Looking back at this weekend....

[thekimmer]

Well we started the weekend tied for 4th place in the SEC and ended it tied for 5th thanks to Vandy's sweep of UGA. LSU continues to fade. Our next opponent, Mizzou, almost doubles their SEC wins with a sweep of UT. Arky helped us stay close to TAM and USC and UF play no harm no foul splitting two games.

Once again the wild card continues to be sweeps. Vandy sweeping UGA allowed them to pull ahead of us. Our 9th inning pitching meltdown in game 2 cost us the chance to make up ground on the conf leaders. Had we not blown game 2 we would be tied for 4th and just a game back of TAM. I am convinced the only way we will make any move up in the conference will be to sweep some people. Easier said than done though.

 

[KurtRambis4]

Unfortunately,

AR is now playing like everyone thought they'd be playing like. We really need to sweep this weekend, but it won't be easy.

 

[dickiedawg]

A&M has a really tough schedule down the stretch, with Vandy, South Carolina and Ole Miss. 2 of those are at home.

We almost have to have a sweep to catch them. It's feasible they could go 4-6 to finish and 6-4 would tie them, but I'd sure hate to count on it.
Then again, we could sweep this weekend, they lose the series and we'd be right where we want to be.
Regardless of what they do, we need to make some hay against the bottom feeders. With the schedule easing up, us getting Robson back and the bullpen starting to show some cojones (Saturday Game One excluded), we should be hitting our stride in time for the home stretch.

 

[tatedog]

I hate to think about counting on Ole Miss beating A&M a couple times in the last weekend to give us a shot, both for the general unpleasantness of the idea and for the fact that if it came down to it, there's absolutely no way they'd pull it off.

 

[BiscuitEater]

Agree ..

A&M has a really tough schedule down the stretch, with Vandy, South Carolina and Ole Miss. 2 of those are at home.

We almost have to have a sweep to catch them. It's feasible they could go 4-6 to finish and 6-4 would tie them, but I'd sure hate to count on it.

Based on current standings, SEC teams ranked from 'easiest to toughest' remaining schedule would be:

MSU (easiest)
Florida
LSU
Clumped together: Kentucky, Vandy, OM & USCe
A&M (toughest)

MSU	A&M	OM	LSU
Missouri	Vanderbilt	@Georgia	Arkansas
@Auburn	@USCe	Kentucky	@Tennessee
Arkansas	Ole Miss	@Texas A&M	Florida
South Carolina	Florida	Vanderbilt	Kentucky
@Kentucky	@Tennessee	@Texas A&M	USCe
Texas A&M	Vanderbilt	@Florida	@Ole Miss
@Alabama	@LSU	Auburn	Missouri

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[OleMissLogo]

A&M has a really tough schedule down the stretch, with Vandy, South Carolina and Ole Miss. 2 of those are at home.

We almost have to have a sweep to catch them. It's feasible they could go 4-6 to finish and 6-4 would tie them

Do you mean 3-6 or 4-5? There's 9 SEC games left.

 

[AlSwearengen]

With our jekyl and hyde pitching staff, I am treating anything positive as a pleasant surprise. I'm not going to get my hopes up for a long run in the post season because of it. It's a shame b/c this is the best offense we've had in a long long time.

 

[o_1984Dawg]

Well we started the weekend tied for 4th place in the SEC and ended it tied for 5th thanks to Vandy's sweep of UGA. LSU continues to fade. Our next opponent, Mizzou, almost doubles their SEC wins with a sweep of UT. Arky helped us stay close to TAM and USC and UF play no harm no foul splitting two games.

Once again the wild card continues to be sweeps. Vandy sweeping UGA allowed them to pull ahead of us. Our 9th inning pitching meltdown in game 2 cost us the chance to make up ground on the conf leaders. Had we not blown game 2 we would be tied for 4th and just a game back of TAM. I am convinced the only way we will make any move up in the conference will be to sweep some people. Easier said than done though.

Honestly, at this point, sweeping any of these 3 teams will be less impressive than almost any of our series wins. It's just taking care of business. There's really no reason we shouldn't finish 7-2 or better if we think our 12-9 mark is legit. That puts us at 3rd or 4th in the SEC, a lock to host, and a solid bet for a national seed.

 

[rugbdawg]

We aren't an elite offense. Check out our SEC stats...

Conference rankings:

Batting average: 5th
Slugging percentage: 7th
OBP: 6th
Runs scored: 6th
Hits: 4th
RBIs: 5th
Doubles: 11th
Triples: 3rd
Home runs: 7th
At Bats: 3rd

We are pretty good, not special. Here are our SEC pitching stats:

ERA: 8th
OBA: 8th
Innings pitched: 2nd
Ks: 7th
Hits allowed: 11th.
Runs allowed: 9th
Walks Allowed: 10th (Lower rank means more walks)
HBP Allowed: 2nd (Higher rank means more HBPs)
Wild Pitches: 3rd (Higher rank means more wild pitches)

It's pretty simple. If our pitches can throw strikes, we will get better.

 

[Shamoan]

we have also played the current #1 (road), #2 (home), #8 (road), #12 (home), #17 (road), and a 10-11 Alabama to start the sec season. i suspect those numbers will improve once we get a chance to play a lower tier sec team or two or three like everyone else in the conference has done outside of us. our schedule is very front-loaded.

 

[thekimmer]

At this point there are 5 teams with single digit SEC wins.....

Based on current standings, SEC teams ranked from 'easiest to toughest' remaining schedule would be:

MSU (easiest)
Florida
LSU
Clumped together: Kentucky, Vandy, OM & USCe
A&M (toughest)

MSU	A&M	OM	LSU
Missouri	Vanderbilt	@Georgia	Arkansas
@Auburn	@USCe	Kentucky	@Tennessee
Arkansas	Ole Miss	@Texas A&M	Florida
South Carolina	Florida	Vanderbilt	Kentucky
@Kentucky	@Tennessee	@Texas A&M	USCe
Texas A&M	Vanderbilt	@Florida	@Ole Miss
@Alabama	@LSU	Auburn	Missouri

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Here is how many of these 5 teams that the front runners have played to date

MSU 1 UGA
UM 3 UT, AU Arky
USC 4 arky, UT, Miz, UGA
TAM 3 AU, Arky, UGA
UF 3 MIZ, Arky, UGA,
Vandy 3 Miz, UT, UGA
LSU 2 Miz, Arky

That is pretty telling. We now have our chance to feast on a few of these turkeys. Gotta get it done though.