dabo man said:

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7:00 PM #15 Georgia at #13 South Carolina (ESPNU)

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Something good to watch tonight.

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That's what I was thinkin'!

As with every week, some really intriguing matchups/ramifications this week.

Lots of great matchups this week. With series wins this weekend, I think any of the top 4 teams in the league can lock down a top 8 seed. Maybe not regardless of the results from the final weekend but assuming no sweeps. Of course everyone wants the easiest path to Omaha so there is still an advantage to winning as many as possible to get a higher seeds (#1 curse notwithstanding...).

• Fightin' Texas Aggies at Ole Miss -- for the second week in a row the Aggies catch an opponent that is on the ropes and fighting for survival. But this is a much lesser team than last weekend. First order is to win the series. My hope is that we can jump on them early on Friday and have a relatively stress-free weekend, but road series in the SEC are always tough...

• Auburn at Mizzou -- The Battle of the Basement. Someone has to lose. Technically either team can still catch the teams in front of them with tons of help, but after this weekend one of these two will be eliminated. In reality I think both are already dead.

• LSU at Bama -- super interested in this one. The Bama lineup was relentless as we saw. LSU coming off an emotional weekend the Box; I think Bama takes the series.

• Kentucky at Florida -- Florida needs wins to stay above .500. Technically not must-win but approaching that level for the Gators.

5/9 SEC Remaining Schedule

#1 Tennessee (#8 RPI, 17-7)
at #11 Vandy (11-13)
vs #24 S Car (13-11)

#3 Texas A&M (#1 RPI, 16-8)
at Ole Miss (9-15)
vs #2 Arkansas (17-7)

#4 Kentucky (#2 RPI, 18-6)
at Florida (10-14)
vs #11 Vandy (11-13)

#5 Arkansas #2 (#3 RPI, 17-7)
vs Miss St (14-10)
at #1 Texas A&M (16-8)

dabo man said:

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7:00 PM #15 Georgia at #13 South Carolina (ESPNU)

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Something good to watch tonight.
A&M vs S.Car secn women softball 7pmCST

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Here's a few Non-SEC, Non-Regional series that I'll be watching.

#17 Arizona @ Utah. Probably a make or break weekend for Utah. The midweek loss to Utah Tech killed the Utes' RPI and they need a big bounce. On the other hand a sweep could set the Wildcats up to be a fringe host with a series vs. Oregon State next week.

#2 Clemson @ #12 Wake Forest. Can Wake get back to hosting position? Maybe steal Duke's spot of the Blue Devil's stumble down the stretch? If so it has to begin this weekend. Sidelong glance to Atlanta where GaTech hosts Duke.

Houston @ Kansas. If Kansas has ANY hope to make the tournament it has to start with a sweep vs the Cougars this weekend then a series win in Austin next weekend.

Iowa @ Illinois and Indiana @ Nebraska. Big 10 is sneakily the #4 RPI Conference (SEC, ACC, Sun Belt, BIG). Mostly because they don't have any outrageous 125+ RPIs. Lots of 60-100 teams. Nebraska should be the odds on favorite to win this Conference but they're a game back of Illinois today. Nebraska finishes Indiana/MichSt. Illinois finishes Iowa/Purdue. Edge Nebraska.

Summit League... just kidding, the Summit league sucks.

The Fun Belt has some key matchups, but nothing head to head. Mostly teams that need to solidify things by sweeping lower teams. No bubble teams facing each other directly. Lots of scoreboard watching.

I don't recall which coach said it, but every weekend in the SEC really is like a super regional. Huge games, top tier opponents, big crowds at the games…you name it. Getting through a 10-weekend SEC schedule is an absolute grind.

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I don't recall which coach said it, but every weekend in the SEC really is like a super regional.

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I don't know who said it first, but they're all saying it now. Best new cliche award winner for 2024.

EDIT - A cliche, but based on truth

Does Mizzou take two of three from Auburn? Sweep?
I'll be keeping an eye on #14 at #13 all weekend.

all right, the Ags are in Oxford, Mississippi to take on the Rebels...

and post-pandemic A&M has had its way with Ole Miss

the Ags have won the last 3 series in 2021, 2022, and 2023

scored a bunch of runs vs. the Rebels' pitching staff: 9, 7, 6, 10, 6, 12, 8, 7, and 5 in the last 9 games

A&M has never swept Ole Miss -- home or road

thanks to the midweek win against Rice

the 2015 and 2024 teams are even again after 49 games:

2015 ---> 41-8
2024 ---> 41-8

due to a few rainouts the 2015 club finished 43-10 in the regular season

4/25 was the first I picked up on it. Schloss said it and that weekend lots of other did as well, leading me to believe it was a coordinated effort and maybe even an SEC distributed talking point.

it's a key weekend for the SEC teams that haven't reached 13 wins yet:

LSU, Alabama, Florida, and Vanderbilt

need to reach 13 to get on the bubble...and then 14 to feel safe

not a given that a 10th or 11th SEC team will get in ahead of the bubbles from the ACC, Big 12, or Sun Belt

A quick dive into the Ole Miss Rebel Black Bears

In Conference Play (9-15) the Rebs are 3-5 in series, beating USCe, State and Auburn 2 of 3, and getting swept by Kentucky and WooPig. 2 of those 3 series wins were in Oxford (but so was one of the sweeps vs. UK). They've averaged a little over 5.6 runs per game at Swayze, scoring notably less runs in Game 1 (2 shut outs) of the series.

