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College  | Story  | 5/19/2016

Final 2016 Weekend Preview

Patrick Ebert      Jheremy Brown     
Photo: Texas A&M




Field of 64 | National Notebook | Perfect Game Top 25 | Video Vault | Perfect Game College Baseball on SiriusXM College Sports

The final weekend of the regular season is set to begin this evening as teams continue to position themselves for not only their respective conference tournaments, but also for national seeding, host and overall postseason implications. The SEC has two big series taking place this weekend to cap things off, one between No. 2 Texas A&M and No. 6 Ole Miss, in College Station, and the other between No. 1 Florida and No. 9 Louisiana State, in Baton Rouge.

Although with less pure postseason implications, No. 4 Miami travels to Tallahassee to take on No. 17 Florida State, who will look to rebound after a difficult week.

For as good as those series are arguably the most interesting one to follow this weekend will occur in Minneapolis, Minn., as the Gophers host the Ohio State Buckeyes. Minnesota currently leads the Big Ten, albeit by a very slim margin, as this series could go a long way in determining the seeding for the conference tournament next week.

After Princeton claimed a berth in the 2016 college baseball postseason three more teams will join them by the end of the weekend as the championships for the Patriot, MEAC and SWAC will all occur this weekend.

Stay tuned to Perfect Game this weekend for first-hand reports from Matt Czechanski, who will be getting another look at Georgia ace Robert Tyler as he faces Nick Senzel and the Tennessee Volunteers, as well as those from Steve Fiorindo, who will take in action from the Oregon State/USC series at Dedeaux Field.


Top 25 in Action
Rk. Team Opponent Location
1 Florida at No. 9 Louisiana State Baton Rouge, LA
2 Texas A&M home vs. No. 6 Ole Miss College Station, TX
3 Mississippi State home vs. Arkansas Starkville, MS
4 Miami at No. 17 Florida State Tallahassee, FL
5 Louisville at Wake Forest Durham, NC
6 Mississippi at No. 2 Texas A&M College Station, TX
7 Texas Tech home vs. West Virginia Lubbock, TX
8 South Carolina at Alabama Tuscaloosa, AL
9 Louisiana State home vs. No. 1 Florida Baton Rouge, LA
10 Tulane at Houston Houston, TX
11 Vanderbilt home vs. Auburn Nashville, TN
12 Oklahoma State home vs. Kansas Stillwater, OK
13 UNC Wilmington at Delaware Newark, DE
14 Virginia home vs. Virginia Tech Charlottesville, VA
15 Texas Christian home vs. Kansas State Fort Worth, TX
16 Bryant at Mount St. Mary's Emmitsburg, MD
17 Florida State home vs. No. 4 Miami Tallahassee, FL
18 Southern Miss at Florida International Miami, FL
19 NC State home vs. North Carolina Raleigh, NC
20 Coastal Carolina home vs. Campbell Conway, SC
21 Florida Atlantic home vs. Western Kentucky Boca Raton, FL
22 Rice at Louisiana Tech Ruston, LA
23 Clemson at Notre Dame South Bend, IN
24 Cal State Fullerton home vs. Hawaii Fullerton, CA
25 Minnesota home vs. Ohio State Minneapolis, MN



Marquee Matchup #1

No. 6 Ole Miss at No. 2 Texas A&M
J.B. Woodman (Ole Miss Athletics/Joshua McCoy)
For the last couple of weeks the Aggies of Texas A&M have been on the heels of the Florida Gators, and had Coach Kevin O’Sullivan’s squad not taken game three against Vanderbilt last weekend then the Aggies would be the top team in the nation. Coming off a 2-1 weekend against a tough South Carolina team who could very well end up hosting, this weekend’s matchup against visiting Mississippi (who could also secure a Top 8 National seed) has serious implications when looking at the SEC regular season championship.

Taking a look at the West Division of the SEC standings reveals that the Aggies are currently tied with Mississippi State for the divisional lead and trail Florida by half a game for the SEC regular season title. Behind by just a game in the West are the Rebels who are coming off a three-game sweep of Kentucky to improve to 17-10 in the SEC. Long story short, this weekend carries a lot of weight when it comes to the SEC standings, and with the type of depth and talent in the conference this spring it comes as little surprise that the standings come down to the final weekend of play.

