VCU Baseball 2023

I've followed and supported VCU baseball for over 40 years, and I agree with those who say this is one of the worse year's I've ever seen. The team was picked 2nd, and now they don't even qualify for the A-10 Tournament. The real negative is that the A-10 is a REALLY BAD baseball conference in which VCU did not compete this year. What is the problem with this year's team? I'd first say that the coach and his staff did a a terrible job recruiting, and I think this year's team had bad coaching. If you have played and coached baseball you know that the heart of a good team is to have good pitching, and this year's team pitching was pathetic. I question does the coach and his staff know how to evaluate pitching talent? VCU should have a top of the league team in a conference like the A-10!
 
TAEKWONDO said:
I've followed and supported VCU baseball for over 40 years, and I agree with those who say this is one of the worse year's I've ever seen. The team was picked 2nd, and now they don't even qualify for the A-10 Tournament. The real negative is that the A-10 is a REALLY BAD baseball conference in which VCU did not compete this year. What is the problem with this year's team? I'd first say that the coach and his staff did a a terrible job recruiting, and I think this year's team had bad coaching. If you have played and coached baseball you know that the heart of a good team is to have good pitching, and this year's team pitching was pathetic. I question does the coach and his staff know how to evaluate pitching talent? VCU should have a top of the league team in a conference like the A-10!
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I agree with your assessment. Gave up way too many runs. Very high team ERA.
 
The three game home sweep loss to Sacred Heart set the stage for what was to follow. That was a shocker. The two losses at UNC were expected then we started to get absolutely hammered by in state non conference teams.
I kept thinking they would turn the corner but they never created any momentum.
Sad, very sad.
 
The Sacred Heart series was just a horrible start to the season and the team really never recovered. Northern teams are usually at a substantial disadvantage early in the year because of limited practice opportunities because of the cold weather. We just did not appear ready to field a competitive team. Hopefully that will change very quickly. Need to hit the portal hard and bring some freshmen studs in. The pitching situation was particularly concerning. Getting hammered in this years version of A10 Baseball and by in-state teams is just not VCU Baseball.
 
While I do agree that pitching was the worst it has been in the history of the program, placing blame on coaching just is not responsible. Last season we had 11 guys with a sub 5 ERA. This year, 0! Out of the 11 guys mentioned, only 3 returned. Ellis, Delane and Frazier. We all know Ellis had a really rough year, Delane got injured and Frazier just doesn't throw a ton of innings. Coach Lecroy did not have the opportunity to recruit any top tier product as late as he was announced that he was the new coach. The good news for the staff.... the top 3 arms this year were Freshman. Gladden, Curley and Peters should anchor or be a huge part of the staff moving forward along with Cam Nuckols, who returned from Tommy John and worked his way back. It is very difficult when you should be a middle reliever and you are thrown into the starting rotation or a 7 hole hitter that has to hit in the two spot. This off season will be a big one for getting some portal guys and some arms back into the program. Remember when Keyes took over for Guzzo there were a few bumps until things became steady. I believe we will be right back in the thick of things next season, as we have shown that the offense is right there with anyone in the conference.
 
No excuse for missing the conference tourney you’re hosting. It’s the A10. You can’t finish in the top 7 of the A10?! It’s one of the worst baseball leagues in the country for D1. It was the 25th ranked baseball conference in D1 of 30 conferences this year. A top 7 finish is not much to ask. The program was awful this year. 22-19 vs Q4 teams, 2-1 vs Q3 teams, 0-5 vs Q2 teams, 1-5 vs Q1 teams. I used to think this program had a shot of making it to Omaha one year but that dream is gone. They simply don’t play in a good enough league to consistently play tough competition that will prepare them to play good teams in the postseason. It will be quite some time until we see VCU back even in a super regional, if ever again. Dark times for the baseball program.
 
Admittedly I did not follow the team much this year.....

But if I had to guess.... it mostly had to do with adjusting to a completely new coaching staff & losing a lot of players. Lecroy has no ties to the program (to my knowledge), and I dk who all on his staff does.

When Stiffler became Head coach (after Keyes passed away) Stiffler just got promoted.... so he was already familiar with the school, the team, the incoming recruits.... etc.

