BABIP - Batting Average On Balls in Play

Ran the numbers to see what our team BABIP is.

For those not familiar, BABIP indicates how lucky/unlucky you are with regard to where you are hitting the ball. For reference, MLB average is ~.300. If BABIP > .300, you’re “hitting it where they ain’t”; if BABIP under .300, you’re “hitting it right at ‘em”. Should run a bit higher than .300 in college given the level of defender is not that of the MLB.

So here are the numbers..

LSU Overall BABIP: .326
Opponents overall BABIP: .332

LSU SEC Conf BABIP: .280
SEC Opponents BABIP: .354

One could argue our hitters have been unlucky in SEC play, with our opponents being pretty damn lucky at the same time. The good news: these numbers will mean revert over time, assuming we consistently make hard contact on par with our opponents.

Only caveat: I’m not accounting for exit velocity. It’s possible we have a way lower avg exit velocity than our SEC opponents, which could contribute to the lower BABIP.

Only other plausible explanation is Wanaka is sabotaging us from the inside, putting our guys out of position defensively.

In short, THERE IS HOPE