SEC Baseball: Weekend Preview

Seven big SEC baseball series’ highlight the sixth weekend of conference play this week.

In the east, after five weekends of play, Florida is 9-6, with South Carolina one game behind, at 8-7. Following those two are Georgia at 7-7, Vanderbilt and Kentucky at 7-8, and Tennessee and Missouri at 6-9.

In the west, Alabama is 10-5, followed Ole Miss at 9-6, LSU at 8-6, Arkansas and Mississippi St., and Texas A&M at 7-8, and Auburn at 6-9.

Let’s take a look at the respective conference series’ schedule for this weekend, with the statistics entering play earlier in the week:

#6 SOUTH CAROLINA (28-9, 8-7) at AUBURN (21-17, 6-9)

This match-up will feature a second place team in the SEC East, taking on the bottom squad in the SEC West

In the pitching department, South Carolina ranks first (1.82 ERA.) in the SEC, while Auburn ranks 8th (2.93)

The Gamecocks feature Wil Crowe, who is 6-2, with a 2.13 ERA., while the Tigers feature Keegan Thompson, who is 5-2, with a 1.72 ERA.

Offensively, South Carolina ranks fourth in hitting, at a .287, and tied for third in home runs, with 22, while Auburn ranks third in hitting, at a .288.

Game times are scheduled for 6 pm, 4 o’clock, and 1 o'clock, Friday-Sunday.

#7 LSU (28-8-1, 8-6-1) at #10 OLE MISS (29-9, 9-6)

This match-up will feature two top ten teams, who are only one game in the loss column behind first-place Alabama in the SEC West.

In the hitting department, LSU ranks ninth (.269), with Ole Miss second (.310).

In terms of pitching, the Tigers, led by right-hander Aaron Nola, who is first in the conference with a sparkling 0.70 ERA., currently rank fourth as a team (2.40), while the Rebels, who feature Chris Ellis, who ranks second with a 1.05 ERA., rank second (2.19).

Scheduled game times are 6:30 pm (cdt) on Thursday, 6:30 pm on Friday, and 1 pm on Sunday.

#12 VANDERBILT (28-10, 7-8) at ARKANSAS (23-15, 7-8)

Offensively, Vanderbilt ranks fifth in hitting (.282), while Arkansas is last (.255).

Pitching-wise the Commodores rank sixth in ERA. (2.46), while the Razorbacks currently rank fifth (2.45).

Game times are set for 6:35 pm, 6:05 pm, and noon, Friday-Sunday

MISSISSPPI ST. (23-15, 7-8) at MISSOURI (17-18, 6-9)

In the hitting department, Missouri ranks tied for 11th (.266), with Mississippi St., who is also tied for 11th (.266).

In terms of pitching, the Tigers currently rank 13th as a team (3.73), while the Bulldogs rank 11th (3.41).

Scheduled game times are 6 pm (cdt) on Friday, 2 o’clock on Saturday, and 1 pm on Sunday.

#22 KENTUCKY (24-13, 7-8) at TEXAS A&M (23-15, 7-8)

Offensively, Texas A&M ranks seventh in hitting (.276), while Kentucky is hitting a .314, which leads the way.

Kentucky features a potent line-up, including A.J. Reed, who is second in the league in hitting at a .374, while leading the way in both homers (14) and runs batted in (48), and Austin Cousino, who is tied for the league-lead in hits (53).

In the pitching category, the Aggies are currently tenth (3.36 ERA.), while the Wildcats rank ninth (3.32).

Scheduled game times are 6:05 pm on Friday, 4:05 pm on Saturday, and 12:05 pm on Sunday.

#19 ALABAMA (26-11, 10-5) at TENNESSEE (24-11, 6-9)

Tennessee ranks sixth in hitting (.276), and is third in the conference in stolen bases, with 58, and seventh in pitching (2.91), while Alabama ranks eighth in hitting (.275) and third in pitching (2.39).

Game times are set for 5 pm on Friday night, 3 o’clock on Saturday afternoon, and 1 pm on Sunday afternoon.

#18 FLORIDA (24-13, 9-6) at GEORGIA (21-15, 7-7)

Florida leads the SEC East, while Georgia is in third place, only one game back in the loss column, so this is a big series.

Georgia ranks 13th in team batting average, at a .261, and last in pitching, with a 3.91 ERA., while Florida ranks tenth in hitting (.268) and 12th in pitching (3.61).

The two teams will play on Friday night at 6:30 pm (cdt), and then on Saturday at 6 o’clock, and on Sunday at 11 am.