Reggie Southall – Photo By David Cohen, BHEphotos
It was definitely an entertaining weekend for SEC baseball as some teams took a big step forward, while a few took big steps back.
The Florida Gators proved why they’re one of the best teams in the country by sweeping rival Miami at home. The pitching in this series was absolutely unbelievable, as well as unhittable.
LSU, Tennessee and Ole Miss also had very good weekends picking up three wins. However, Vanderbilt was highly disappointing losing two games to UIC, while Alabama was swept at home by Oral Roberts.
Before we get into the week three matchups, here is are updated SEC baseball power rankings:
- Florida (Same)
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LSU (Up 3)
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Ole Miss (Down 1)
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South Carolina (Down 1)
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Vanderbilt (Down 1)
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Texas A&M (Same)
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Arkansas (Up 2)
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Mississippi State (Down 1)
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Missouri (Up 4)
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Kentucky (Down 2)
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Tennessee (Up 1)
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Auburn (Down 2)
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Georgia (Up 1)
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Alabama (Down 3)
The competition really picks up in week three as LSU, Ole Miss and Texas A&M all compete in the 2017 Shriners Hospitals for Children College Classic. Five of the six teams in this weekend’s classic are ranked in D1Baseball.com’s top 25. The only team in the classic not in the top 25 is 9-0 Baylor.
None of the SEC teams will play each other this weekend, so they’ll all play one game against the other three teams.
Ole Miss gets things started on Friday afternoon against the aforementioned undefeated Baylor Bears. The Rebels are hitting .319 on offense and have a team ERA of 3.50. Both of those numbers will be tested this weekend.
Texas A&M will play Texas Tech on Friday. The Aggie offense cooled down quite a bit against Pepperdine last weekend. Meanwhile, Brigham Hill and Stephen Kolek have been dynamite in the rotation. I’m very curious to see how they stack up against some of the best teams in the country this weekend.
Meanwhile, the marquee matchup of the entire weekend will come Friday night when LSU faces number one ranked TCU. This will be a chance for the SEC to make a statement if the Tigers can take down the top dog.
Both teams will go into Friday’s matchup with just one loss. LSU is averaging 8.1 runs per game, while their pitching staff has an ERA of 2.49. Jared Poche is 2-0 with 10 strikeouts in 15 innings without giving up an earned run, while Alex Lange has allowed just one run in 11 innings with 18 strikeouts.
If you can only watch one game this weekend, watch this one.
However, that is not the only marquee matchup in the SEC this weekend. South Carolina will play a 3-game set with Clemson. Both teams will just be glad they don’t have to play Wright State anymore.
Clemson lost two games to Wright State in the opening weekend, but they’ve bounced back to win five straight. South Carolina won 2-of-3 against Wright State last weekend, so take that for what you will. Clark Schmidt and Wil Crowe continue to be a solid 1-2 tandem in the pitching rotation. We’ll see how they stack up against Clemson’s offense, which is batting .302 as a team and averaging 6.1 runs per game.
The Razorbacks of Arkansas will have a huge test on Friday as they face No. 14 Arizona who is undefeated. Arkansas started the year 6-0 before splitting a 2-game series with previously undefeated La Tech during the week. They’ll also play Nebraska and Oklahoma State this weekend, so we’ll know just how good the Razorbacks are after these three games.
The other big matchup in the SEC this weekend is between Mississippi State and Oregon. The Bulldogs will travel to Eugene, Ore. to face the 4-3 Ducks. Mississippi State has had an up-and-down start to the season with a big win over Texas Tech mixed in with head-scratching losses to Morehead State and Marist. They can get back on track by winning at least two games on the road against Oregon this weekend.
Kentucky had a gut-wrenching start to the season with their first five losses by a combined six runs – that’s four 1-run losses. Now they host a UC Santa Barbara team that started the season ranked, but are just 4-4 on the year. The Wildcats need a couple of wins this weekend to start feeling good about themselves.
Missouri has had a surprisingly good start to the season with a 7-1 record, which includes wins over Houston and Illinois last weekend. Now they face an Illinois-Chicago (UIC) team that took 2-of-3 from Vanderbilt last weekend. Maybe they can get some revenge for the SEC this weekend by getting a sweep at home.
Speaking of Vanderbilt, the Commodores hope to get things together this weekend at home against Cal State Northridge. The offense needs to pick things up just a tad.
Florida should have an easy weekend against Columbia. I watched most of the Miami series — good luck scoring against that Florida pitching staff.
Alabama and Georgia both play teams that are beatable in UL Monroe and UAB, but nobody is beatable for these clubs. The Bulldogs did bounce back and take 2-of-3 from Georgia Southern last weekend, but they’re still just 3-5 on the season. The Crimson Tide had a devastating weekend as they were swept at home by Oral Roberts, and then lost to Jacksonville State on Tuesday. It’s getting ugly in Tuscaloosa.
Tennessee is out to a surprisingly good start as they’re 6-1. They went 3-0 at the Tony Gwynn Classic in San Diego, Calf. last weekend beating Seton Hall, San Diego State and UC Irvine. They should be able to pad that win total a little more this weekend at home against Norfolk State.
And finally, Auburn continues to play cupcake competition; although, I wouldn’t be surprised if Lipscomb shocked them a time or two this weekend.
I hope you have your DVR ready, because there will be a lot of great SEC baseball to watch this weekend.