And we all know how, when coaches leave, and new coaches come in.... how difficult it can be on players. Heck, look back at MBB. When Grant left.... Joey Rodriguez up & left & went to some JuCo school in Florida, enrolled & everything.... before ultimately deciding to come back. Grant leaving, shook him real bad. Imagine how VCU MBB coulda looked, had we gone outside the "Shaka Tree" when he left for Texas. Instead we had WW & MR to keep us mostly on the path to success for the next 8 seasons..... now we are going into uncharted territory to a degree. Though Odom is familiar with the area.

So despite the sad passing of their coach, the fact they promoted from with in.... I think helped keep VCU Baseball on the right path.

The new guy, has no ties to VCU or the area as far as I know.... so there's always gonna be some growing pains & struggles.


Also, I think the loss of Seth Cutler Voultz as our pitching coach is massive. When he was with us before, and then left to take another job.... if I remember correctly our pitching dropped off, then we brought him back & we were much better.

I don't know if he was considered or not, but if it were me... I would've taken a look at him as our HC.... not just because of his track record in terms of our pitchers & what not. But he has ties to the area, as he went to Henrico HS. He knows the Richmond area quite well, and of course his ties to the school as both a player & a coach. And it might have kept some players from transferring, because the players might like & respect him. Instead he ended up going with Stiffler to Notre Dame.

ND as a team, had an ERA of 4.48, #32 in the country. VCU as a team, had an ERA of 7.57.... #257 in the country.
 
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Scuffy McGee said:
No excuse for missing the conference tourney you’re hosting. It’s the A10. You can’t finish in the top 7 of the A10?! It’s one of the worst baseball leagues in the country for D1. It was the 25th ranked baseball conference in D1 of 30 conferences this year. A top 7 finish is not much to ask. The program was awful this year. 22-19 vs Q4 teams, 2-1 vs Q3 teams, 0-5 vs Q2 teams, 1-5 vs Q1 teams. I used to think this program had a shot of making it to Omaha one year but that dream is gone. They simply don’t play in a good enough league to consistently play tough competition that will prepare them to play good teams in the postseason. It will be quite some time until we see VCU back even in a super regional, if ever again. Dark times for the baseball program.
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What a disaster. Horrible
 
RowdyPkunk said:
Admittedly I did not follow the team much this year.....

But if I had to guess.... it mostly had to do with adjusting to a completely new coaching staff & losing a lot of players. Lecroy has no ties to the program (to my knowledge), and I dk who all on his staff does.

When Stiffler became Head coach (after Keyes passed away) Stiffler just got promoted.... so he was already familiar with the school, the team, the incoming recruits.... etc.

And we all know how, when coaches leave, and new coaches come in.... how difficult it can be on players. Heck, look back at MBB. When Grant left.... Joey Rodriguez up & left & went to some JuCo school in Florida, enrolled & everything.... before ultimately deciding to come back. Grant leaving, shook him real bad. Imagine how VCU MBB coulda looked, had we gone outside the "Shaka Tree" when he left for Texas. Instead we had WW & MR to keep us mostly on the path to success for the next 8 seasons..... now we are going into uncharted territory to a degree. Though Odom is familiar with the area.

So despite the sad passing of their coach, the fact they promoted from with in.... I think helped keep VCU Baseball on the right path.

The new guy, has no ties to VCU or the area as far as I know.... so there's always gonna be some growing pains & struggles.


Also, I think the loss of Seth Cutler Voultz as our pitching coach is massive. When he was with us before, and then left to take another job.... if I remember correctly our pitching dropped off, then we brought him back & we were much better.

I don't know if he was considered or not, but if it were me... I would've taken a look at him as our HC.... not just because of his track record in terms of our pitchers & what not. But he has ties to the area, as he went to Henrico HS. He knows the Richmond area quite well, and of course his ties to the school as both a player & a coach. And it might have kept some players from transferring, because the players might like & respect him. Instead he ended up going with Stiffler to Notre Dame.

