Leatherneck Baseball

Athletics Department, Facilities, etc.
brewer2125
Posts: 52
Joined: Mon May 18, 2015 9:33 am

If my math is correct, the baseball program is 81-148 since 2013. This is embarassing. This program used to be a consistently winning program but under the current coaching staff is going nowhere. Maybe time for a change here to get leadership in place that can get the program back to a winning tradition.
leatherneckcountry
Posts: 2310
Joined: Mon May 09, 2016 4:55 pm

brewer2125 wrote:If my math is correct, the baseball program is 81-148 since 2013. This is embarassing. This program used to be a consistently winning program but under the current coaching staff is going nowhere. Maybe time for a change here to get leadership in place that can get the program back to a winning tradition.
when was it a winning program I've met very few coaches who are as approachable as Brownlee.
brewer2125
Posts: 52
Joined: Mon May 18, 2015 9:33 am

What does approachable have to do with anything? So the coach is a nice guy, great. But this is a Division I baseball program and significant resources are committed to it (at a time when athletic resources are not plentiful and other losing programs have been cut). The baseball program is in a decade long tailspin that Brownlee is clearly ill-equipped to turn around. It's not like the team is 2 or 3 games under .500. Brownlee has a .350 winning percentage - that's losing 2 of 3 games for 4 years. Time for a new chapter in my opinion.
leatherneckcountry
Posts: 2310
Joined: Mon May 09, 2016 4:55 pm

brewer2125 wrote:What does approachable have to do with anything? So the coach is a nice guy, great. But this is a Division I baseball program and significant resources are committed to it (at a time when athletic resources are not plentiful and other losing programs have been cut). The baseball program is in a decade long tailspin that Brownlee is clearly ill-equipped to turn around. It's not like the team is 2 or 3 games under .500. Brownlee has a .350 winning percentage - that's losing 2 of 3 games for 4 years. Time for a new chapter in my opinion.
You could say the same thing about the softball program but Holly was a great player at Western so no one bats an eye.
brewer2125
Posts: 52
Joined: Mon May 18, 2015 9:33 am

No, they aren't the same thing. Brownlee played at Evansville (for his father, who was the coach there). So there is no excuse here - no WIU ties, no WIU legacy issues (not that anything like that should excuse losing 2 of 3 like Brownlee has been doing). Plus, softball at least had a 30-plus win WINNING season in 2010, which baseball hasn't had since at least prior to 2007, so softball has shown SOME success in the past decade. The baseball program is getting to be outright embarassing (to the point that I am contemplating no longer providing any financial support for it until there is a demonstrable commitment to making it a winning program again) so in my opinion a change is needed right now (or just cut the program and reallocate the resources to other winning programs or revenue generating programs, which is where my donations will be directed to for the time being).
brewer2125
Posts: 52
Joined: Mon May 18, 2015 9:33 am

The baseball program is 81-148 since 2013 and has started off 0-10 this season.....and this is going in the right direction? Losing 2 out of 3 games (or worse) year after year yet nothing changes.....SMH.
brewer2125
Posts: 52
Joined: Mon May 18, 2015 9:33 am

Year to date.....7-17 overall, 4-4 in conference, only won one series.... embarassing what has happened to the baseball program since the Pawlow and Stan eras....SMH.
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Neckfansince71
Posts: 1181
Joined: Sat Apr 19, 2014 7:06 pm

If the "gold" standard in the conference is Oral Roberts, then I think the Necks have proven that they are capable of playing at ORU's level. I will admit that we do seem to get off to some very slow starts but some of that is injuries to the pitching staff. I think baseball is on firm footing and will only get better with each game this year and with each year Brownlee is coach! ;) jc
brewer2125
Posts: 52
Joined: Mon May 18, 2015 9:33 am

A slow start? Looking at what, a 10 or 15 year period? The baseball program is 81-148 since 2013. This season, its record is 7-17, with 6 of the 7 wins being over teams with losing records (and I wonder what the program's record its against winning teams over the past 5 years). What that means is under current leadership spanning now five years, the team loses nearly 70% of its games. It's not like the team keeps improving its record each year either. Over the past four years, the team's winning percentages have been .339, .396, .340 and .280. This season, so far, it's .346. That shows consistency, but not in a good way. The program is clearly not on "firm footing" nor does 1 win over Oral Roberts (while losing the 2 other games and getting shutout in both) mean that the program is capable of playing at Oral Roberts's level - right now it's clearly not. WIU is within a few hours of two major metropolitan areas loaded with talent year after year, and the program has had many talented players over the past 5 years, so what is the issue? Based on all of this, I don't think you can legitimately argue that the program is going to get better each year with the current staff in place....because the numbers just don't show it.
brewer2125
Posts: 52
Joined: Mon May 18, 2015 9:33 am

Don't get me wrong - I want the program to be successful. Just disappointed at how bad it has been, and continues to be....
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