College World Series 2014: Ole Miss vs TCU Preview
By Dave Bevan
The Ole Miss Rebels are set to face the TCU Horned Frogs in an elimination game tonight and we are here to give you a preview of the matchup.
Tonight at 7 p.m. CST, the Ole Miss Rebels will face the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs in their third matchup of the 2014 College World Series. It will once again be an elimination game for the Rebels and the first for the Horned Frogs in the series. Ole Miss stayed alive in the College World Series after beating Texas Tech in an elimination game on Tuesday, by the score of 2-1 in a walk-off thriller in the bottom of the ninth inning.
TCU is coming off a loss to Virginia through fifteen innings of play on Tuesday. The Horned Frogs fought in a pitchers duo against the Cavaliers in one of the longest games in College World Series history. It wasn’t until the bottom of the fifteenth inning when the Cavaliers delivered a grounded rule double that would eventually lead to Virginia scoring on a walk-off sacrifice fly out. The Horned Frogs lost 3-2 and now face the Rebels in an elimination game.
Scouting Notes: TCU Horned Frogs
TCU is not just another team for Ole Miss to overlook. The Horned Frogs are one of two National Seed teams remaining in the postseason, the other being Virginia. TCU comes into tonight’s game against the Rebels with a 48-17 record. Up until the Super-Regional loss to Pepperdine, TCU was on a 10 game win streak.
Offense
It is already hard enough to hit home runs in the monstrous TD Ameritrade Park. It takes 370ft. to carry the left and right field foul lines and a hefty 408ft. to carry dead centerfield. Just last night, Texas Longhorn’s C.J
Hinojosa recorded the first homerun in the 2014 College World Series. TCU is not a team known for homeruns, their team total comes to 13 homeruns on the season. Sikes Orvis for Ole Miss already has 14 homeruns on the season.
What TCU does do effectively on offense is get runners on base. As a team, TCU holds a .279 batting average and has mustered up 623 hits and 287 RBI on the season. They have held opponents to a .216 batting average, 471 hits, and 149 RBI.
As far as players to watch on offense, you really have to pay close attention to sophomore outfielder, Boomer White. The righthanded hitter is carrying a .311 batting average, a .383 slugging percentage, leads the team with 82 hits and 48 RBI.
Senior outfielder, Dylan Fitzgerald is another player to watch offensively for the Horned Frogs. Fitzgerald is carrying a .311 batting average, a .427 slugging percentage, holds 75 hits and 34 RBI on the season.
Pitching
TCU holds one of the best pitching staffs in the nation. There is no question these guys are tough to hit off. Riley Ferrell is arguably the best pitcher in the nation and is expected to go high in the MLB Draft. Ferrell is the team’s predominate closer, and carries a vicious 0.79 ERA through 45.1 innings of work on the season. Even though the likelihood of the Rebels’ seeing Ferrell is low due to him performing in Tuesday’s game against Virginia, this is an elimination game in the College World Series and if it gets close down the stretch of the game, you can’t rule him out.
TCU head coach, Jim Schlossnagle has already announced that freshman lefthander Tyler Alexander will start against Ole Miss in Thursday night’s game. Alexander holds a 2.16 ERA on the season, with a 10-3 record through 95.2 innings of work on the mound this season. Alexander is a pitcher who can give the Horned Frogs a lot of innings and has mustered up 58 strikeouts on the season. Hitters this season are averaging .232 in batting against Alexander. He has allowed 26 runs on 82 hits this season, and has given up 5 homeruns (the most on the team) this season.
Scouting Notes: Ole Miss Rebels
The Ole Miss Rebels are one of the Cinderella stories of the College World Series. During the preseason, the Rebels were picked to finish next to last in the Southeastern Conference West Division. The team finished the regular season with a divisional title and hosted their fifth NCAA Regional Tournament in the Mike Bianco era. The Rebels hold a 47-20 record coming into the game against TCU.
Offense
There is no question that is has been the Rebel offense that has brought this team to Omaha. But, what has been a major concern is that through the first two games of the College World Series, the Rebels have only mustered up six hits through 57 at bats. What is even more concerning is the offense has only been able to post 3 runs in the series. This a team that has pulled together 399 runs this season and have held opponents to 224. It has been the pinch hitters of Holt Perdzock and John Gatlin who have been the heroes of the Rebel offense in College World Series.
As a team, the Rebels hold a .298 batting average, a .414 slugging percentage, and have tailed in 703 total hits and 360 RBI on the season. The team is lead by junior centerfielder Auston Bousfield and senior catcher Will Allen. Bousfield leads the team in batting average (.342) and in hits (96). Bousfield also holds a .484 slugging percentage and has picked up 50 RBI on the season. Allen leads the team in RBI (61), carries a .336 batting average, a .500 slugging percentage, 90 hits, and 7 homeruns on the season.
Pitching
The Ole Miss pitching staff holds a 2.69 ERA compared to an opponent 5.03 ERA on the season. Like TCU, the Rebels have limited their bullpen usage up to this point in the College World Series, meaning the staff is predominately healthy and nearly every pitcher can be put to use on the mound.
Junior righthander, Sam Smith will start for the Rebels in Thursday’s game against TCU. Smith holds a 5-4 record with a 3.45 ERA on the season. Smith has worked through 91.1 innings on the mound, allowing 44 runs on 104 hits this season. Smith has been in third spot of the weekend rotation this season. He has retired 51 batters this year.
What is concerning about Sam Smith is that he has not completed more than three innings in his past two starts this postseason. In Smith’s last appearance, he gave up 3 runs on 6 hits through 3.2 innings against Louisiana-Lafayette in the Super-Regional finale. The good note to that story is that the Rebels pull through by winning that game and advancing to the College World Series for the first time since 1972.
Game Info
#4 Ole Miss Rebels (47-20) vs. #2 TCU Horned Frogs (48-17)
Date: June 19, 2014
Time: 7:00 p.m. CST
Location: Omaha, Nebraska
Venue: TD Ameritrade Park
Capacity: 35,000
Surface: Grass
Radio: Ole Miss Baseball Network
Television: ESPN
Live Stats: www.OleHottyToddy.com
Streaming Video: ESPN3.com
Twitter Updates: @OleHottyToddy
We will be doing something new at Ole Hotty Toddy for this matchup between Ole Miss and TCU. For the first time on our site we will be posting a live blog feed of play-by-play action of the game. You can also catch our inning by inning updates on Twitter @OleHottyToddy. Stayed tuned for our live post coming soon. We hope you enjoy the game and Hotty Toddy Rebel Nation!