Pardon The Interruption - Basketball Edition

Why we will beat Wisconsin.

1.       No size difference.  They have a 6.10 starter who is not as athletic as Buckner at 6.9.  We are actually bigger in other positions.

2.       They have no big scorer.  They’re leading scorer scores 3 points less than our second leading scoring.  If they have to shoot, they’ll lose.

3.       We average 12 more points a game than they do.  They’ll be slow and bang in the half court and we’ll run around them.

4.       The weakness of the SEC is a misperception.  Ask Missouri.  Last year they were 30 – 5 and 14 -4 in the Big 12.  One year later with more experience, they were 23-10 and 11 -7 in the SEC.

5.       We played 2 common opponents.  They beat Arkansas by 7, we beat Arkansas by 12.  They lost to Florida by 18.  We lost to Florida by 14 and beat them by 3.

Final score: Ole Miss 71- Wisconsin 61.

Beginning of SEC Play

It was a great weekend to be an Ole Miss fan.  Lost in all of the hoopla of the basketball team was the great weekend series for baseball.  To go to Arkansas and win 1 would have been acceptable given Arkansas’ preseason accolades and their potential to be a team in Omaha.  To pull off the Sunday win was a huge feather in the cap of a team that still relies on so many young and inexperienced players.

Bobby Wahl was shaky again on Friday but settled down and really looked like himself.  Mike Mayers had a tough time Saturday and you have to believe that was a fluke.  He’s too consistent to follow that up with another poor start.

But when you talk pitching, you have to continue to talk about Tanner Bailey.  He may be the MVP of the staff right now.  Yeah, he gave up a couple of hits that got Arkansas the lead on Sunday but he was put in a tough spot.  After that, Arkansas had no chance against him.  Then Brett Huber came in and looked like Brett Huber.  We certainly hope he is here to stay.  We’ll need that again at some point.

The offense didn’t have to rely on Stuart Turner.  Though he did his part, we got big hits from Preston Overby and Will Allen.  We those guys to continue to hit the ball well.  Austin Anderson had a tough weekend at the plate but played well defensively.  Jake Overby showed why he comes in for defense late in games.  While he hit into a tough double play to end a big threat, he was certainly crucial with 2 big plays at 2^nd base.

While it is very early in the season, the win on Sunday is one that can certainly boost the confidence and make them realize they can beat anybody, anywhere, any time. 

The bad news is there are no mid week games!  We have to wait until Friday.  A & M comes to town off of a 3 game sweep of Georgia.  I fully expect the Rebels to be ready and disappoint the Aggies.

#omaha2013

Lipscomb Series

Over 40% of the season is gone but it really hasn’t started.  16 and 1 is a pretty good start.  However, I’m willing to bet that Arkansas will put up much more of a challenge than Lipscomb or Rhode Island.  The sweeps of TCU and FIU are certainly an encouragement of the potential of this team.

Sunday afternoon against Lipscomb is one of those bittersweet wins.  You love the fact that the Rebels showed enough fight to come from behind.  The bitter is the way Sam Smith pitched.  He has done so well to this point, you have to hope it was a fluke.  He had some of those bad starts last year that were mixed in with the good ones.  With Chris Ellis failing to start the last 3 Sundays, you have to figure that Sam will have to start a Sunday sometime in the future if not against Arkansas.

There are 5 guys that I believe are carrying the Rebels.  You have to start with Stuart Turner.  We better enjoy watching him this year.  If he continues to play like this, he’ll be a one and done transfer from junior college.  Has there been another guy that could be counted on to produce more than him in recent years?  I don’t remember it.

Then you have to mention Bobby Wahl and Mike Mayers.  You just have to think you are at an advantage when those guys are on the mound. 

Tanner Mathis is a must because he’s just the spark plug and the fixture on that team. 

Finally, Tanner Bailey has been the go to guy in the bullpen.  Where would the Rebels be without his consistency.  It seems he always gets that much needed strike out and just settles everything down.

Others are important to talk about.

Brett Huber hasn’t been the shutdown closer we hoped for yet.  But I’m optimistic that he’ll get back to getting outs without putting guys on base. 

