Ole Miss Series Sketch

The big crowds in Oxford.

The Diamond Dawgs travel west this weekend for a three game set with the Ole Miss Rebels. Ole Miss (30-11, 11-7) looks a lot like Georgia in terms of their record and their stats. They've lost two cof their conference series, at LSU and against South Carolina. Their numbers are almost identical to ours, with only a couple of notable exceptions. Average, ERA, opponent's average, and fielding percentages for both teams are within a few tenths of a point. The exceptions, though, show the difference in these two teams.

Georgia has a big edge in power hitting. UGA's slugging percentage is .548, compared to .445 for the Rebs. But, the Rebs have a pitching edge. As we know, walks have been a problem for our staff this year and Ole Miss walks significantly fewer batters than UGA. They've also struck out out 44 more batters than our staff. Like most power lineups, strike outs are a problem for us and we'll need to get good at bats against one of the best staffs in the SEC. Despite those numbers, Ole Miss's collective ERA is still a bit higher than UGA's (4.02 compared to 3.89).

Ole Miss's pitchers are no joke. I've already mentioned that their Sunday starter, Scott Biddle, was an All-American reliever last year and has been fantastic since moving into a starting spot (3-0, 1.29 ERA). Biddle isn't the only solid pitcher for the Rebs. Sophomore Drew Pomeranz, who will face Holder tonight, is coming off a complete game against Florida which pushed his record to 4-1. The pitching match up that favors us the most is Saturday's as McRee faces Phillip Irwin. That's not to say Irwin is weak, because he isn't (5-3, 3.57 ERA), but McRee should be able to outpitch him. All our guys must exercise control, especially McRee. Walks have been killing us and the staff has to minimize free base runners.

The history of this series is terrifying. Georgia has one series win in Oxford, ever. It happened in 1989, twenty years ago. A realist would say we're hoping to get a single game over there. A series win would, of course be a titanic step toward the SEC crown. I'd be happy with one and Perno has said that is about as good as he can hope for.

Oh yeah, Michael Palazzone won't make the trip due to some sort of finger injury. So, we'll be one short in the pen for this weekend, too.

See Also:
-- NCAA Regional Projections (Dawgs #6 National Seed) - CBB

Quinton