BSB Final: Loyola Marymount 3, Cougs 2 (Story + Box Score)

[ScottHood]

Cougs again fail to come up with the key hit, leaving runner at 3B in T9 and 8 LOB. WSU goes 0-9 in road stretch that began in Las Vegas.

Story: https://wsucougars.com/news/2019/3/...onconference-contest-at-loyola-marymount.aspx

Box Score: https://wsucougars.com/boxscore.aspx?path=baseball&id=12593

 

[Loyal Coug]

Cougs again fail to come up with the key hit, leaving runner at 3B in T9 and 8 LOB. WSU goes 0-9 in road stretch that began in Las Vegas.

Story: https://wsucougars.com/news/2019/3/...onconference-contest-at-loyola-marymount.aspx

Box Score: https://wsucougars.com/boxscore.aspx?path=baseball&id=12593

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Geez. 8 hits, 8 LOB. Loyala has 4 hits, 5 LOB and wins by a run.

 

[CougDave]

Beginning to wonder how much longer Lees will keep his job. His 4th year and it looks like his worst record for sure. He may not be around to enjoy that new clubhouse. Embarrassing spat in the dugout after the Saturday loss, Lees and his pitching coach had to be separated.

It's been a tough nine game road trip. The league is brutal this year though with four teams ranked in the top 10. They get # 3 Stanford at home this weekend.

 

[taf88]

Beginning to wonder how much longer Lees will keep his job. His 4th year and it looks like his worst record for sure. He may not be around to enjoy that new clubhouse. Embarrassing spat in the dugout after the Saturday loss, Lees and his pitching coach had to be separated.

It's been a tough nine game road trip. The league is brutal this year though with four teams ranked in the top 10. They get # 3 Stanford at home this weekend.

Did not hear about the Lees / Spencer argument. Tough situation as I believe they’ve only played 3 home games out of 23 due to weather and this crazy extended trip through Las Vegas, Tempe, and LA.

 

[Loyal Coug]

Beginning to wonder how much longer Lees will keep his job. His 4th year and it looks like his worst record for sure. He may not be around to enjoy that new clubhouse. Embarrassing spat in the dugout after the Saturday loss, Lees and his pitching coach had to be separated.

It's been a tough nine game road trip. The league is brutal this year though with four teams ranked in the top 10. They get # 3 Stanford at home this weekend.

Remind me why we fired Donnie Marbut again? See pages 48 and 49 (link below) for look at team and coaches' records through the years.

I thought the Lees hire looked pretty good on paper. The recruiting news sounded good after he came on. But the results have not been good at all. Granted the weather has been extra crappy, but we do deal with it every year, and they do have the bubble and that other building to throw the ball around in. Sometimes good assistants don't make good head coaches.

And as I google back, it seems clear that Moos fired Marbut not because he had a winning record in 2015 (and overall) and 2 trips to the NCAA's, but because Marbut complained about facilities. (2nd link, pre-firing)

So Lees will be back next year, but firmly on the hot seat unless he pulls out some magic as the Pac-12 season gets going. IMHO.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.si...ments/2019/2/13/2019_Baseball_Media_Guide.pdf

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/20...d-in-baseball-facilities-race/?print-friendly

 

[fingerdisco]

Beginning to wonder how much longer Lees will keep his job. His 4th year and it looks like his worst record for sure. He may not be around to enjoy that new clubhouse. Embarrassing spat in the dugout after the Saturday loss, Lees and his pitching coach had to be separated.

It's been a tough nine game road trip. The league is brutal this year though with four teams ranked in the top 10. They get # 3 Stanford at home this weekend.

Sounds as if he needs to get after their batting coach, not the pitching coach.

 

[FnuLnu]

Remind me why we fired Donnie Marbut again? See pages 48 and 49 (link below) for look at team and coaches' records through the years.

I thought the Lees hire looked pretty good on paper. The recruiting news sounded good after he came on. But the results have not been good at all. Granted the weather has been extra crappy, but we do deal with it every year, and they do have the bubble and that other building to throw the ball around in. Sometimes good assistants don't make good head coaches.

And as I google back, it seems clear that Moos fired Marbut not because he had a winning record in 2015 (and overall) and 2 trips to the NCAA's, but because Marbut complained about facilities. (2nd link, pre-firing)

So Lees will be back next year, but firmly on the hot seat unless he pulls out some magic as the Pac-12 season gets going. IMHO.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.si...ments/2019/2/13/2019_Baseball_Media_Guide.pdf

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/20...d-in-baseball-facilities-race/?print-friendly

One more try.....

