In baseball, it's
a little bit different, and it does feel like Chase
is getting to that point now of the guy that
we knew before he heard hisself absolutely.
Speaker 5: And I mean somebody a Ben McDonald made a good
point on air the other day, Right, it's really like
he's a freshman. He's in his true freshman year experience wise,
because innings, the amount of innings as a starter, he's
really just getting to that number now, right, eighty ninety
career innings something like that. So when you're coming off
Tom of John and then throwing that he's six nine,
do when I tell you, I'm six seven, and it's
really it's hard to control my body on the mound
and make adjustments. Yeah, when you take twelve to fourteen
months off and you're throwing one hundred and you're sixty nine,
like there you gotta there's a lot of things going on.
So I think what we saw from Chase that night
was everything clicking, and when it is good, that's what
you're buying.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 5: So again, if if a team sees that too, there's
no reason he can't get three million dollars in the draft.
Speaker 2: Like, honestly, like, he's that good.
Speaker 3: If I'm watching the other night, I'm like, yep, yep,
because that guy, Yeah.
Speaker 5: And I literally saw it happening. I'm like, I'm watching
his like last pitch of warm ups, and I've watched
baseball enough and big guys enough.
Speaker 2: I'm like, he's on time. It looks good like.
Speaker 5: And then when he's not, you know, and he's ganking
balls and it's like he's skipping him, I'm.
Speaker 2: Like, oh boy, this is this is this is right,
this is where he needs to be.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and certainly, I mean another guy that LSU is
going to count on in Omaha. Can't wait to see
like what all the different roles are going to be
for j because as we know, I mean, Jay is
going to push and pull every lever that he has
to there in Omaha. So all right, we got Anthony
for a couple more sevens. Excided to kind of go
through the grind of what Omaha truly is, because if
you make a run all the way to the end,
you're there for like two and a half weeks, and
that is a long time to live out of a suitcase.
We'll do all that when we jump back here on
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Speaker 7: Yeah, I've been waiting on me.
Speaker 2: Forday, talk to me.
Speaker 1: We have gone from players to legends. Hester and Flynn
breakdown LSU football like only champions can.
Speaker 2: It's just fun guy they keep talking about, right, that
is I guess he was good at football, though for
as you're saying that, not me.
Speaker 3: Uh And there is that voice you hear there here
with us for a couple of segments. All right, let's
talk about the grind of Omahall, because like we hear
fans talk about the grind of boot ball, like one second,
we hear commentators talk about the grind of Omahall. What
about as a player, when you've made that run, you've
gone as far as you possibly can, you go to
the championship Series and you've been there for two.
Speaker 5: Weeks, it feels like you're like, we are residents of
Omaha one percent. I know exactly, like the streets, the restaurants,
I know, people like it was.
Speaker 2: It really was.
Speaker 5: And but again I think it's such a testament to
LSU fans too, just to see how many people were
really out there for two weeks with us, two plus weeks. Luckily,
when you know nine we were in the embassy suite,
so it was a really nice It was a nice setup.
We were right downtown, so we had a good We
had a good setup, and uh, you know, it was
one of those ones where you had like a dual
room almost too, like a living room.
Speaker 2: So yeah, it was It.
Speaker 5: Wasn't as bad as it sounded. Yeah, and when you're winning,
it's a lot better. We were in the Winter's bracket undefeated,
and so we had a couple of days off at
one point.
Speaker 3: But you're just do you go watch any of the
games when you're not playing, or you're like, I'm getting
away from it.
Speaker 2: I don't even want to see that stadium right now.
Speaker 5: Yeah, we stayed away from the stadium especially it's so crazy.
It is so hot in oh My High this time
of year. I don't know why, but it's crazy and
we play all year here and you think you're fine.
But so, yeah, we would be watching indoors and and
things like that. But we watched the games for sure.
Speaker 2: Card games, different things probably going on inside those rooms, yes, exactly.
Speaker 5: Yeah, and back then there were radio games, yeah, like exactly, yeah,
we're watching It was like the first time you could
watch a DVD on like PlayStation.
Speaker 2: So we were watching DVDs on.
Speaker 3: P uh yeah a DVD Launda and Taylor, is this
thing that used to be a CD because.
Speaker 2: You kidding we have vhs.
Speaker 6: Is growing up, you know, on the physical media.
Speaker 7: I'll be I'll be twenty nine in September.
Speaker 2: He grew up?
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I don't know if you grew up
because no, I did.
Speaker 2: Like your parents were just like dvdscu she said, she recorded,
So that's the.
Speaker 6: Real girl to record stuff on a VHS.
Speaker 3: And you did you ever mess up and recorded like
an episode over like very important childhood video?
Speaker 2: How many? Oh my god, miss labeled you grab the
wrong one.
Speaker 6: So my mom and dad were like huge Spanish soap
opera people, like they would watch Spanish soap operas.
Speaker 2: Every week and it's their stories.
Speaker 6: Yeah, their stories, and I like recorded over one one
time and it was the end of the world. You
were so angry.
Speaker 5: Was exactly that. People don't know that struggle. I feel
like the young kids nowadays, it's.
Speaker 7: They didn't DVDs didn't really become popping in the til
I was about eight, about eight or nine. I remember
when they came in, Like I remember, like my mom
would rewind the VHS like four, she's like, hey, call me.
When you hear the click is when you hear the click,
it was completely rewound and it makes sense.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I always talk about the cassette tapes when you
try to record something before you could burn a CD,
like you'd put the you know, you go to Sam Goodie,
you get like a pack of three and you put
it in. And the only way you could record music
and have what you want was if it came on
the radio, and like you record what was on the radio,
and so like you never caught the beginning of your
song right because you.
Speaker 2: Realize it and.
Speaker 3: Then you jump over your bed and you had to
hit what was it playing record at the same time
be able to record on the cassette tape.
Speaker 2: It's like you never got the first seven seconds of
the song.
Speaker 6: Like ring tones on the cell phone whenever like before, well,
I wouldn't be able to buy because my parents would
be like, you're not paid anything sense for a ring.
Speaker 2: Think about that. Think how much money was spent on
ring tones? Now much money a ring back?
Speaker 3: Not a single not a single person keeps herself on
on ring Yeah, and you used to spend money on
ring tone.
Speaker 6: People that have their sound.
Speaker 2: Yeah you do? You a psycho windows in your garage.
Speaker 7: You remember the bump app came out on the first iPhone.
It was big because if somebody else had a ring tone,
you could bump it to the other person.
Speaker 3: That was like, let me tell you something. You're lucky
t Bob's not here. Would you just ask if you've
remember the bump app?
Speaker 2: Wow?
Speaker 3: Yeah, right, There's a lot of ways Bob would have
taken it.
Speaker 2: I'm still adapting to radio, so I'm just listening. I
don't know what's allowed to said pretty much anything.
Speaker 3: All right, we'll see if we can keep Anthony hostage
for another fifteen I know he's got somewhere to be,
but enjoying the conversation.
Speaker 2: Here more O TB coming back your way here on one.
Speaker 3: O four to five, ESPN Ben Ruthe off the bench,
Ah Taylor's bump app Straight into your Goodwood dot Com.
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Speaker 2: That number one more time, two to five for g
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