Midweek Round-up: @ Troy

#18 Auburn vs Troy

Tuesday: 9-5 L

Auburn has lost games by much more lopsided scores this season, but this may have been the worst the team as a looked all season. The Tigers did answer back at some points but couldn’t get the base hit to break open the game with the bases loaded and the pitching folded when Auburn had chances to shut down the Trojans late in the game. The good news for the Tigers is that Troy is a pretty good ball club and may have punched their ticket to the Tournament with this win, so it didn’t hurt too much especially on the road. The other good news is that in less than 12 hours, they are back on the field against a team at home. Auburn has a chance to win this series, and for people that are looking to put stock into teams, they need to take this series.

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Around the League

#6 Ole Miss @ Arkansas State, TUE 15-8 W

Solid win in the mid week as the Rebs look destined to be a top 8.

#17 Kentucky @ Murray State, TUE 14-2 W/8

Against inferior pitching, the Wildcats are almost unbeatable with that offense.

Sam Houston State @ #21 Texas A&M, TUE 6-5 W

Really good win for the Aggies. Sam Houston isn’t having a year like they did last season, at least to this point, but they are still a postseason team and will do all they can to make some noise in it again.

Indiana State @ Missouri, TUE 8-7 W

Huge momentum builder for the Tigers ahead of a MONSTER series with Tennessee. The winner gets a spot in Hoover and the loser may be out all-together.

Northwestern State @ LSU, TUE 9-5 W

Should have been worse but a win is a win, especially this time of year as the Tigers close the Box before regional play for the first time since 2011. (Sure, LSU could win the regional they are picked for and host a Super but as we sit right now, that doesn’t look good)

Middle Tennessee State @ Vanderbilt, TUE 21-4 W

Payback can hurt huh MTSU? Earlier this season, both teams played in the Boro and it saw Vanderbilt take a lead on a grand slam HR only to have the rains come and force the game to be rained out and revert back to the previous completed inning meaning MTSU won the game… Something tells me Tim Corbin didn’t forget.

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Composite Top 25

1. Florida

2. Stanford

3. Oregon State

4. Arkansas

5. North Carolina

6. Ole Miss

7. Clemson

8. Georgia

9. NC State

10. Texas Tech

11. Duke

12. FSU

13. East Carolina

14. Stetson

15. Minnesota

16. Texas

17. Kentucky

18. Auburn

19. Southern Miss

20. Coastal Carolina

21. Texas A&M

22. Tennessee Tech

23. Oklahoma State

24. UCLA

25. UCONN

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Regional Watch

We only have one projection this week to take a look at and surprisingly it looks favorable to the Tigers, from D1Baseball.com:

1. #12 East Carolina

2. Auburn

3. Missouri State

4. Campbell

East Carolina is a tough team with a shutdown ace in Chris Holba, who is 9-0 in 12 starts and holds a 2.07 ERA. Out of the pen they can run 2 different shut down arms in Davis Kirkpatrick and Ryan Ross, both whom have seen action in 20+ games so far this season. At the dish, Bryant Packard leads the Pirate attack with a .409 BA and paces the team with 12 bombs on the year. ECU would definitely be a tough out but are not unbeatable; just a few weeks ago they were swept by Houston. It would take a maximum team effort from the Tigers to get out of Greenville alive but this team has done it before in a weekend so there is no reason that once the bright lights are back on, that they couldn’t do it.

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On Deck (With SEC Weekend Series Schedule)

• LSU @ # 18 Auburn
• #4 Arkansas @ #8 Georgia
• #6 Ole Miss @ Alabama
• #1 Florida @ Mississippi State
• Tennessee @ Missouri
• South Carolina @ #21 Texas A&M
• #17 Kentucky @ Vanderbilt

I know I say this every weekend but man is this a good weekend of baseball. A top 8 matchup in Athens that will help decide the SEC West. Mississippi State, Vanderbilt and LSU all fighting for their NCAA Tournament lives. Tennessee, Missouri, Texas A&M and State fighting to keep their SEC Tournament hopes alive. Auburn, Kentucky, South Carolina and A&M looking to improve their stock in the eyes of the NCAA and possibly host a regional. Arkansas, Georgia and Ole Miss looking to lock up Top 8 seeds and Florida looking to show why they are the most feared team in the land. Turning closer to home, this is a series that Auburn should take. LSU has been dreadful on the road this season, only taking 3 games. Meanwhile Auburn is 8-4 in the conference at home and has a 4 game winning streak in the friendly confines. I will go with Auburn going 2-1 over the Fighting Tigers and we will get a possible preview of Auburn’s post season rotation as Tanner Burns will take the hill tonight and Casey will go Friday looking to bounce back from a rough evening in Oxford.