fryeguy93
Rufus X. Sarsaparilli
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Tuesday
RPI # 228 Lipscomb at Tennessee
Georgia at #79 Kennesaw State -this will be a good game to watch)
#224 Tennessee Tech at Vanderbilt
# 264 Lindenwood at Missouri
# 169 Tarleton State at Texas A&M
#269 Grambling at LSU
#128 Missouri State at Arkansas
Wednesday
#128 Missouri State @ Arkansas
#52 ETSU at South Carolina
Ole Miss vs Mississippi State (non conference- Pearl, Miss.) Ole Miss won prior series 2-1 in Oxford.
Thursday-Saturday
Tennessee at Florida
Friday- Sunday
Arkansas at Kentucky
Ole Miss at Auburn
Alabama at Miss. State
South Carolina at Missouri
Texas A&M at LSU
Vanderbilt at Georgia
Several teams remain in catbird seat for NCAA hosting:
Arkansas
Texas A&M
Tennessee
Kentucky
The first 3 are firmly in national seed position. Kentucky- although a high RPI, now appears to be a paper tiger with losers of 4 of last 6 SEC games with Arkansas coming to town.
Those close?
South Carolina strengthened their argument and would be a top-16 host if season ended now.
I think Miss. State has now taken Vanderbilt's spot. Miss State has better SEC record and is trending way up. VU has better overall record. Head-to-head matters as it was played at Vanderbilt.
Alabama is inching closer. They travel to Starkville and their schedule is very soft with LSU and Auburn at end.
Georgia is on the outside looking in and needs to close strong. That series against Vanderbilt will be huge. Avoiding sweep at aTm was a positive.
STANDINGS
West
Arkansas...........16-5............--
Texas A&M......15-6...........1.0
Miss State........12-9...........4.0
Alabama..........9-12............7.0
LSU....................7-14............9.0
Ole Miss..........7-14............9.0
Auburn...........3-18..............13.0
East
Kentucky...........16-5.............--
Tennessee.........15-6............1.0
So.Carolina.......11-10.....55.0 (SC hold tiebreaker over VU)
Vanderbilt.........11-10........5.0.
Georgia..............10-11.........6.0
Florida.................9-12........77.0
Missouri.............6-15...........10.0
Overall
Arkansas...........16-5...........--
Kentucky...........16-5............--
Tennessee.........15-6...........1.0
Texas A&M......15-6...........1.0
Miss State........12-9...........4.0
So.Carolina.......11-10.....55.0
Vanderbilt.........11-10........5.0.
Georgia..............10-11.......6.0
Florida.................9-12......77.0
Alabama............9-12..........7.0
LSU.....................7-14...........9.0
Ole Misss..........7-14..........9.0
Missouri..........6-15...........10.0
Auburn............3-18............13.0
Auburn is as close to eliminated from post season as you can get. They did steal their 3rd conference win in Baton Rouge on Sunday. Their RPI remains surprisingly high at 43. They are 4 games out of #12 spot but are hosting Ole Miss this week and go to Mizzou next. They could get 4-5 win the next 2 weeks and that series at home against Alabama may be for a spot.
LSU is in a bind. They needed to sweep last weekend against Auburn and didn't get it with a bad final game at home. They have 2 series at home (TAMU and close with Ole Miss with a trip to Alabama in between. LSU's RPI is 42. They need to win those 2 home series to have a shot at NCAA. Or lose the TAMU series (no sweep) and replace that with a series win at Bama.
Alabama- as we said, is hoping to host but they have only 1 more home series (LSU) but go first to Starkville and close at Auburn. Their RPI is 15 which looks go. If they win all three series, then they are a lock to host.
SEC RPI
1.....Texas A&M
2.....Arkansas
3.....Kentucky
5.....Tennessee
9.....Georgia
11...South Carolina
15...Alabama
22...Florida
23...Vanderbilt
27...Ole Miss
28. Mississippi State
42...LSU
43. Auburn
91. Missouri
I went into this weekend thinking that Missouri is the least talented team in the SEC. I think they are better than I thought after seeing them -even with the Beer League softball uniforms. I don't think they were incredibly well coached with some atrocious mental mistakes - especially on base paths. But maybe they had bad weekend.
