Top-Ranked Diamond Dawgs?

After a weekend sweep of Quinnipiac (which I assume is either an actual college, some sort of Native American tribe, or the national team for a small Caribbean island lost on their way to the World Baseball Classic), the Diamond Dogs are now a school record 12-0 to start the season. One more win will tie the longest winning streak of the Perno era.  The Dawgs get a two game, mid-week series with LeMoyne starting Tuesday to add to their historic streak.

The Dawgs were #2 in the Collegiate Baseball poll going into the weekend, behind LSU. Illinois took this weekend's series with LSU in Baton Rouge, two games to one. With the Bayou Bengals losing a series to an unranked team, the undefeated Dawgs should take over the top spot in this week's poll. While that's exciting, remember that the baseball championship is decided in Omaha, not by polls. Baseball polls are like basketball polls, they can make you feel good, but they're irrelevant in the end.

Mid-week we learned that Alex McRee had mono and wouldn't make his start Saturday. Against Qinnipiac, it didn't really matter as Justin Grimm started in McRee's place Saturday (no earned runs through six innings) and Jason Leaver pitched yesterday, although Jeff Walters got the win. Trevor Holder was spectacular Friday, as he didn't give up a hit through seven before Perno pulled him in favor of Dean Weaver. I've heard some optimistic things about McRee's return, but I find it hard to believe a pitcher will come back from mono at full strength after only a few weeks of recovery. We can handle the absence right now because of the depth of the staff, but it's hard to really replace a pitcher as good as McRee.

Conference play starts this weekend when the Dawgs head to Tuscaloosa to face the Crimson Tide.

Quinton