Re read the 2006 Seattle Times article on him. Ignore the academic stuff (and WSU's pathetic attempt to justify it) but the other stuff.

He was destined to be gone by the next AD whenever there were a couple hiccups.

He should've been fired in 2006, but it would have reflected too negatively on Sterk who did the hire. And they didn't want to reward SeaTimes for writing the expose - same deal with Geoff Baker and the Mariners his exposes.

 

[Loyal Coug]

One more try.....

Re read the 2006 Seattle Times article on him. Ignore the academic stuff (and WSU's pathetic attempt to justify it) but the other stuff.

He was destined to be gone by the next AD whenever there were a couple hiccups.

He should've been fired in 2006, but it would have reflected too negatively on Sterk who did the hire. And they didn't want to reward SeaTimes for writing the expose - same deal with Geoff Baker and the Mariners his exposes.

So what nasty reply did you post that caused our posts to be deleted anyway?

So he got fired in 2015 over an article published in 2006 that detailed his pocketing of some field rental money (or whatever) that happened before he became WSU's coach.
Or,
He got fired in 2015 the day after he commented publicly on the lack of financial support for baseball and it pissed off thin-skinned Bill Moos.

Believe what you want.

And the whole point is that Lees has not done well so far, after taking over a program that was nowhere near as down in the depths of despair like FB was or BB is. I hope for everyone's sake that he turns it around, but in year 4 Baseball should be improved, not worse than when he came.

 

[kayak15]

So what nasty reply did you post that caused our posts to be deleted anyway?

So he got fired in 2015 over an article published in 2006 that detailed his pocketing of some field rental money (or whatever) that happened before he became WSU's coach.
Or,
He got fired in 2015 the day after he commented publicly on the lack of financial support for baseball and it pissed off thin-skinned Bill Moos.

Believe what you want.

And the whole point is that Lees has not done well so far, after taking over a program that was nowhere near as down in the depths of despair like FB was or BB is. I hope for everyone's sake that he turns it around, but in year 4 Baseball should be improved, not worse than when he came.

I agree with your post. He also fudged his resume but as you noted, that was some time ago. He apologized and they let it go. It was his confrontation with Moos that got him canned.

Maybe it is just my crimson glasses but I still have faith in the staff. Recruiting has been very good. The defense has been cleaned up and is a positive. Hitting and pitching is another matter. Not that hitting and pitching are important, just thought that I would mention it. Not sure why that is but I hope it is repaired. Lees' recent altercation with the pitching coach may be a reflection of this. The current record is appalling and Bobo must be spinning in his grave. Perhaps-grasping at straws here- but maybe the new bb facility will allow better preparation for the early portion of the schedule. Fire Lees, fire one or all of the others on the staff- I don't know the answer- but something has to be done. No excuse for us being this bad.

 

[Glad Cougar]

It sure isn't reflected in the Win-Loss record, but this year's team has been frustratingly close and competitive in a lot of games since the Santa Clara series. I chalk a lot of that up to the youth of the team....but agree, the wins better start coming or Lees will be on a hot seat. Not an excuse, but the schedule has been brutal. However, it's the Pac-12, a very powerful baseball conference...and you either improve and compete or find someone who can do better.

Glad Cougar

 

[425cougfan]

The current Pac-12 is much different from the old "Pac-10 North" the Cougs got to play in, and often win, a generation ago. Oregon didn't have a baseball team, and Gonzaga, Portland, and Portland State were in it along with UW, WSU, and Oregon State. Now Oregon State is a national power, UW has a new ballpark and is doing well, Oregon bought a good baseball program, and there are a lot of good teams in warm-weather areas in the Pac-12 South, of course.

It's not easy for WSU to do well (stop me if you've heard that before). I think baseball is a sport WSU can do OK in -- culturally, I'd expect baseball players to be more likely to be OK with, or even to prefer, a college town like Pullman over an urban environment -- but with the limited scholarships available, you really need to pull in a lot of good players from your home state (so they can get in-state tuition right off the bat), and with all of the other northwest programs situated well right now and the clubhouse still not here, it has been tough to recruit.

On paper, Lees/Spencer should be the best coaches WSU has had in a while. I think most of the issue is a tough time recruiting due to the factors I laid out above.