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11 hours ago, rebmus said:

UGA won 14-2 @ Vandy tonight. Vandy is sure safe to take some unexpected losses so no big deal, but surprising. 

 

Probably just a one off fluky game but I have been wondering all season if they’ve been over-using Rocker and Leiter and if it could burn those guys out down the stretch. Worth monitoring that now, especially after Rocker got hit as hard as he did.

 

State-Auburn looks like it may be a washout tonight. Slightly better forecast in Oxford but I would imagine you’ll have several series affected by weather this weekend.

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9 hours ago, Dawg83 said:

Probably just a one off fluky game but I have been wondering all season if they’ve been over-using Rocker and Leiter and if it could burn those guys out down the stretch. Worth monitoring that now, especially after Rocker got hit as hard as he did.

 

State-Auburn looks like it may be a washout tonight. Slightly better forecast in Oxford but I would imagine you’ll have several series affected by weather this weekend.

I figure it was a fluky game, but you do bring up a great point on Rocker and Leiter. 

UGA leading 1-0 early tonight. 

 

MSU/Auburn are in the 6th with MSU up 4-2, no weather issues there. 

ARK/OM was moved back to 8pm. We'll see if that one gets played or not. Weather is getting rough in NEMS. 

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State had a 7th inning meltdown and almost blew what looked like was going to be a comfortable win, but they got a little bit of a fluky run late and then Sims slammed the door. I was fairly pleased with how they hit a good pitcher like Greenhill, too. I thought this would be the hardest game for State to win so I feel pretty good about being able to win one more tomorrow or Sunday.

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UGA took game 3 today at Vandy to win the series 2-1. 

MSU took game two at Auburn to win the series, a chance for a sweep tomorrow. 

 

Arkansas took game 1 at Ole Miss today, game two underway now with Ole Miss leading in the 7th with Arkansas looking to mount another comeback. Arkansas will unseat Vandy at #1 with this road series win if they win tonight or tomorrow. 

 

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9 minutes ago, rebmus said:

UGA took game 3 today at Vandy to win the series 2-1. 

MSU took game two at Auburn to win the series, a chance for a sweep tomorrow. 

 

Arkansas took game 1 at Ole Miss today, game two underway now with Ole Miss leading in the 7th with Arkansas looking to mount another comeback. Arkansas will unseat Vandy at #1 with this road series win if they win tonight or tomorrow. 

 

I think you could say the same for Ole Miss. Whoever wins this series will be number one on Monday.

 

State has taken care of business so far this weekend. As much talk as the bullpen gets, I think State’s weekend rotation is underrated among some of the others in the league. Will Bednar is a really, really good pitcher. I know MacLeod has had his ups and downs this year but when he’s on, he’s a very good. And Fristoe is doing a good job as a freshman and is likely your Friday night ace next year.

 

Strong road series win, a sweep would be really impressive. Not to toot my own horn, but I said after the Arkansas sweep don’t be shocked if State goes 5-1 or 6-0 against UK and Auburn, and that’s exactly what has happened.

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Just now, Dawg83 said:

I think you could say the same for Ole Miss. Whoever wins this series will be number one on Monday.

 

State has taken care of business so far this weekend. As much talk as the bullpen gets, I think State’s weekend rotation is underrated among some of the others in the league. Will Bednar is a really, really good pitcher. I know MacLeod has had his ups and downs this year but when he’s on, he’s a very good. And Fristoe is doing a good job as a freshman and is likely your Friday night ace next year.

 

Strong road series win, a sweep would be really impressive. Not to toot my own horn, but I said after the Arkansas sweep don’t be shocked if State goes 5-1 or 6-0 against UK and Auburn, and that’s exactly what has happened.

Ole Miss picked up game 2 tonight. Agreed, the winner of this series is likely the new #1... we'll see. 

 

I'm with you on MSU, I kept saying they're very well in the hunt... very strong team. This is a big part of why I'm high on Arkansas, sweeping in Starkville was a STONG move for them. 

If Arkansas adds in a series win at Oxford, I don't see any debate they're #1. 

 

IF Ole Miss wins tomorrow, last weekend's series loss is fresh in the polls which may keep Ole Miss from being #1 and I wouldn't try to argue for or against it. 

 

 

 

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I think at this point you can say that all of the contenders have at least one flaw that could be their undoing:

 

Vandy: Pitching depth after Rocker and Leiter

Arkansas: starting pitching

Ole Miss: bullpen concerns

State: hitting concerns

 

Anyone of them could win it all, or get dumped in a home Regional because of their flaw. It’s why college baseball is such a crap shoot.

 

Oh and by the way, your current leader in the SEC standings is Tennessee... how bout that? And Vandy travels to Knoxville next week for what is now a MASSIVE series.

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Should be a heck of a series at The Dude next weekend.

 

I’m not quite convinced Arkansas wins the West or the league overall at the end of the day, their pitching depth is a serious concern. It’s nice to out slug everybody but how sustainable is that long term? Kopps is terrific out of the bullpen, but they’re relying on him an awful lot right now and the rest of their staff is pretty average. Not a single starting pitcher that strikes fear into you.

 

I still think either State or Ole Miss can very much still win the division even though both dropped home series to the Hogs.

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Arkansas is beatable, but VERY GOOD at taking advantage when others make mistakes. 

Ole Miss walked 17 batters today and HP 2 more batters, that's 19 "free baserunners" to Arkansas. 