It is interesting that Wes Rucker noted on X that UT's worst OPS in their lineup (Cal Stark) was higher than Mizzou's best OPS.
Auburn's schedule draw in 2024 was simply brutal as they played the top four teams (Ark, A&M, Tenn and KY) in weeks 2-5 after being swept decisively at Vanderbilt in week 1. In fact, their first subpar SEC opponent was LSU over the weekend - and even this was on road. Ole Miss this coming weekend, is their first "winnable" series with a road trip the next week to Mizzou being their second. I think LSU is worse than Auburn but had the benefit of playin in B-R. It is amazing how many close games Auburn has lost in SEC play. They lost to Arkansas twice by 1 run. Swept @ A&M by 7 total runs. Lost two 2-run games at Miss St. Lost a 1 run game at LSU.
The Arkansas / Kentucky series this week is big. As we've learned; great pitching beats great hitting. I'm not sure Kentucky qualifies as great hitters though but they are at home. The Sat/Sun games are both in afternoon, which I feels favors Arkansas as they avoid the light dimming at KPP for night games. Here's what we've learned since 2001- Great pitching (Arkansas 2001, Tennessee 2002, Wake Forest 2003) does not win the College World Series. Arkansas needs offense and they need it quick. They close at College Station and I think the Aggies kill them as it stands now as Arkansas has ZERO room for error offensively. Ironically, they did score better in their last 2 games in SC but still lost one of them after winning 2-1 on Friday.
Florida got off to a terrible start but kept their rankings for longer than they deserved. Their highwater mark was a 2-1 series win over Texas A&M on 3 close games. But their low water mark was an embarrassing sweep at Missouri. They've lost four straight series (@ Mizzou, SC, @ Vandy, @ Ark) after winning their first three. The Gators close with consecutive home series against TN and KY and close at UGA. All top-10 RPI teams. Their offense - despite Caglianone- ranks 11th in the league in SEC games only. To prove how they are offensively, the Gators have 30 HRs in SEC play. Cags has 13. They have 222 team SEC strikeouts. Only SC and MZ is worse. Tennessee is 3rd in team average.
Over the last three weeks. the Vols play Florida, Vanderbilt and South Carolina. FL is the 11th offensively (AVG); SC is 8th and VU is 6th. This is SEC stats only.
Pitching wise, (ERA) FL is 8th, SC is 7th and VU is 5th. (Tenn is 4th)
In SEC play.
Tennessee has 85 HRs
VU 21
SC 29
FL 38
Tenn BA is .302
VU .264
SC .260
FL 240
Tenn Runs 174
VU 696
SC 703
FL 114
Tenn BB 85
VU 62
SC 115
FL 87
TENN pitching ER
Tenn 97
VU 100
SC 118
FL 120
Fielding
Tenn .978
VU .975
FL .977
SC .980
In SEC Play, C-Mo leads the league in Avg (.424) Hits (39) HRs (14) total Bases (87) and 2nd in RBI (29)
As a team. In conference games.
Tennessee is:
3rd in Average (.302) KY (314)
1st in Slugging (.611)
4th in OBP .386 KY (408)
3rd in runs scored (174) TAMU (196)
3rd in Hits (214) TAMU (234)
3rd in RBIs (163) TAMU (186)
2nd in Doubles (46) TAMU (47)
1st in HR (57)
2nd in total bases (433) TAMU (452)
4th in team ERA (4.99) Arkansas (3.37)
2nd in saves (7) Arkansas (9) The last two weekend providing much these 7
1st in Walks (56) 10 ahead of TAMU
3rd in runs allowed (107) Ark (75)
It is clear in looking at the stats, that the strength of UT's pitching is not allowing freebies.
Tenn ranks 11th in Opp BA .283
10th in strike outs (178)
10th in Hits allowed (196)
9th in HR allowed (36)
Contrast this with the "freebie" stats
Walks : 1st
Hit Batters: 2nd
Wild Pitches: 1st
Runners Picked Off: 1st
Caught stealing: 4th
Stolen bases: 4th
Steal Attempts against: 4th
Tennessee may give up a good deal of HR's but it's clear this is a lot of solo shots. You're not going to beat Tennessee with solo HRs.
Plus, Tennessee has given up 10 unearned runs in SEC play in 21 games.
It's amazing that Tennessee has only walked 56 guys and Arkansas- the top pitching team has walked 90.