Preston Overby continues to impress.  Let’s hope he hits that way in the SEC season.  And you’ve got to love Andrew Mistone.  He’s consistently hitting the ball and driving in big runs.  The fact that the last guy I mention is Austin Bousfield shows how talented this team is.

There are 2 things concerning me at this point.  1) Our failure to get runs in at times with a man on 3^rd and less than 1 out.  Don’t get me wrong, they are producing more than they have in the past but those opportunities are going to be precious come next Friday.  2) The inexperience and inconsistency of some of our younger bull pin guys.  The pressure will only get hotter as SEC play begins.

So here we go.  Looking for a Regional and a Super in Oxford.  #omaha2013

FIU Series

Thank goodness for baseball.  Saturday set up to be a great day but round basketball let us down.  However, this is a baseball update and we won’t discuss basketball.

So the Rebels swept FIU who is a pretty good team.  They had started out with a sweep of Stony Brook who was in the CWS last year.  They are a quality opponent.  It was a scary Friday night but the rest of the weekend, the Rebels remained fully in control.

Offense:

Stuart Turner continues to be a superstar.  He  is hitting everything in sight.  Defensively, he just can’t be run on.

Austin Anderson is hitting the ball extremely well.  This is definitely a major plus.

We love Preston Overby at 2^nd base.  It will be interesting to see what happens when John Gatlin gets healthy.

It sure was good to see Sikes Orvis’ bat come alive.

Austin Bousfield continues to impress.

And, Tanner Mathis.  Well, he is our favorite Ole Miss player ever.  He aggravates the heck out of the competition.

Defense:

Solid weekend.  We can’t let it ever hurt us and it didn’t.

Pitching:

Bobby Wahl hasn’t been real sharp his first 2 starts.  I’m hoping it was the fact that he took off the fall and is taking longer to get in the groove.  He needs to be there by Arkansas weekend.

Mike Mayers and Sam Smith were great.  It is really good to see Sam pitch like this after a couple of tough starts late last year.

Relief pitching was solid with the exception of Friday night.  Too many long balls that night even with a big lead.

The Rebels swept their first 3 weekends for the first time since 2004.  This team pitches great, defends great and, wait for it, scores runs!  Let’s hope they keep their concentration for the next few pre-conference games. 

#Omaha2013

8 and 1

It’s hard to believe but we've already completed 16% of the baseball season.  I had predicted we’d be at 8 and 1 at this point but did not correctly predict the loss.

I’m still stinging from the Memphis defeat.  They are an inferior team and we played poorly.  Hopefully, we got that out of our system.

Defense: With the exception of the Memphis game, our defense has been excellent.  We may have the best defensive outfield in all of college to AAA baseball.  The infield has been suspect.  Mistone is fine.  He won’t have another outing like Tuesday night.  Anderson is a really good fielder but I’m concerned about how the pressure might get to him.  The Overby’s at 2^nd are okay.  Orvis has been good at first base but he’s not hitting well.  Overby 1 may move to this spot.  Our catcher is as good as any in the country.

Offense: This is sporadic.  I guess this should be expected.  If we can score 4 runs in any game, we should win it.  Scoring 4 is sometimes a chore.  Mathis is as expected.  Bousfield could be the next Yarbrough.  Mistone is hitting better than last year as is Anderson.  We need Overby to bring some power and Allen to get more aggressive.  Turner has been a pleasant surprise and has big time power.

Pitching: With the exception of a couple of sorry performances by lower level relievers, our pitching is excellent.  If we get to a regional, super regional, or Omaha, it will be on the arms of our pitching staff.

Coaching: I think Bianco is doing one of his better jobs this year.  He has to move runners instead of driving them in with home runs.  He’s pinch hitting and running when necessary.  He knows every run is precious and we likely won’t score 4 in the bottom of the 9^th.

I see a chance for us to be really good.  We could finish as high at 19-11 in the SEC which should mean a regional in Oxford which is the way God intended May and June to be.

Today is a depressing day because there is no game.  This is why I’m writing this basically useless blog.