Ole Miss also committed 2 errors (I've been harping on these errors this season, could be the difference between a really good or really great season). 

 

I'm surprised the score today was 18-14 and not 18-4. 

The scoreboard is all that matters- Arkansas won the series and Ole Miss lost. I do like the grit and no quit in this Ole Miss team. 

 

The SEC is just so strong this year, there's no telling who takes the East/West/Overall between Vandy/Arkansas/MSU/OM/Tennessee/South Carolina right now. Florida/Kentucky are also still well into the mix, Florida making a strong push wouldn't surprise me at all. 

 

 

 

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The closer we get, the more I really don’t know what to expect this weekend. Saw where OM is switching things up with their Sunday starter so that adds another layer of unknown. I think Friday and Saturday you’ve got two excellent starting pitching duels on tap and I can’t wait to see those play out.

 

I know OM is chomping at the bit to beat State after how lopsided the series was in the Mangum era. At the same time, we’ve seen this before with OM coming to Starkville for Super Bulldog Weekend in what seemed like a pretty even matchup at the time (2014), and Ole Miss just came in and beat the brakes off State, and would’ve swept if not for an extra inning meltdown in the middle game.

 

I’m not sure there’s one area where one team has a clear advantage. Some might say State in the bullpen but I think OM’s is probably better than it gets credit for and other than Sims, State has guys with a bit to prove still. You also might say OM clearly has the better offense but statistically speaking State has made a real jump recently. Now is some of that due to competition? Sure. But State is also better at the plate than what they were showing early in the year.  I can’t really explain Hatcher’s struggles, but the rest of the lineup is one you feel pretty good about at the moment. Not great, this isn’t a 2016 or 2019 type hitting team for State, but plenty of offense to get the job done if the pitching matches potential.

 

My gut says OM wins the Friday game and State wins the next two, but again, not a single thing would surprise me. Curious to hear what others may be expecting.

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State takes the opener 5-2. Really good baseball game. I thought both starting pitchers were very good. Hoglund was excellent outside of 2-3 pitches and that was the margin of error tonight. MacLeod was less effective after his first time through the order but he battled and got you through five innings without giving up much damage. And then Johnson and Sims out of the pen were great.

 

I do question Bianco a little bit for going with Diamond in a spot he hasn’t been in before in a tight game. Those two insurance runs for State really seemed like they slammed the door, especially with Sims on the mound. Not that Diamond isn’t a good pitcher, just was surprised OM didn’t use a more experienced bullpen arm in a spot where the game was very much still winnable.

 

Great atmosphere for baseball, I’m sure the next two days will be intense as well. As I’ve mentioned previously, really think Bednar vs. Nikhazy has a chance to be a GREAT pitcher’s duel.

 

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6 minutes ago, Insideradvantage said:

Leaving the bases loaded was a big moment for the Rebs. Ain't it always, but especially so in a game like this. It was a chance to chase the State starter, etc. I didn't like Diamond coming in when he did. A bit of a head scratcher for sure. But the goal remains the same for OM; just get one win on the weekend. 

Interesting that you would say that. Given that Ole Miss has lost two straight series on top of the historical trend against State the last 5 years, I would think winning the series is pretty important.


Granted, I don't think a series loss sinks your season at all. But given that the hosting sites are being picked early, three straight series losses wouldn't be a tremendous optic, and it definitely puts pressure on you to beat an improving LSU team next weekend and a good SC team the following weekend.

 

Truthfully if State wins the series this weekend, OM's resume is totally built on sweeping Bama and Auburn, and they would have lost the majority of their SEC series to this point. In a year where there will likely be a more geographic emphasis on host sites than previous years, you can't afford too many more losses between now and the end of May. I would say the same thing about State to a certain extent though, if they lose the remaining two games then there's definitely some pressure on you going to Nashville next weekend to win at least one if not two, and then you'd probably need to sweep A&M at home the following weekend.

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43 minutes ago, Dawg83 said:

Interesting that you would say that. Given that Ole Miss has lost two straight series on top of the historical trend against State the last 5 years, I would think winning the series is pretty important.


Granted, I don't think a series loss sinks your season at all. But given that the hosting sites are being picked early, three straight series losses wouldn't be a tremendous optic, and it definitely puts pressure on you to beat an improving LSU team next weekend and a good SC team the following weekend.

 

Truthfully if State wins the series this weekend, OM's resume is totally built on sweeping Bama and Auburn, and they would have lost the majority of their SEC series to this point. In a year where there will likely be a more geographic emphasis on host sites than previous years, you can't afford too many more losses between now and the end of May. I would say the same thing about State to a certain extent though, if they lose the remaining two games then there's definitely some pressure on you going to Nashville next weekend to win at least one if not two, and then you'd probably need to sweep A&M at home the following weekend.

Goal was always to just at least win one. Two  could only be considered a bonus. We'd have to worry about the next couple of weekends when we get there. State is just a better team than Ole Miss and has been for quite some time. They do the little things better that it takes to win. Our program is not as good, our stadium is not as good, our fans don't care as much. No doubt baseball is a priority in Starkville. 

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Just now, Dawg83 said:

 

 

Truthfully if State wins the series this weekend, OM's resume is totally built on sweeping Bama and Auburn

I agree with almost everything you said, but not much on this part. 

The overall resume includes wins vs #3 Texas, #12 TCU, and #8 Texas Tech outside of Oxford. 

OM also picked up one win at home vs #1 Arkansas. 

 

 

 

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