RPI # 228 Lipscomb at Tennessee
Georgia at #79 Kennesaw State -this will be a good game to watch)
#224 Tennessee Tech at Vanderbilt
# 264 Lindenwood at Missouri
# 169 Tarleton State at Texas A&M
#269 Grambling at LSU
#128 Missouri State at Arkansas
Wednesday
#128 Missouri State @ Arkansas
#52 ETSU at South Carolina
Ole Miss vs Mississippi State (non conference- Pearl, Miss.) Ole Miss won prior series 2-1 in Oxford.
Thursday-Saturday
Tennessee at Florida
Friday- Sunday
Arkansas at Kentucky
Ole Miss at Auburn
Alabama at Miss. State
South Carolina at Missouri
Texas A&M at LSU
Vanderbilt at Georgia
Several teams remain in catbird seat for NCAA hosting:
Arkansas
Texas A&M
Tennessee
Kentucky
The first 3 are firmly in national seed position. Kentucky- although a high RPI, now appears to be a paper tiger with losers of 4 of last 6 SEC games with Arkansas coming to town.
Those close?
South Carolina strengthened their argument and would be a top-16 host if season ended now.
I think Miss. State has now taken Vanderbilt's spot. Miss State has better SEC record and is trending way up. VU has better overall record. Head-to-head matters as it was played at Vanderbilt.
Alabama is inching closer. They travel to Starkville and their schedule is very soft with LSU and Auburn at end.
Georgia is on the outside looking in and needs to close strong. That series against Vanderbilt will be huge. Avoiding sweep at aTm was a positive.
STANDINGS
West
Arkansas...........16-5............--
Texas A&M......15-6...........1.0
Miss State........12-9...........4.0
Alabama..........9-12............7.0
LSU....................7-14............9.0
Ole Miss..........7-14............9.0
Auburn...........3-18..............13.0
East
Kentucky...........16-5.............--
Tennessee.........15-6............1.0
So.Carolina.......11-10.....55.0 (SC hold tiebreaker over VU)
Vanderbilt.........11-10........5.0.
Georgia..............10-11.........6.0
Florida.................9-12........77.0
Missouri.............6-15...........10.0
Overall
Arkansas...........16-5...........--
Kentucky...........16-5............--
Tennessee.........15-6...........1.0
Texas A&M......15-6...........1.0
Miss State........12-9...........4.0
So.Carolina.......11-10.....55.0
Vanderbilt.........11-10........5.0.
Georgia..............10-11.......6.0
Florida.................9-12......77.0
Alabama............9-12..........7.0
LSU.....................7-14...........9.0
Ole Misss..........7-14..........9.0
Missouri..........6-15...........10.0
Auburn............3-18............13.0
Auburn is as close to eliminated from post season as you can get. They did steal their 3rd conference win in Baton Rouge on Sunday. Their RPI remains surprisingly high at 43. They are 4 games out of #12 spot but are hosting Ole Miss this week and go to Mizzou next. They could get 4-5 win the next 2 weeks and that series at home against Alabama may be for a spot.
LSU is in a bind. They needed to sweep last weekend against Auburn and didn't get it with a bad final game at home. They have 2 series at home (TAMU and close with Ole Miss with a trip to Alabama in between. LSU's RPI is 42. They need to win those 2 home series to have a shot at NCAA. Or lose the TAMU series (no sweep) and replace that with a series win at Bama.
Alabama- as we said, is hoping to host but they have only 1 more home series (LSU) but go first to Starkville and close at Auburn. Their RPI is 15 which looks go. If they win all three series, then they are a lock to host.
SEC RPI
1.....Texas A&M
2.....Arkansas
3.....Kentucky
5.....Tennessee
9.....Georgia
11...South Carolina
15...Alabama
22...Florida
23...Vanderbilt
27...Ole Miss
28. Mississippi State
42...LSU
43. Auburn
91. Missouri
I went into this weekend thinking that Missouri is the least talented team in the SEC. I think they are better than I thought after seeing them -even with the Beer League softball uniforms. I don't think they were incredibly well coached with some atrocious mental mistakes - especially on base paths. But maybe they had bad weekend.
It is interesting that Wes Rucker noted on X that UT's worst OPS in their lineup (Cal Stark) was higher than Mizzou's best OPS.
