Ole Miss Baseball was able to avoid the sweep at the hands of the Gamecocks with a Sunday extra innings win but now the heat is on.
Having staved off the sweep with an exciting extra inning win versus South Carolina the Ole Miss Rebel baseball team needs a strong finish over the final two weeks. The stakes are high. SEC West regular season title, First Round bye in the SEC tournament and being a top eight seed in the NCAA tournament will be decided or, in the case of the top eight seed, mostly decided over the next two weeks.
Losing two games by large margins to South Carolina could have been a major blow if it not for the win on Sunday. The Rebels hit a red-hot Gamecock team that had won 7 SEC home games in a row coming in to the weekend. By the time the Rebels won on Sunday that streak was at 9. They had also taken 2 of 3 from Vanderbilt on the road the previous week.
However, pulling out the win on Sunday put the Rebels pretty much where they were coming in. Yes, there were a couple of places lost in the national rankings, and wining 2 out of 3 would have kept the Rebels tied with Arkansas in the West. Of course, a tie with Arkansas means the Rebels get the tournament seed that goes to the western division winner because of the Rebels series win. However, the Rebels are still in a reasonable position to catch the Hogs and stay in the top 8 nationally with a reasonable performance over the next two weeks.
Steaming Hot Auburn Tigers Next Up
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It all starts with the Auburn Tigers this week. Of course, they would like to overtake both the Rebels and the Razorbacks for the west. And in their current position they could spoil it with a series win. And, as has been the case often this season, the Rebels are catching another hot team (think Mississippi State, Vanderbilt and South Carolina). They have won 11 of their last 13 games. The only losses coming at number 1 ranked Florida. And, of course, one of those wins was over the Gators.
Auburn Starts with Casey Mize
With Auburn it all starts with Casey Mize. He holds a 2.25 ERA with a 9 and 2 record. He has 3 complete games. He also has a shut out. He has a fast ball that reaches 96 MPH which he complements with a slider and a splitter.
Auburn can be beaten when he pitches. In fact, they are 5 and 3 in his SEC starts. This is actually the same as they are when Tanner Burns starts on the second game of SEC weekends. He holds an impressive 3.00 ERA. He keeps them in games.
Rebels May Not See Mize Until Friday Night
It does look like the Rebels may not see Mize until Friday night. After throwing 110 pitches in a complete game against Vanderbilt Auburn may go with Davis Daniels for the Thursday start. While Daniels has struggled at times with an ERA of 5.28 his coaches are impressed with how he has been throwing lately. This includes impressive outings against Alabama and Vanderbilt. This will also mean that Auburn will have the arm of Andrew Mitchell available. He had moved into the 3rd weekend starting position and holds an impressive 2.70 ERA. He got the victory against Vanderbilt. He only threw 66 pitches and should at least be available by Friday.
The Tigers mainstays in the bullpen are Cody Greenhill with an ERA of 1.51 and 4 saves to go with a 3 and 1 record. He has pitched 35.2 innings and his activity seems to have picked up. The other mainstay is Calvin Coker with a 4.35 ERA and 6 saves. He also has a 3 and 1 record.
Auburn Is More Than Pitching
And Auburn is not all about pitching. In fact over the last 13 games they have plated double-digit runs 7 times. They have 5 every day hitters batting over .300. They have 4 batters with 8 home runs or more. They will run too with 4 players with 6 or more stolen bases. They have 3 every day players with slugging percentages above .500 and 8 every day players with on base percentages above.400.
This should be a very interesting and exciting weekend. If the Rebels bring their best they should be able withstand the Tigers and take 2 out of 3. First pitch for game-one of the weekend series is set for 6pm CT and the game will be televised via ESPNU.