Alabama’s Chandler Avant (5)
Photo by Hampton Callaghan
As we head into week three of conference play I give up trying to figure out the SEC. Just when I think there is a frontrunner in the conference, that team is humbled.
The only thing we know through six weeks of college baseball and two conference weekends is that there is a lot of parity in the SEC. One through 10 in the SEC could all make the NCAA Tournament this year.
The question is whether or not that’s good for the conference or bad? You would love to have one dominant team that you know has a chance to win the College World Series rather than a bunch of very good teams.
That’s not to say that none of these teams could win the College World Series, I think there are a handful that could, but I wouldn’t put my eggs in any one basket at this point.
Let’s get into this weekend’s matchups.
Weekend Schedule
Georgia at Tennessee
This might be the worst matchup in the SEC that we see all year. These two teams are a combined 1-11 in conference play so far. Tennessee started out hot, but has lost its first six conference games. The Bulldogs actually picked up a win against Auburn last weekend and pitched really well. However, the Volunteers are fourth in the conference with a .304 batting average. At home, I like Tennessee’s chances against Georgia’s pitching staff, which has a league worst 4.92 ERA.
Prediction: Tennessee 2-1
Vanderbilt at Kentucky
Have the Commodores finally awoken? After an uncharacteristically slow start they’ve now won four of their last five game. We’ll know whether or not they’re out of their slump after a road trip to face Kentucky this weekend. The Wildcats have won 11 of their last 12 games. After losing game one to Ole Miss last weekend they bounced back to win the next two to take the series. That tells me a lot about this Kentucky team, which I’m really in love with. Even on Tuesday they were down 4-0 early to Cincinnati and came back to win 13-7. This should be a very fun series to watch to see if Kentucky’s offense can continue to rake off Vanderbilt’s stout pitching staff.
Prediction: Kentucky 2-1
South Carolina at Auburn
The Auburn offense has struggled a bit as of late. They only scored 7 runs against Georgia last weekend, but still won the series. We’ll see how they do back at home this weekend against South Carolina’s staff that has an SEC best 2.74 team ERA. The Gamecocks dropped game one to Alabama last weekend and almost blew the series on Saturday, but came back to win and won another close one on Sunday. I don’t expect to see a lot of offense in this series.
Prediction: South Carolina 2-1
Arkansas at Alabama
It feels like Alabama is very close to turning a corner. They won game one against South Carolina last weekend, and then played two more competitive games in Columbia. Then they played a very competitive game against Auburn on Tuesday, but lost by a run. Had they won a couple of those games I think we see this team take off, but they didn’t. The Razorbacks solved the Missouri riddle at home last weekend with a series win. They continue to outslug the conference with 36 home runs. This will actually be a pretty even matchup, and one that Alabama desperately needs to win at home if they want to make the SEC Tournament.
Prediction: Alabama 2-1
Mississippi State at Ole Miss
The baseball version of the Egg Bowl! And both teams come in with pretty much identical records. Ole Miss is 16-9 (3-3) and Mississippi State is 16-10 (3-3). The Bulldogs bounced back with a huge sweep over Tennessee last weekend after getting swept by Arkansas to start conference play. Ole Miss dropped the weekend series to Kentucky after an impressive series win at home against Vanderbilt the weekend before. Even though the records are close, this matchup shouldn’t be.
Prediction: Ole Miss 3-0
Florida at Missouri
Well, Florida bounced back at home with a series win over LSU, but it feels like they missed out on a golden opportunity because they blew a huge lead on Sunday going for the sweep. Now they hit the road again to face a Missouri team that is scuffling a bit having lost three of their last four games. Missouri is second in the conference with a .308 batting average, but Florida has the best starting rotation in the country. I think the Gators continue to get back on track this weekend, and find their winning ways on the road.
Prediction: Florida 2-1
Texas A&M at LSU
Both of these teams avoided sweeps last weekend by picking up wins on Sunday. For the Aggies, the win on Sunday was their first conference win of the year. There aren’t many easy weeks in SEC baseball, but Texas A&M is in desperate need of one. They started out against Kentucky, then traveled to Vanderbilt and now to LSU with Auburn looming next weekend. LSU has now dropped three of its last four games after losing a one run game to Tulane on Tuesday. Still, I think the Tigers have a good weekend at home.
Prediction: LSU 2-1
