The Rebels are bringing a solid team to Athens this weekend. I think that there were some questions about what they were going to have this season as they lost some guys off of last years team. Mike Bianco typically hits the JC circuit pretty hard and very effectively, and as such, Ole Miss is never really "young" even with fresh faces.
Ole Miss probably made the first loud statement in the conference this season when they took a series from Louisville in Oxford back in February. League play started slowly for Ole Miss as they got off to a 2-4 start, winning a series at Tennessee and then getting swept at home by South Carolina. Since then, Ole Miss has gone 10-5 in the conference. They dropped a series to Miss State, but rebounded to sweep Arkansas. They dropped a series to Alabama, but came back to sweep Auburn. Last weekend, they took a very intense series from LSU in Oxford. Sitting at 12-9 in the conference, with an outstanding RPI, Ole Miss has their eyes set squarely on post season baseball. I think they may be a decent matchup on paper, but I don't think that we're catching them at a great time. With Kentucky and a road trip to A&M still on tap for Ole Miss, I'm sure they're looking at this weekend as an opportunity to bank a few wins.
Tomorrow night, we'll see Brady Bramlett, a big fourth year junior righty from Bartlett Tennessee. Tomorrow night will be the 31st start in his Rebel career. For the year, Bramlett has 11 appearances, all starts and posted a 6-2 record with a 2.61 ERA. His 58 2/3 innings lead their staff and he has a very impressive 73/17 K/BB with a .230 average against. Stricklin mentioned this morning that Bramlett gets a lot of backward K's.
Saturday, we'll face off with David Parkinson, a sophomore lefty from Henrico VA by way of Florence-Darlington. Parkinson has pitched mostly out of the bullpen this year. Saturday will be his 5th start. He's made 17 appearances overall and has a 2-2 record with a solid 2.38 ERA. He's thrown 41 2/3 innings and has 29 K's against 11 walks. The opposition is hitting .267 against him. Looks like we should be able to put the ball in play against this guy in general and his WHIP is decidedly higher than Bramlett's.
Sunday afternoon, we'll get James McArthur, a great big freshman righty from New Braunfels Texas. McArthur is 5-0 on the year in 11 appearances, 9 starts. His 47 2/3 innings are second on the Rebel staff. He has a 45/14 K/BB with a .251 average against.
Overall, the opposition is only hitting .250 against the Ole Miss pitchers and they've only allowed 15 HRs on the season.
The Rebels are paced offensively by Henri Lartigue, a junior catcher from Southaven Miss. Lartigue is a switch hitter and comes in hitting .340/.411/.438 with 2 HRs and 20 RBIs.
I remember JB Woodman from two years ago. Solid OF and he's really gotten better with the bat. He was their hero in the rubber game with LSU weekend, hitting 2 HRs in the win. Woodman is hitting .323/.415/.533. The junior left handed stick from Orlando leads their squad in HRs (8), RBIs (39) and stolen bases (9 in 15 attempts). We should see him in CF and hitting cleanup.
Tate Blackman is another Floridian. He hails from Altamonte Springs. Blackman is hitting .333/.407/.444 with 2 HRs and 31 RBIs. We should see him at 2nd base and hitting out of the 3 spot.
I wanted to mention Errol Robinson also. Baseball America tabbed him as the top defensive SS in the conference. I thought he was good in 2014 as a freshman when we played out there, but I was somewhat surprised Nick King didn't top that list. In any event, we'll see some very good SS play this weekend. Robinson will most likely hit at the top for Ole Miss and clocks in at .260/.327/.354 with 1 HR and 20 RBIs. He's 6/12 in steals. If he does hit leadoff this weekend, he may not run a ton in front of Blackman and Woodman.
Overall, Ole Miss doesn't run a whole lot. They're 33/53 in stolen bases, more or less half of what Vanderbilt has done.
This should be a good series this weekend. Ole Miss typically plays pretty clean baseball and this looks like the typical Ole Miss team with some good front line pitching and a couple of power bats. I don't place Mike Biano in the same category as O'Sullivan or Corbin or Van Horn.... I remember Bianco making some curious decisions in Oxford two years ago, especially on Sunday. But, you can count on him to put a good, motivated team on the field. This doesn't look like nearly the mismatch that 2014 did, but we're going to have to play some outstanding ball if we want to win this series this weekend.
