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Hello, and welcome to this very special edition of the baseball weekend preview!
Why is it special you ask? Because I'm back from Tennessee that's why. Oh, and because SEC PLAY IS FINALLY STARTING!!!! I honestly can't tell you how thrilled I am to see a marquee name coming to Alex Box.
Wait, Alabama is coming to town? Honestly, this series doesn't engender the same feelings it does in football, mainly because Alabama's baseball program lacks the power it had in the 90's. And Mississippi St. is way more fun to hate in baseball.
ALABAMA CRIMSON WAVE Thing
Record: 11-5
Recent Results: Lost to Southern Miss 9-2, Lost weekend series to Houston going 1-2
Ranked: N/A
RPI: 92
ISR: 74
The Tide come limping into Baton Rouge a little bit. They lost two very close games to Houston last weekend, then they went to Hattiesburg and got the doors blown off them by Southern Miss.
MOON INFLUENCED BATS
|
Player |
Position |
BA |
SLG |
OBP |
R |
H |
2B |
3B |
HR |
RBI |
BB |
K |
SB-ATT |
|
Connor Short |
3B |
0.364 |
0.576 |
0.436 |
4 |
12 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
5 |
5 |
11 |
1-1 |
|
Keith Holcombe |
LF |
0.313 |
0.375 |
0.421 |
8 |
10 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
5 |
11 |
3-4 |
|
Chance Vincent |
1B |
0.300 |
0.300 |
0.390 |
4 |
15 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
5 |
3 |
0-0 |
|
Team |
0.241 |
0.331 |
0.332 |
69 |
123 |
24 |
2 |
6 |
63 |
57 |
136 |
12-15 |
Alabama's lineup has had a horrid start. Alabama scores the least amount of runs in the SEC and has the worst overall batting average in the conference. Georgia, the next worst team in runs scored, has 92 runs, 23 more runs than the Tide. Connor Short provides the best offensive output for the Tide, but it isn't clear if he'll be able to play this weekend. Short injured his head in the Houston series, and I haven't seen any reports on if he will play this weekend. Holocombe and Vincent possess solid bats, but neither guy strikes real fear into you.
CRIMSON SEA WATER ARMS
|
Player |
YR |
Throws |
IP |
ERA |
K |
BB |
BAA |
W-L-S |
|
Geoffrey Bramblett |
JR |
RHP |
25.2 |
1.05 |
22 |
10 |
0.178 |
1-0-0 |
|
Jake Walters |
SO |
RHP |
21.2 |
3.32 |
31 |
0 |
0.253 |
1-2-0 |
|
Nick Eicholtz |
JR |
RHP |
9.0 |
0.00 |
7 |
2 |
0.250 |
1-0-0 |
|
Jon Keller |
SR |
LHP |
12.2 |
2.13 |
6 |
3 |
0.267 |
1-0-0 |
|
Thomas Burrow |
JR |
LHP |
8.0 |
0.00 |
13 |
2 |
0.080 |
0-0-4 |
Well, one way to make up for a mediocre lineup is to have a great pitching staff. Alabama ranks near the top of the SEC in almost every pitching stat except for strikeouts. Alabama doesn't give up a lot of hits and is good at getting you out. Bramblett is as good a starting pitcher as LSU will face this year and will be extremely tough to generate any kind of offense against. With Lange going for the Tigers, we might get an old fashioned pitcher's duel on Friday night. Burrows is the Tide closer and has been damn near unhittable. As unscary as the Tide lineup is, this pitching staff looks terrifying, especially considering the LSU lineup has still struggled at times this season.
Should you be worried?
Yeah, a bit. Alabama's lineup may stink, but their pitching staff appears to be one of the best in the SEC this season. They played well against a good Houston team, but their lack of runs ultimately doomed them to a series loss. Hopefully the same thing happens this weekend.
What's the weather going to be like?
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Best Logo I Found on Google Image Search
Basically a rip off of the Anheuser-Busch logo. How desperate do you have to be to rip off the logo of some shitty beer? F+
Prediction
Tigers take two out of three. I can't say for sure which game we will lose, but I won't be surprised when we lose a game. A sweep is possible if Alabama can't manufacture any offense.