Auburn's schedule draw in 2024 was simply brutal as they played the top four teams (Ark, A&M, Tenn and KY) in weeks 2-5 after being swept decisively at Vanderbilt in week 1. In fact, their first subpar SEC opponent was LSU over the weekend - and even this was on road. Ole Miss this coming weekend, is their first "winnable" series with a road trip the next week to Mizzou being their second. I think LSU is worse than Auburn but had the benefit of playin in B-R. It is amazing how many close games Auburn has lost in SEC play. They lost to Arkansas twice by 1 run. Swept @ A&M by 7 total runs. Lost two 2-run games at Miss St. Lost a 1 run game at LSU.
The Arkansas / Kentucky series this week is big. As we've learned; great pitching beats great hitting. I'm not sure Kentucky qualifies as great hitters though but they are at home. The Sat/Sun games are both in afternoon, which I feels favors Arkansas as they avoid the light dimming at KPP for night games. Here's what we've learned since 2001- Great pitching (Arkansas 2001, Tennessee 2002, Wake Forest 2003) does not win the College World Series. Arkansas needs offense and they need it quick. They close at College Station and I think the Aggies kill them as it stands now as Arkansas has ZERO room for error offensively. Ironically, they did score better in their last 2 games in SC but still lost one of them after winning 2-1 on Friday.
Florida got off to a terrible start but kept their rankings for longer than they deserved. Their highwater mark was a 2-1 series win over Texas A&M on 3 close games. But their low water mark was an embarrassing sweep at Missouri. They've lost four straight series (@ Mizzou, SC, @ Vandy, @ Ark) after winning their first three. The Gators close with consecutive home series against TN and KY and close at UGA. All top-10 RPI teams. Their offense - despite Caglianone- ranks 11th in the league in SEC games only. To prove how they are offensively, the Gators have 30 HRs in SEC play. Cags has 13. They have 222 team SEC strikeouts. Only SC and MZ is worse. Tennessee is 3rd in team average.
Over the last three weeks. the Vols play Florida, Vanderbilt and South Carolina. FL is the 11th offensively (AVG); SC is 8th and VU is 6th. This is SEC stats only.
Pitching wise, (ERA) FL is 8th, SC is 7th and VU is 5th. (Tenn is 4th)
In SEC play.
Tennessee has 85 HRs
VU 21
SC 29
FL 38
Tenn BA is .302
VU .264
SC .260
FL 240
Tenn Runs 174
VU 696
SC 703
FL 114
Tenn BB 85
VU 62
SC 115
FL 87
TENN pitching ER
Tenn 97
VU 100
SC 118
FL 120
Fielding
Tenn .978
VU .975
FL .977
SC .980
In SEC Play, C-Mo leads the league in Avg (.424) Hits (39) HRs (14) total Bases (87) and 2nd in RBI (29)
As a team. In conference games.
Tennessee is:
3rd in Average (.302) KY (314)
1st in Slugging (.611)
4th in OBP .386 KY (408)
3rd in runs scored (174) TAMU (196)
3rd in Hits (214) TAMU (234)
3rd in RBIs (163) TAMU (186)
2nd in Doubles (46) TAMU (47)
1st in HR (57)
2nd in total bases (433) TAMU (452)
4th in team ERA (4.99) Arkansas (3.37)
2nd in saves (7) Arkansas (9) The last two weekend providing much these 7
1st in Walks (56) 10 ahead of TAMU
3rd in runs allowed (107) Ark (75)
It is clear in looking at the stats, that the strength of UT's pitching is not allowing freebies.
Tenn ranks 11th in Opp BA .283
10th in strike outs (178)
10th in Hits allowed (196)
9th in HR allowed (36)
Contrast this with the "freebie" stats
Walks : 1st
Hit Batters: 2nd
Wild Pitches: 1st
Runners Picked Off: 1st
Caught stealing: 4th
Stolen bases: 4th
Steal Attempts against: 4th
Tennessee may give up a good deal of HR's but it's clear this is a lot of solo shots. You're not going to beat Tennessee with solo HRs.
Plus, Tennessee has given up 10 unearned runs in SEC play in 21 games.
It's amazing that Tennessee has only walked 56 guys and Arkansas- the top pitching team has walked 90.
