Midweek Round Up - The Capital City Classic

Alabama vs #11 Auburn (in Montgomery, AL)

Tuesday: 5-2 W

There are a couple of constants in this life. One is something that is due in a few weeks on the 15^th. One of the other ones that has been fun in the past few years is when Auburn and Alabama meet up in the state capital, Auburn take a trophy home. So it was in the 2018 edition of the Capital City Classic as the Tigers never trailed and took a much needed 5-2 win over the Tide. With the win, Auburn improves to 9-1 in the Classic and 21-5 on the season. Much more importantly was how the Tigers took the game, the long ball. During Auburn’s past 4 games, in which they went 1-4, Auburn was limited to 2 home runs. Tuesday evening though Will Holland had 2 by himself while Edouard Julien was able to draw first blood on the Tide with his 3 run bomb in the 2^nd. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying Auburn has to go Gorilla Ball to win games, however this lineup is meant to pick out and exploit the mistake pitches and make the opposition pay. Tuesday night they did it against the perfect opponent. The offense was able to pound out 13 hits and only striking out three times on the evening. You may say, well this was against the mid week guys for Alabama and while that is true, one can only take swings against what is on the mound. Speaking of the defensive side of the coin, Jack Owen was brilliant, building on the early innings start against Georgia Tech from last week before it started to fall apart. Owen went 4 innings of 1 hit, 2 walk, 4Ks baseball. It is so very important for Auburn to develop an arm that can start a Game 4 once tournament time comes around. 4 innings might not sound like a lot but if a guy can get through the lineup once and then another couple of batters, that can be the difference between going to the Supers or Omaha and getting ready for next spring. Calvin Coker came in and pitched another 4 innings and while he threw 57 pitches, with the Tigers not playing again till Friday and the possibility of getting Cody Greenhill back from his bout with Mono, this is fine. Overall this was a much needed win to rebuild the confidence after a tough weekend in Lexington and, as Will Holland said, “A win’s a win and it’s even better when it’s Alabama.” War Eagle Will, War Eagle.

---

Around the League

#2 Florida vs #6 FSU, TUE 1-0 W

It always pleases me when the team from Tally-ho takes the L. Nice job Gators.

#4 Ole Miss vs #14 Southern Miss, TUE 7-6 W

Alright, Ole Miss is closing in on scary good territory. Going to Blue Bell Park and taking 2 of 3 was really good and a mid-weeker against the Golden Eagles is always impressive. Good luck this weekend against the Piggies. That will be one to watch.

#5 Arkansas @ Memphis, TUE 8-7 W

The Tigers put up a fight but a good win by the backs after a rough weekend in Gainsville.

#7 Vanderbilt @ Lipscomb, TUE 5-1 L

YOU JUST DON’T WALK INTO DUGAN FIELD AT MARSH STADIUM AND EXPECT VICTORY!! Ouch Vandy…again I know its midweek but to take 2 of 3 from LSU and then drop to in-city rival Lipscomb? Ouch…

#9 Kentucky vs Miami (OH), TUE 13-7 W

No mid week let down for the Cats as they keep rolling.

#17 Texas A&M @ Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, TUE 5-3 W

In the battle of the A&M’s, this one goes to the boys from the Station.

#21 LSU vs UL-Lafayette, TUE 3-1 L

Tough luck loss for the Tigers to a better than advertised Cajuns team.

Tennessee @ Western Carolina, TUE 17-3 W

Tennessee has won 4 in a row…that’s called a winning streak…it has been done before…

Georgia vs Charleston Southern, TUE 7-0 W

Hottest team in the SEC keeps on winning. Georgia vs A&M will get the laptop spot on the SECN+ this weekend.

South Carolina vs Davidson, TUE 5-4 W

Nice rebound win for the Gamecocks after a tough time in Athens.

Mississippi State @ Nicholls, TUE 7-4 L

The rough season for the Bulldogs continues. State now sits at .500 in a season where they were looking to not only host a regional but perhaps host a super regional again. Gotta feel for that entire program however, don’t look for the fans in the Box to show them any pity starting tonight.

---

Composite Top 25

1. Oregon St

2. Florida

3. Stanford

4. Ole Miss

5. Arkansas

6. FSU

7. Vanderbilt

8. NC State

9. Kentucky

10. Texas Tech

11. Auburn

12. Clemson

13. UCLA

14. So Miss

15. Indiana

16. Louisville

17. Texas A&M

18. Duke

19. East Carolina

20. TCU

21. LSU

22. Illinois

23. Wichita State

24. Coastal Carolina

25. San Diego State

---

Regional Watch

This is a feature I have been waiting for and the first one has finally been released! Baseball America has decided that after 2 or 3 weeks of conference play (and about 25ish games under the belt for most teams) we have enough info to lay out where everyone is and currently Auburn is looking good on the resume. Just remember, different sites put an emphasis on different criteria so as we wade through this as the year goes on, things may look completely different. So, BA has Auburn as a regional host as a #12 overall seed which is about right from the top 25 poll above. The regional would look like this:

1. 12) Auburn

2. Texas

3. South Alabama

4. Mercer

WOOO BUDDY! What a regional of death! Sure, USA has hit some hard times since the Tigers saw them in Mobile about a month ago but wow. And then you look at Texas…Only one of the blue bloods of college baseball who are having a nice return to prominence season under 2^nd year and former Sam Houston St and Tulane coach David Pierce. I know this will change wildly but that is a tough regional. But let’s see here, who would Auburn take on if they got through the regional…

Sometimes I hate that the NCAA is so predictable that I know this will happen…

---

On Deck (With SEC Weekend Series Schedule)

#5 Arkansas @ #4 Ole Miss (THU-SAT)

#17 Texas A&M @ Georgia (THU-SAT)

Mississippi State @ #21 LSU (THU-SAT)

Tennessee @ South Carolina (THU-SAT)

#7 Vanderbilt @ #2 Florida (FRI-SUN)

#9 Kentucky @ Alabama (FRI-SUN)

Missouri @ #11 Auburn (FRI-SUN)

Fantastic slate of games and a good mix of start dates with the Holiday weekend upon us. The series I will be watching this weekend is the Aggies and the Dawgs in Athens. Georgia is 5-1 in the conference after a sweep of South Carolina while the higher ranked Aggies are still looking for their first conference series win. Auburn and Mizzou of course will have the big TV spot as Auburn needs to come out strong and take this series as it is one of the very few that the Tigers have against a team without a tiny number next to their name for the rest of the season.