ND as a team, had an ERA of 4.48, #32 in the country. VCU as a team, had an ERA of 7.57.... #257 in the country.
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I talked to someone very close to the program earlier this season at a game I’ve known for decades who is a huge VCU Baseball supporter. It was his understanding Ed didn’t offer or even consider Voltz for the head coaching job when Stiff got plucked by ND. That coupled with the offer ND gave Voltz for the pitching coach position and it was a no brainer for Voltz to leave. It obviously takes longer than a year for LeCroy to put his stamp on the program so we owe him patience but this year was a train wreck. I expected a drop off but not nearly this bad of a showing. I lost interest in the program when they stepped down from the CAA to the A10 for baseball because the baseball is so bad in the A10. The CAA was 7 of 30 conferences in D1 this year. The A10 was 25 of 30. It’s bad baseball in the A10. Northeastern, William and Mary, Elon, and College of Charleston are all in the RPI Top 100. The program is at a crossroads currently and may get left in the dust by other in state programs if recruiting doesn’t improve.
 
Coach Keyes and Coach Stiffler put this program into regional and somewhat national spotlights during their tenures here. Stiff won a darn NCAA regional in 2015! That’s unheard of for A10 teams and very rare for mid majors like us. That team was 2 wins away from Omaha. I obviously don’t expect nearly that type of team every year. But qualifying for your conference tourney in the 25th worst league in the country out of 30 D1 leagues is horrific. No offense to coach or his staff. I’m just calling it what it is. I get they lost a lot to transfers and graduation/the draft (Locklear) but with what they still had, to not finish top 7 in the darn A10 is god awful. Many of us had plans to watch VCU in the league tourney at the Diamond this week and it was a big thrill and huge deal we got to host the league tourney again after winning it here in 2021 against Dayton. That ship has long sailed this year. I miss the CAA and the days of watching this VCU program in the postseason!
 
Scuffy McGee said:
I talked to someone very close to the program earlier this season at a game I’ve known for decades who is a huge VCU Baseball supporter. It was his understanding Ed didn’t offer or even consider Voltz for the head coaching job when Stiff got plucked by ND. That coupled with the offer ND gave Voltz for the pitching coach position and it was a no brainer for Voltz to leave. It obviously takes longer than a year for LeCroy to put his stamp on the program so we owe him patience but this year was a train wreck. I expected a drop off but not nearly this bad of a showing. I lost interest in the program when they stepped down from the CAA to the A10 for baseball because the baseball is so bad in the A10. The CAA was 7 of 30 conferences in D1 this year. The A10 was 25 of 30. It’s bad baseball in the A10. Northeastern, William and Mary, Elon, and College of Charleston are all in the RPI Top 100. The program is at a crossroads currently and may get left in the dust by other in state programs if recruiting doesn’t improve.
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The ODAC might be a better conference than the A10.
 
Pathetic to not make the top 7 in the A10, especially when we are hosting the tournament. That’s embarrassingly bad.
 
Scuffy McGee said:
I talked to someone very close to the program earlier this season at a game I’ve known for decades who is a huge VCU Baseball supporter. It was his understanding Ed didn’t offer or even consider Voltz for the head coaching job when Stiff got plucked by ND. That coupled with the offer ND gave Voltz for the pitching coach position and it was a no brainer for Voltz to leave. It obviously takes longer than a year for LeCroy to put his stamp on the program so we owe him patience but this year was a train wreck. I expected a drop off but not nearly this bad of a showing. I lost interest in the program when they stepped down from the CAA to the A10 for baseball because the baseball is so bad in the A10. The CAA was 7 of 30 conferences in D1 this year. The A10 was 25 of 30. It’s bad baseball in the A10. Northeastern, William and Mary, Elon, and College of Charleston are all in the RPI Top 100. The program is at a crossroads currently and may get left in the dust by other in state programs if recruiting doesn’t improve.
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Oh yeah I don't blame Seth for going with Stiff. It was def a no brainer. And sure, with no head coaching experience you could argue how big of a risk it woulda been to offer him the head coaching position...... but sometimes you gotta take risks. And if it meant possibly keeping some players here, and/or keeping a local guy in the program to recruit locally... maybe it woulda paid off... or maybe he has a worse season than LeCroy had.

Was just a thought. Also slightly biased because I know him personally.. and hes a good dude.

But yeah, def gotta give LeCroy time.
 
Took a look at the tournament results.
George Mason? If they win this thing, what do you think happens to them against an SEC powerhouse?
What happened to Davidson at year end? They got swept by UR in the last series which cost them first place and are now in the losers bracket after losing to Mason 15-11.
There is quite a stench coming from this tournament from a baseball perspective.
 
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