The Ole Miss Rebels look to rebound from their three game losing streak this weekend in Athens. Meanwhile, Georgia is trying to recover from being atrociously bad this season. All you ever wanted to know and more after the jump.
What's that, Dave? You went to Omaha 3 times last decade?
After rising as high as number #1 in the nation last season, Georgia could not be further from it this year sitting at 10-19 (2-7 SEC). They were swept in the midweek by #16 Clemson. If the Bulldogs don't catch on fire, Perno is in danger of having only his second losing season at Geogia, the other coming in 2007. Not only did the Dawgs lose a lot of players from the 2009 team, they had an off-season tragedy on campus. Freshman Chance Veazey was projected to start at 2nd base, but he was the victim of a scooter incident on campus. Now he is confined to a wheel-chair and will throw out the first pitch on Saturday. If you will be in attendance, be sure to cheer him on.
Offensively, they average 6.3 runs a game and bat .291 (.280 SEC). They have a couple of guys who can mash. Sophomore CF Zach Cone is hitting .371 with 28 RBI and 6 dingers. Sophomore INF Levi Hyams is also producing offensively with a .349 average. He missed the first part of the year with a back injury but has been on fire the last two conference weekends going a combined 11-for-27 (.407) with 6 doubles, a dinger, and 11 RBI.
Defensively, they give up 9 runs a game and have a team ERA of 8.62 (9.85 SEC). They field at a respectable .965 clip.
The Rebels are led offensively by Matt Smith who is hitting .363 (.381 SEC) with 6 HRs and 29 RBI. Tim Ferguson and Matt Snyder are not far behind with .355(.400 SEC) and .345 (.353 SEC) averages, respectively. As a team, the Rebels are hitting .308 and average 7.7 runs per game. Kevin Mort is hitting .302 on the year but has a fantastic .355 average in conference play.
Defensively, Ole Miss is allowing 4.6 runs a game and the pitching staff has a 3.89 ERA (5.18 SEC) and .259 (.263 SEC) average against.
Pitching match-ups (I'm only including SEC records and stats)
Friday @ 7 p.m. on ESPNU
Jr. LHP Drew Pomeranz (3-0, 1.77 ERA)
Jr. RHP Justin Grimm (1-2, 3.57 ERA)
Saturday @ 3 p.m.
Sr. RHP Aaron Barrett (2-1, 2.75 ERA)
Sr. RHP Jeff Walters (1-1, 8.56 ERA)
Sunday @ 1 p.m.
Sr., RHP TBA (0-1, N/A ERA)
Michael Palazzone (0-2, 8.78 ERA)
Predictions: As bad as this team is right now, it is better than Georgia. I doubt that the Rebels will sweep in Athens, but we'll take the series.
What are your thoughts?