The Midweek Report - GT and Memphis

Georgia Tech @ #13 Auburn

Tuesday: 12-7 W

Memphis @ #13 Auburn

Wednesday: 5-4 W

Well, that’s it for the non-SEC season and these two games are a perfect showing of what the Tigers season has been up to this point. Tuesday night was an offensive barrage as the Tigers scored 7 runs in the first 4 innings and after Tech finally broke through for 5 runs in the 5^th, answered with 5 of their own in the bottom of the 6^th for a 12-7 victory over the boys from the Flatts. On the bump Elliott Anderson and Jack Owen were the stars, going a combined 6.1 innings and doing a great job of eating up outs for the bullpen on this 5 game work week. Wednesday evening was the other kind of Auburn baseball game this season, the one where the offensive doesn’t look like it will do a thing till the 7^th inning. Through 6 innings, Auburn had scored 1 run on 3 hits and had left 5 men on base. Then, during the final 2 innings the Tigers had at bat, they scored 4 runs on 4 hits and left 5 men on. If you follow us on twitter, we have noted Auburn proclivity to score in an inning with 2 outs this season as they have already eclipsed the 70+ runs scored with 2 outs mark on the season. This is also becoming a regular trait for this team, scoring multiple runs in the 7^th-9^th innings. To this point in the season, Auburn has scored 45 runs in the final at bats of the game (7^th-9^th innings) but you also remember, most of those haven’t made it to the Tigers at bat in the 9^th. The competition is about to be ratcheted up in a big way as the #8 Texas A&M Aggies come in tomorrow evening to start SEC play and it will be a battle for wins from here on out. However, Auburn has shown it can be resilient in the face of doubt and come out unscathed on the other side. It will be a blast to see if they can keep up their trends.

Composite Top 25

BEHOLD! The first installment of the poll!

So there are about 47 different college baseball polls, and much like the polls in basketball…they don’t really matter. So basically what I do is take the 5 or 6 polls that I have watched since I was a kid or have writers I respect for keeping up with the sport and take an average of their poll. This will help give you an idea of teams around the country to watch and also what the national temperature is before the regional projections start to come out. Here is what I’ve come up with; this is the rankings I will use in my scoreboards and for Auburn:

1. Oregon St

2. Florida

3. Stanford

4. Kentucky

5. Texas Tech

6. FSU

7. Clemson

8. Texas A&M

9. Ole Miss

10. Arkansas

11. Louisville

12. TCU

13. Auburn

14. Vanderbilt

15. UCLA

16. Indiana

17. So Miss

18. LSU

19. NC State

20. East Carolina

21. UCF

22. Duke

23. Stetson

24. Virginia

25. Miss State

Others of interest: UNLV, Sam Houston St, North Carolina, Wichita St, Texas, Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, San Diego St, Alabama

Around the League

#2 Florida vs #6 Florida State, TUE 12-6 W

It’s always solid to get a win over FSU, but if you get a chance, go to the Gators website and take a look back at Kevin O’Sullivan’s dominance over FSU and Miami while he has been at Florida. It is highly impressive.

#8 Texas A&M vs UT-Arlington, TUE 5-1 L/18

Not a good thing for the Aggies but a great thing for Auburn as A&M used 9 different pitchers on the evening. However only 4 of them threw more than 1 inning so take that for what you will. Tough loss for the Aggies as they will be looking for some revenge after that.

#9 Ole Miss @ Georgia State, TUE 5-3 W, WED 16-2 W

Solid 2 game sweep of a good Georgia State team.

#10 Arkansas vs Texas, TUE 13-4 W, WED 7-5 W

See above, except this one was at home. Any wins over Texas baseball are good. In the Series of the Weekend spot, the Hawgs will host the Bat Cats of Kentucky.

#14 Vanderbilt vs Eastern Kentucky, WED 6-5 L

Got to see most of this game after the Auburn game, Vandy only had 2 hits going into the 6^th inning, mounted a really nice comeback but just fell short.

#18 LSU vs South Alabama, WED 9-4 W

Man the Jags has fallen off the map since dropping that game to Auburn last month. From February 27^th (the Auburn game) on, South is a meeger 2-7. That does include a series win over UL-Lafayette on the road so there is that but ooofa… For LSU, great win as they tune up for the conference

#25 Mississippi State vs Southeastern Louisiana, WED 11-5 L

Do not schedule teams from Louisiana in the midweek, it doesn’t turn out well! The Bulldogs now turn to host Vandy this weekend in the New Dude.

Alabama vs Alabama A&M, TUE 15-0 W, WED 14-0 W/7

The trend continues. For those keeping score at home, Bama is now 15-3. I don’t like it one bit but I can honestly say I am very impressed by what they are doing over there.

Georgia vs Kennesaw State, TUE 15-3 W

Another good win over the Fighting Owls as the Dawgs head on the road to T-town this weekend.

Missouri vs Wichita State, TUE 9-4 W

Missouri has been hard to figure out, they get knocked off by a team here and there and then, BAM, they beat a really hot Wichita State team. We will find out what they have this weekend though as the head to the Box to take on LSU

South Carolina vs Harvard, WED 12-3 W

Nothing to see here. Tune up as the Gators come callin’ this weekend.

Tennessee vs Western Carolina, WED 5-0 W

Good win Tennessee! Your reward, head to the unfriendly, beer showering confines of Swazey Field for 3 games! Oh, get some chicken on a stick from the Chevron while you are there…no joke!

On Deck

*Gulp* HERE WE GO! Conference play is up as Auburn welcomes in the 8^th ranked Aggies of Texas A&M. So far, A&M has had a great season, going 16-2 on the year and holding a home series sweep over Long Beach State in which the Dirtbags scored 1 run in each game. The Aggies are coming off a 18 inning loss to UT-Arlington 5-1 so technically both teams have played 2 games this week. This will be a great test for the Auburn offense and for the weekend pitching staff to hold down the potent Aggie offense. Friday’s game will first pitch at 7 as Casey Mize returns to the mound after his no hitter last week. Saturday will be at 2 followed by the Sunday 1 pm first pitch. It’s like baseball Christmas! It’s the first day of