boomstick 1,315 Posted March 18, 2021 Share Posted March 18, 2021 Big series and opportunity to start the SEC slate this weekend. Going to one of the best SEC Baseball environments to play one of the better teams in the conference (preseason #1 in the SECW) and in front of the largest and rowdiest crowd we will have seen all year, it's going to be fun and a really good test for where we are as a team right now. There are a lot of interesting dynamics and matchups in this game that I'm curious to see how they play. It's still a little early to start RPI watching (for me, it's never too early), but this is a chance for Auburn to significantly improve our RPI from 113. Ole Miss has a 43 RPI right now. Looking at Auburn, the first thing to consider is the pitching staff and its health. Greenhill will start Friday night. I'm not sure he's completely 100%, but everyone knows what you're going to get with Bull. The interesting thing is, in his last outing, he threw more breaking balls in that one outing than he had in his whole career combined, according to Jason Caldwell on the radio yesterday. If he has the confidence to throw those offspeed pitches and throw them for strikes in any count, his veteran presence on Friday night will be huge. Mason Barnett will start Saturday, and I believe Sunday will be TBA. Trace Bright might start Sunday, but Butch has said a couple times this week that if the opportunity presented itself and we thought Bright gave us the best chance to win a game then Bright will throw in relief instead of on Sunday. It sounds like Jack Owen will face live batters in a bullpen sessions today (or it could've happened yesterday), and if that session goes well, we will see Jack in a limited role this weekend. Unfortunately, Hayden Mullins will be out this weekend with arm soreness and Fitts may not pitch after dealing with some discomfort on Tuesday during his appearance at Lipscomb. Fingers crossed he's available if for nothing else than an inning. And with Mullins out, we really need Jack to return because we only have Fuller and Hill available as LH arms with Skipper out and Glavine having thrown Tuesday (his short pitch count might have him available on Sunday). But Ole Miss isn't without issues on their pitching staff. One of their weekend starters, Doug Nikhazy, will miss his second straight start after straining a pectoral muscle. One of their best relievers, Max Cioffi, is out for a few weeks after having a procedure performed on his knee. They also had to cancel their Wednesday game with La Tech due to a COVID contact issue, which is said to have been in their bullpen and would've left them without enough available arms. And like Auburn, Ole Miss is short on LHP with Nikhazy out, only having two guys available and only one with weekend experience. I think Auburn has the offensive advantage in this series. We have a bunch of veteran guys who have been successful in SEC series. Williams, Ward, Bliss, Woley, and Howell have been through the SEC fires, and even Moore has been around the club for a while and played in SEC games. They'll need to help the new guys to stay focused and perform. And I'm excited for Josh Hall to return to his former team. Should make for some good storylines. With OM short on lefties, we will likely see 5+ LHHs in the lineup each day. Ole Miss's offense is led by Tim Elko and Kevin Graham. Both are .330+ hitters with good HR power. Graham might be a slightly better average hitter, but Elko is a frightening hitter right now with his ability to hit for power to all fields. They do have a couple of holes in the lineup, but this team is fully capable of hitting it all over the park. I think we could see some small ball from our offense. Ole Miss had some struggles this past weekend defending the bunt, specifically with their pitchers, and with the guys that we have that can bunt and the speed they possess, I could see several of our guys laying bunts down and getting their defense in motion to try to create some big innings. Defensively, Ole Miss has struggled some this season. They're near the bottom of the league in fielding percentage, have committed 20 errors (6 by pitchers fielding and throwing), and have only turned 6 double plays all season. Plus, they're allowing opponents to steal bases on them at a 76% clip (19/25). So us getting on base and being aggressive and making their defense move by putting balls in play seems like a massive key for us. But... On the flip side, Ole Miss's pitching staff is probably the better staff in this series. They're third in the league in strikeouts, which has something to do with their DP numbers being down. They do walk some batters (3.6/game), but their ability to pitch around trouble by getting strikeouts is big for them. Auburn has the third fewest Ks by an offense in the SEC this year. So, that's my key to the series. Given OM's defensive struggles, can Auburn put the ball in play, specifically on the ground, and make OM get them out all weekend or will OM dominate Auburn's hitters at the plate and rack up a bunch of strikeouts, thereby stuffing rallies with runners on base? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warbiscuit 279 Posted March 18, 2021 Share Posted March 18, 2021 That's weird that they've given up stolen bases given that the catcher throwing out the Louisville runner last year was shown a lot. Also I'd like for our lineup to at least be patient and work at bats, especially with a top SEC team that's thin on pitching. At least with Howell and to a lesser extent, Judd. That being said, looking forward to this series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boomstick 1,315 Posted March 18, 2021 Author Share Posted March 18, 2021 14 minutes ago, warbiscuit said: That's weird that they've given up stolen bases given that the catcher throwing out the Louisville runner last year was shown a lot. Also I'd like for our lineup to at least be patient and work at bats, especially with a top SEC team that's thin on pitching. At least with Howell and to a lesser extent, Judd. That being said, looking forward to this series. Yeah, he was 3-7 on caught stealing last year. I'm wondering