(Note: All stats are conference only stats)

Their primary starters in conference play have been Liam Doyle (6'2, 220 LHP, 1-2, 6.43ERA, 35IP, 29H, 17BB, 53K), Riley Maddox (6'1, 205 RHP, 1-5, 7.33ERA, 27IP, 36H, 12BB, 14K) and Mason Nichols (6'5, 220# RHP, 2-0, 5.57ERA, 21IP, 20H, 11BB, 19K). Gunnar Dennis also has 4 starts in conference play with a 10.24ERA, but appears to be mostly a reliever at this point. Doyle clearly has the best swing and miss stuff of the group with Maddox pitching to ground ball contact. When Doyle misses it's up and he's prone to the long fly ball when that happens. Maddox has been their Friday guy most weeks.

At the plate Luke Hill leads Ole Miss in BA at .323 but only slugs .375, with 25 singles and 4 doubles in his hit total. Andrew Fischer is far and away their best power bat, hitting .287 with 11HR and 27 RBI in the 3 hole (for perspective Laviolette has 11HR and 28RBI in conference play). His .670 SLG is almost .100 above Will Furniss and the Ethan Lege. Speaking of Lege, he's missed 4 games with a broken thumb and it sounds like he's out/doubtful for this weekend. Furniss is a dangerous hitter with a little pop, hitting .317 with 5 2B and 4 HR in 63 plate appearances. After that their conference success drops off significantly with most daily players hitting in the .230-250 range. As a team they have 33 HR in SEC play compared to the Aggies' 60.

They're a relatively average fielding team, but their SS Brayden Randle has 9 errors and is only picking it at a .904 clip.

The field faces NE in Oxford and there is a forecast N wind most of the weekend, switching around to a light S wind on Sunday. The field is 330-365-390-365-330 left to right.

those are bandbox dimensions compared to Blue Bell

very few stadiums are pitcher-friendly or even neutral anymore

BigJim49 AustinNowDallas said:

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dabo man said:

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7:00 PM #15 Georgia at #13 South Carolina (ESPNU)

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Something good to watch tonight.
A&M vs S.Car secn women softball 7pmCST

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Softball now officially delayed until tomorrow morning …

W said:

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those are bandbox dimensions compared to Blue Bell

very few stadiums are pitcher-friendly or even neutral anymore

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Odd thing is it must play bigger than it really is. Not a ton of HRs hit there. Certainly nothing compared to UGA, Tenn or even Olsen. Some of it is the players, but opposing teams play there too and we don't see a ton from the opponents. It would seem it play about like our park.

RED AG 98 said:

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BigJim49 AustinNowDallas said:

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dabo man said:

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Quote:

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7:00 PM #15 Georgia at #13 South Carolina (ESPNU)

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Something good to watch tonight.
A&M vs S.Car secn women softball 7pmCST

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Softball now officially delayed until tomorrow morning …

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Baseball and softball should not be allowed in Alabama!

Why didn't South Carolina start Ty Good? That guy was great against us, and has been very good ever since. They are in trouble in the top of the first, and now Good is up in the pen. Sometimes, you can just outsmart yourself.

Trying to stretch out the guy coming off TJ as an opener. Sometimes it works. Sometimes not so much.

Tangential -- 36 for UGA is still a punk.

Do we care who wins SEC game tonight?

A bunt double by chicken!

aginlakeway said:

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Do we care who wins SEC game tonight?

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F Georgia, not that it matters to us.

SC trying to come right back with a bunt double; yes, a bunt DOUBLE.

That might be the best bunt i've ever seen. Past the pitcher and good for a double. Runner at 2nd scores; runner at 1st goes to 3rd.

aginlakeway said:

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Do we care who wins SEC game tonight?

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Personally just don't want either team to sweep.

I too have decided I don't care for Georgia.

Back to back. Condon #34

7-3 UGA

Georgia is really good.

dermdoc said:

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Georgia is really good.

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Georgia can hit the snot out of the ball and that will keep them in a bunch of games. Their pitching remains an issue.

I think they and Bama are the best 2 teams we've played so far.

PhatMack19 said:

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Back to back. Condon #34

7-3 UGA

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That ties the BBCOR era record

Noctilucent said:

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dabo man said:

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Quote:

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7:00 PM #15 Georgia at #13 South Carolina (ESPNU)

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Something good to watch tonight.

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That's what I was thinkin'!

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Then again ?!