Ole Miss vs. TCU Baseball preview

After a disappointing 1-2 start in Mobile last weekend, the Rebels played with a vengeance against Central Arkansas slugging their way back to an above .500 record.

This weekend looms huge for an impressive start before entering conference play in a couple weeks. Texas Christian rolls in with a 4-1 record after taking 2 of 3 at Cal State Fullerton and dominating Dallas Baptist and Texas State in Fort Worth.

Texas Christian has a horrible mascot and an even worse hand signal to accompany it. They rock purple and white, which is strike two in my opinion. Third off, they are rumored to have blown off our athletic department during scheduling a football game, opting for Clemson instead of Ole Miss.

Friday:
Aaron Barrett(R) vs. Tyler Lockwood(R)
Barrett had a decent first start against Liberty making one big mistake in allowing a three run home run. Barrett showed the ability to mix speeds and reliably hit spots wherever Basham asked him to do it. Lockwood comes in with a 3.60 ERA after starting one game going five innings, striking out two and walking one. Lockwood broke into the starting rotation last year after coming out of the bullpen for the Frogs at the beginning of the year. In his 11 starts, TCU was 9-2, so he should give the Rebels some issues unless we can get his pitch count high and work into their bullpen.

Saturday:
Drew Pomeranz(L) vs. Sean Holscher(R)
Pomeranz will see his first action of the season as he was suspended last weekend due to an offseason DUI. Everyone has set the bar high for the sophomore as his first season was pretty successful as he worked his way into the weekend rotation and struck out batters in bunches. Holscher has the highest ERA on the team after six innings where he allowed five runs while striking out eight. He seems like a hard throwing pitcher and when he makes mistakes they end up being extra base hits developing into big innings. This game seems to be the best chance on paper for the Rebels to win.

Sunday:
Phillip Irwin(R) vs Kyle Winkler(R)
Irwin was ballin' outta control against USA firming up his spot in the weekend rotation for the time being. I thought he looked really sharp and could be a consistent contributor for the Rebels. While he may not run with such a low ERA for the season, he doesn't seem like the kind of pitcher that lets games get out of control. Winkler is a freshman and who gave up six runs, only one of which was earned, in 3.2 innings this season. The Rebels need to get on the board and give Irwin some room to work against TCU.

Our hitting has been stymied once against USA, but Tim Ferguson showed a spark against Central Arkansas this week. Logan Power and Matt Smith should continue to carry the heavy loads while everyone else tries to set the table for them. Pitching has been touch and go thus far, but if they grow from last weekend, TCU and Ole Miss will have a fantastic series.

I'll predict on the worries that our starting pitching is not as good as billed.

Friday: TCU 5 Ole Miss 3
Saturday: TCU 3 Ole Miss 6
Sunday: TCU 7 Ole Miss 4