SEC Baseball: Weekend Preview

Seven big SEC baseball series' highlight the fifth weekend of conference play this week.

In the east, after two weekends of play, Florida and South Carolina are 7-5, with Vanderbilt and Kentucky one game behind at 6-6, while Georgia is 5-6, Tennessee is 5-7, and Missouri 4-8.

In the west, Alabama is 8-4, followed Ole Miss at 7-5, LSU at 6-5, Arkansas and Mississippi St. at 6-6, and Texas A&M and Auburn at 5-7.

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

#25 FLORIDA (20-12, 7-5) at #3 SOUTH CAROLINA (26-5, 7-5)

This match-up will feature two top 25 teams.

In the pitching department, South Carolina ranks first (1.79 ERA.) in the SEC, while Florida ranks 13th (3.70)

The Gamecocks feature Wil Crowe, who is 6-1, with a 2.08 ERA., while the Gators feature Logan Shore, who is 3-1, with a 1.50 ERA.

Offensively, South Carolina ranks fourth in hitting, at a .289, and tied for third in home runs, with 20, while Florida ranks tenth it hitting, at a .267.

Game times are scheduled for 6 pm, 3 o'clock, and 12:30 pm (cdt), Thursday-Saturday.

ARKANSAS (21-12, 6-6) at #8 LSU (25-8-1, 6-5-1)

In the hitting department, LSU ranks seventh (.278), with Arkansas in 13th (.257).

In terms of pitching, the Tigers, led by right-hander Aaron Nola, who is first in the conference with a sparkling 0.47 ERA., currently rank fifth as a team (2.20), while the Razorbacks, who feature Jalen Beeks, who ranks second with a 1.05 ERA., rank fourth (2.19).

Scheduled game times are 7 pm (cdt) on Friday, noon on Saturday, and 1 pm on Sunday.

TEXAS A&M (19-14, 5-7) at #7 VANDERBILT (25-8, 6-6)

Offensively, Vanderbilt ranks sixth in hitting (.279), while Texas A&M ranks eighth (.277).

Pitching-wise the Commodores rank second in ERA. (2.15), while Texas A&M currently ranks 11th (3.77).

Game times are set for 6:30 pm, 2 pm, and 1 pm, Friday-Sunday

#13 OLE MISS (26-8, 7-5) at #12 MISSISSPPI ST. (20-13, 6-6)

In the hitting department, Ole Miss ranks second (.299), with Mississippi St. in 12th (.262).

In terms of pitching, the Rebels currently rank third as a team (2.16), while the Bulldogs rank ninth (3.12).

Scheduled game times are 6:30 pm (cdt) on Friday, 3 o'clock on Saturday, and 1:30 pm on Sunday.

MISSOURI (14-16, 4-8) at #15 KENTUCKY (22-10, 6-6)

Offensively, Missouri ranks last in hitting (.255), while Kentucky is hitting a .318, which leads the way.

Kentucky features a potent line-up, including A.J. Reed, who is second in the league in hitting at a .377, while leading the way in both homers (12) and runs batted in (39), and Austin Cousino, who leads the league in hits (44).

In the pitching category, the Tigers are currently 12th (3.45 ERA.), while the Wildcats rank 10th (3.20).

Scheduled game times are 5:30 pm on Friday, 6 o'clock on Saturday, and noon on Sunday.

AUBURN (19-14, 5-7) at #16 ALABAMA (22-10, 8-4)

Auburn ranks third in hitting (.292), and feature two of the top three hitters in the league, in Jordan Ebert and Damek Tomscha, who are hitting a .388 and a .373, respectively, and eight in pitching (3.06 ERA.), while Alabama ranks ninth in hitting (.276) and sixth in pitching (2.44).

Game times are set for 6:30 pm on Friday night, 6 o’clock on Saturday afternoon, and 1 pm on Sunday afternoon.

#23 TENNESSEE (21-9, 5-7) at GEORGIA (18-13, 5-6)

Georgia ranks 11th in team batting average, at a .265, and last in pitching, with a 4.09 ERA., while Tennessee ranks sixth in hitting (.278) and seventh in pitching (2.85).

The two teams will play on Thursday night at 6:30 pm (cdt), and then on Saturday at 6 o’clock, and on Sunday at 3 pm.