Ole Miss probably made the first loud statement in the conference this season when they took a series from Louisville in Oxford back in February. League play started slowly for Ole Miss as they got off to a 2-4 start, winning a series at Tennessee and then getting swept at home by South Carolina. Since then, Ole Miss has gone 10-5 in the conference. They dropped a series to Miss State, but rebounded to sweep Arkansas. They dropped a series to Alabama, but came back to sweep Auburn. Last weekend, they took a very intense series from LSU in Oxford. Sitting at 12-9 in the conference, with an outstanding RPI, Ole Miss has their eyes set squarely on post season baseball. I think they may be a decent matchup on paper, but I don't think that we're catching them at a great time. With Kentucky and a road trip to A&M still on tap for Ole Miss, I'm sure they're looking at this weekend as an opportunity to bank a few wins.
Tomorrow night, we'll see Brady Bramlett, a big fourth year junior righty from Bartlett Tennessee. Tomorrow night will be the 31st start in his Rebel career. For the year, Bramlett has 11 appearances, all starts and posted a 6-2 record with a 2.61 ERA. His 58 2/3 innings lead their staff and he has a very impressive 73/17 K/BB with a .230 average against. Stricklin mentioned this morning that Bramlett gets a lot of backward K's.
Saturday, we'll face off with David Parkinson, a sophomore lefty from Henrico VA by way of Florence-Darlington. Parkinson has pitched mostly out of the bullpen this year. Saturday will be his 5th start. He's made 17 appearances overall and has a 2-2 record with a solid 2.38 ERA. He's thrown 41 2/3 innings and has 29 K's against 11 walks. The opposition is hitting .267 against him. Looks like we should be able to put the ball in play against this guy in general and his WHIP is decidedly higher than Bramlett's.
Sunday afternoon, we'll get James McArthur, a great big freshman righty from New Braunfels Texas. McArthur is 5-0 on the year in 11 appearances, 9 starts. His 47 2/3 innings are second on the Rebel staff. He has a 45/14 K/BB with a .251 average against.
Overall, the opposition is only hitting .250 against the Ole Miss pitchers and they've only allowed 15 HRs on the season.
The Rebels are paced offensively by Henri Lartigue, a junior catcher from Southaven Miss. Lartigue is a switch hitter and comes in hitting .340/.411/.438 with 2 HRs and 20 RBIs.
I remember JB Woodman from two years ago. Solid OF and he's really gotten better with the bat. He was their hero in the rubber game with LSU weekend, hitting 2 HRs in the win. Woodman is hitting .323/.415/.533. The junior left handed stick from Orlando leads their squad in HRs (8), RBIs (39) and stolen bases (9 in 15 attempts). We should see him in CF and hitting cleanup.
Tate Blackman is another Floridian. He hails from Altamonte Springs. Blackman is hitting .333/.407/.444 with 2 HRs and 31 RBIs. We should see him at 2nd base and hitting out of the 3 spot.
I wanted to mention Errol Robinson also. Baseball America tabbed him as the top defensive SS in the conference. I thought he was good in 2014 as a freshman when we played out there, but I was somewhat surprised Nick King didn't top that list. In any event, we'll see some very good SS play this weekend. Robinson will most likely hit at the top for Ole Miss and clocks in at .260/.327/.354 with 1 HR and 20 RBIs. He's 6/12 in steals. If he does hit leadoff this weekend, he may not run a ton in front of Blackman and Woodman.
Overall, Ole Miss doesn't run a whole lot. They're 33/53 in stolen bases, more or less half of what Vanderbilt has done.
This should be a good series this weekend. Ole Miss typically plays pretty clean baseball and this looks like the typical Ole Miss team with some good front line pitching and a couple of power bats. I don't place Mike Biano in the same category as O'Sullivan or Corbin or Van Horn.... I remember Bianco making some curious decisions in Oxford two years ago, especially on Sunday. But, you can count on him to put a good, motivated team on the field. This doesn't look like nearly the mismatch that 2014 did, but we're going to have to play some outstanding ball if we want to win this series this weekend.
