After a loss on the road to Arkansas State on Tuesday, the season finale in Auburn, Ala. looms large in determining Ole Miss’ postseason fate. The Rebels (31-22, 13-14 SEC) are in desperate need of at least two wins in my opinion before they can feel safe in the eyes of the selection committee. Even then, they would more than likely need to go to Hoover and win at least one in the SEC Tournament to really feel secure in their standing. Only thing in their way of being a pesky two or three seed in someone’s regional are the reeeeling Auburn Tigers. And for what it’s worth, Ole Miss is currently slotted as a three-seed in the Chapel Hill regional according to D1Baseball.
Butch Thompson’s club (32-21, 14-13 SEC) started off red-hot. After beginning the year on a blistering pace that saw them fly as high as top five in some polls, the Tigers are now losers of seven-straight games, the longest streak since they lost 10-straight in 2006. The Plainsmen have fallen to No. 45 in the RPI rankings and will only not drop even further because they are playing the good guys this weekend who check in at No. 34. And historically, SEC teams in the 40s don’t get the benefit of the doubt from the selection committee. This weekend’s series could go a long way in deciding who makes the tournament between the two SEC West teams.
Auburn swings it pretty good (.278 team average) and are led by Jonah Todd (.383, 32 RBI, .471 on-base) and Daniel Robert (.289, 4 HR, 37 RBI). Dylan Ingram and Josh Anthony are the main run producers that the Rebel arms will have to deal with. The two have combined for 69 RBI’s and are slugging a whopping .423 percent. The mound on the other hand should be quite the adventure this weekend as starters Keegan Thompson, Casey Mize and Davis Daniel have not recorded a win on the bump since April 21st.
The numbers
Complete Ole Miss stats | Complete Auburn stats
How to watch
Thursday
First pitch: 6 p.m. CT
TV: none
Online streaming: WatchESPN.com
Projected pitchers
Ole Miss: RHP James McArthur (3-5, 4.70 ERA)
Auburn: RHP Keegan Thompson (5-4, 2.48 ERA)
Friday
First pitch: 6 p.m. CT
TV: none
Online streaming: WatchESPN.com
Projected pitchers
Ole Miss: LHP Ryan Rolison (6-2, 2.48 ERA)
Auburn: RHP Casey Mize (6-2, 1.97 ERA)
Saturday
First pitch: 1 p.m. CT
TV: none
Online streaming: WatchESPN.com
Projected pitchers
Ole Miss: LHP David Parkinson (6-3, 3.48 ERA)
Auburn: Davis Daniel (3-2, 5.28 ERA)