Ole Miss Rebels vs. Florida Gators Baseball Preview and Open Thread

Hey y'all. Did you have a good week? That's great. We're happy to hear it. We've had a good week at the Cup, but admittedly a very, very busy one. Our bad on not having a Right Field Review for this week. Catfish has been really busy trying to feed himself via money earned through traditional employment, and yours truly has been distracted by less-than-trivial things.

So here's a quick breakdown of what happened: Ole Miss dropped the series to Texas A&M by losing both games of a 14-inning Sunday doubleheader. It sucked. The Rebs just struggled during clutch moments on Sunday. Pitching, batting, everything really.

So let's rebound from that and get ourselves a win this weekend against the Gators in Gainesville, shall we? As always, Bearded Ginger and Fit4LifeLLC deserve our undying gratitude for their contributions to this week's preview.

First, Florida's probable starters:

Friday - Jay Carmichael (Fr. RHP) - The former All-State pitcher will be making only his third start of the season Friday night. The right hander has 11 appearances on the season, and he is currently 3-1 with a 1.88 ERA. Through 28.2 innings pitched, Carmichael has allowed six runs on 16 hits. He has struck out 18 while walking nine men. Opponents are hitting just .167 against him this season.

Saturday - Jonathan Crawford (Jr. RHP) - Crawford has struggled so far this season as he is currently 0-4 with a 5.67 ERA. Through 33.1 innings, Crawford has allowed 21 runs off 35 hits and 11 walks. He has also struck out 26 thus far. Opponents are hitting .271 off Crawford this season. Last season, Jonathan made 19 appearances (14 starts) and posted a 6-2 record with a 3.13 ERA. His numbers from last year show he can pitch, so it may only be a matter of time before he figures it out. Let's just hope it isn't this weekend.

The Sunday pitcher has yet to be announced due to the Gators not being able to find a consistent third guy, but if I had to make an educated guess I would say Eric Hanhold will be getting the start even with his struggles this season. The right handed freshman is currently 0-2 with an 8.47 ERA in 7 appearances (five starts). Through 17.0 innings, Hanhold has allowed 18 runs (16 earned) off 28 hits and eight walks. Hanhold has also struck out eight thus far this season. Opponents are hitting .368 off Hanhold this season. Last week against Vanderbilt, Hanhold only made it 0.2 innings before being relieved.

Justin Shafer (So. RHP) may get the nod on Sunday instead of Hanhold. Shafer is currently 0-1 with a 5.74 ERA. He has allowed 11 runs (10 earned), 17 hits, 7 walks and 11 strikeouts. Opponents are hitting .274 against him

Team Pitching Ranks in Conference:

• 12^th in ERA (5.45) (OM 7^th at 2.70)
• 12^th in opposing batting average (.265) (OM 6^th at .234)
• T-9^th in strikeouts (181) (OM 5^th with 212)
• 13^th in hits allowed (239) (OM 8^th with 200)
• 13^th in runs allowed (128) (OM T-7^th with 85)
• 8^th in walks allowed (85) (OM 7^th with 82)
• 14^th in HR allowed (14) (OM 11^th with 11)

The open thread begins now. Hotty Toddy, y'all.