Thursday, April 26, 2007

One of the Biggest Ever

This weekend's baseball matchup between Ole Miss and Mississippi State could be one of the bigger weekend's in Ole Miss baseball history. Both Mississippi State and Ole Miss RPI are ranked in the top 12. Both teams are playing for the chance to host a regional and a possible super regional. State is .006 percentage points ahead of Ole Miss in the SEC West standings, mostly due to a two game rain out against Tennessee several weeks ago.

Ole Miss is coming off a big series win agianst top 5 South Carolina and MSU is coming off a series loss to LSU at home. State was rocky at the beginning of the season, but has since worked out it's pitching rotation and have improved alot since the rotation was changed. It is my prediction that Ole Miss will win 2 out of 3 this weekend, however I think all the games will be close. Below is the pitching matchup released by the SID.

FRIDAY, 6:30 P.M.
MSU - Chad Crosswhite (So., RHP, 5-1, 41.2 IP, 3.24 ERA)
OM - Will Kline (Jr., RHP, 5-1, 78.0 IP, 3.23 ERA)
NOTING KLINE: Kline posted his fifth win of the season to open the series against #4 South Carolina Kline. Kline has struck out 87 and walked only 25 on the season as he is second on the team in strikeouts. He is holding opponents to a .215 batting average to date.

SATURDAY, 3 P.M.
MSU - Justin Pigott (Jr., LHP, 3-3, 59.2 IP, 5.58 ERA)
OM - Lance Lynn (So., RHP, 4-3, 71.2 IP, 2.64 ERA)
NOTING LYNN: Two-time SEC Pitcher of the Week, Lynn leads the Rebels in strikeouts with 90 while walking only 25 on the year. Lynn is coming off a complete game shutout of #4 South Carolina on Saturday that saw him strikeout a career-high 12 batters while only allowing three hits on the afternoon. Lynn has posted five double-digit strikeout performances this season.

SUNDAY, 1:30 P.M.
MSU - Josh Johnson (Sr., RHP, 2-2, 39.1 IP, 6.18 ERA)
OM - Nathan Baker (Fr., LHP, 5-1, 46.2 IP, 3.86 ERA)
NOTING BAKER: Baker will make his fourth SEC start on Sunday and is 2-0 in three starts to date. He is tied with Will Kline for the team lead in wins with five on the year. He has struck out 31 and walked only 12 on the season as he moved from mid-week starter to weekend starter against the Georgia Bulldogs.