if the different pitchers has something to do with it. Maybe some of their younger arms are slower to the plate or maybe they're throwing more offspeed stuff. But that's a big jump from just 7 attempts last year in 16 games to 25 attempts in 16 games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boomstick 1,315 Posted March 18, 2021 Author Share Posted March 18, 2021 Butch confirmed we're going Greenhill/Barnett/TBA with Bright either being a relief guy or a Sunday starter, whichever is needed first. Fitts will travel, not sure if/when he will pitch. Just depends on how he feels and if he's needed. No Mullins or Skipper so we're short on lefties, but Owen will throw this weekend, Saturday or Sunday. Probably an inning or two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigerbelle 5,299 Posted March 19, 2021 Share Posted March 19, 2021 Really looking forward to this series. It will be a cold night for baseball Friday night.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaltyTiger 7,816 Posted March 19, 2021 Share Posted March 19, 2021 19 hours ago, Tigerbelle said: Really looking forward to this series. It will be a cold night for baseball Friday night.... Yep, welcome again to baseball in March. Was so looking forward to taking this game in tonight out on the deck. Cold, damp 50ish in Auburn right now. Hurts my feelings but technically it is still winter today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
augolf1716 21,221 Posted March 19, 2021 Share Posted March 19, 2021 1 hour ago, SaltyTiger said: Was so looking forward to taking this game in tonight out on the deck Same here its 70 at the moment in Winter Park Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boomstick 1,315 Posted March 19, 2021 Author Share Posted March 19, 2021 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigerbelle 5,299 Posted March 19, 2021 Share Posted March 19, 2021 1 hour ago, SaltyTiger said: Yep, welcome again to baseball in March. Was so looking forward to taking this game in tonight out on the deck. Cold, damp 50ish in Auburn right now. Hurts my feelings but technically it is still winter today. It's a chilly 55 degrees right now on the Gulf Coast....and the ocean breeze makes it feel much colder. I'm drinking hot tea and staying indoors tonight. And I'm not gonna jinx anybody either..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigerbelle 5,299 Posted March 20, 2021 Share Posted March 20, 2021 That Ole Miss pitcher is really really good..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tgrogan21 6,198 Posted March 20, 2021 Share Posted March 20, 2021 Just now, Tigerbelle said: That Ole Miss pitcher is really really good..... The last couple of weeks I've been worried about how often we strikeout. 5 out of first 6 outs have been strikeouts today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tgrogan21 6,198 Posted March 20, 2021 Share Posted March 20, 2021 Hope that the 3rd time through the lineup Auburn can start making contact with the ball. 8 strikeouts through 4 innings for Auburn. Luckily Greenhill is pitching well to keep it 0-0 going to the bottom of the 3rd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUMicBK 124 Posted March 20, 2021 Share Posted March 20, 2021 these two pitchers are dealing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tgrogan21 6,198 Posted March 20, 2021 Share Posted March 20, 2021 Through 5 and Greenhill is working on a 1-hitter. OM pitcher has struck out nine and still 0-0. Great pitching duel but lets get some runs on the board, please! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaltyTiger 7,816 Posted March 20, 2021 Share Posted March 20, 2021 14 minutes ago, AUMicBK said: these two pitchers are dealing! Love a game like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaltyTiger 7,816 Posted March 20, 2021 Share Posted March 20, 2021 5 minutes ago, tgrogan21 said: OM pitcher has struck out nine and still 0-0. He is throwing some nasty pitches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigerbelle 5,299 Posted March 20, 2021 Share Posted March 20, 2021 Just now, SaltyTiger said: He is throwing some nasty pitches. He's got some great stuff. Very impressive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigerbelle 5,299 Posted March 20, 2021 Share Posted March 20, 2021 Ugh oh...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tgrogan21 6,198 Posted March 20, 2021 Share Posted March 20, 2021 Pitching duel continues through 6. The bull is at about 70 pitches and OM pitcher is over 80. Need to get some hits or at least run the pitch count up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigerbelle 5,299 Posted March 20, 2021 Share Posted March 20, 2021 8 minutes ago, SaltyTiger said: Love a game like this. I do too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tgrogan21 6,198 Posted March 20, 2021 Share Posted March 20, 2021 Woley with the leadoff double, Miller walks. Auburn has something cooking to start the 7th. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tgrogan21 6,198 Posted March 20, 2021 Share Posted March 20, 2021 Wild pitch and runners move up. Ware strikes out for the 3rd time in the game for the first out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tgrogan21 6,198 Posted March 20, 2021 Share Posted March 20, 2021 Hill strikes out. Moore strikes out. That's 13 K's for the OM pitcher. All we had to do was put the ball in play and we might have gotten a run. OM pitcher at 105 pitches thrown so can't imagine he'll be back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaltyTiger 7,816 Posted March 20, 2021 Share Posted March 20, 2021 This guy making us look silly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaltyTiger 7,816 Posted March 20, 2021 Share Posted March 20, 2021 1 minute ago, tgrogan21 said: Hill strikes out. Moore strikes out. That's 13 K's for the OM pitcher. All we had to do was put the ball in play and we might have gotten a run. OM pitcher at 105 pitches thrown so can't imagine he'll be back. Bet he will from with the way he is looking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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