As far as the series itself it should be a highly entertaining one as both teams matchup pretty well as both pack a big punch with a physically gifted offensive squad. Ole Miss is led by arguably one of the hottest hitters in the nation in outfielder J.B. Woodman who has more than doubled his home run total this spring over the last three weeks, and the offensive turnaround for Tate Blackman (who hit .197 last spring) has been remarkable as everything seems to be barreled and hit towards a gap. Leading the charge for the Aggies, once again, is Boomer White, a talented outfielder who sat out all of last spring after a transfer from Texas Christian, who is slashing a ridiculous .425/.500/.551 over the first 50 games this spring.



Marquee Matchup #2

No. 1 Florida at No. 9 Louisiana State

Another top matchup of two top 10 clubs in the Southeastern Conference this weekend has the top-ranked Florida Gators traveling up to Baton Rouge to take on the No. 9 ranked Tigers of Louisiana State. The first sentence reveals perhaps the biggest advantage of the entire series in that the three-game set will be taking place in Alex Box Stadium, presumably in front of a sellout crowd, most of whom will be breathing down the Gators’ necks from the first pitch to the final out of the series.

Aside from diverting the noise from the crowd the Gators will have to face off against a talented LSU club who have been playing a high level of baseball lately. The Tigers are riding an eight-game win streak, which includes sweeps over Arkansas and Tennessee, and all but two were decided by three or fewer runs. Not at all surprising is the fact that the Tigers got hot the same time ace righthander Alex Lange did as he’s carried the ball into at least the eighth inning in each of his last four starts and has shown improved command since the beginning of the year.

The Gators, who entered the year as the unanimous top-ranked team across every national publication has continued to show why they were, and still are, regarded so highly. With a three-game rotation that all project to be first-round talents, Coach Kevin O’Sullivan’s squad took a hit last weekend against Vanderbilt when star slugger Peter Alonso broke a bone in his hand after being struck by a pitch. Still, the Gators were able to put up 10 runs on Sunday against the Commodores and feature a well-balanced offensive attack that will play well against the slew of LSU arms.  


Marquee Matchup #3

No. 4 Miami at No. 17 Florida State
Bryan Garcia (Richard Lewis/Miami Athletics)
The Seminoles will look to right the ship this weekend after suffering a rough week, going 1-4 with a pair of midweek losses to Jacksonville and Florida Gulf Coast while also losing their road series to Duke. How they respond this weekend, at home, against the fourth-ranked Hurricanes could go a long way to how they play, and are perceived, as the ACC Tournament and overall postseason approaches.

Before that week Florida State appeared to be in the driver’s seat to claim a National seed. However, they’re going to need to win this series to be put back into contention for consideration. Two weekends prior to that they lost their series against Clemson (also on the road), and lost both of their midweek contest against their in-state rivals, the Florida Gators. This weekend’s trio of games could go a long way into making a much-needed statement, and while they have the offense to keep up in a track meet (.299 team batting average) their pitching staff will certainly be put at test to keep the powerful Miami lineup at bay.

Despite a hiccup nearly a month ago in which they lost their home series to a surging Virginia program, Miami has been cruising all season long. After defeating Florida Gulf Coast on Tuesday they have a 41-9 overall record and four regulars in their starting lineup are hitting .348 or better. Zack Collins of course is the steady, patient presence in the middle of the lineup, and Willie Abreu, despite hitting only .276 this year, has proven several times that he can beat you in any given plate appearance. The team metrics are similar, as Miami is hitting .307 as a team and has a staff ERA of 3.56, meaning these games could very well depend on how well the bullpens fare. If that’s the case, Miami has the edge with three-year stopper Bryan Garcia being one of the best in the business.



Marquee Matchup #4

Ohio State at No. 25 Minnesota

Ohio State received strong consideration to enter the Top 25 this past week after a very impressive showing, sweeping previously ranked Michigan and also taking a midweek contest against still-ranked Florida Atlantic. However, Minnesota has the edge in the conference standings and therefore were welcomed to the rankings for the first time this year.

Whoever wins this series may have that honor come Monday, as it’s the Gophers’ spot to lose currently. The Buckeyes’ offense has a new look now that center fielder Troy Montgomery, who is hitting only .255 this year, was dropped to the five-spot and third baseman Nick Sergakis was inserted as the team’s new leadoff hitter. Sergakis responded by going 6-for-14 (.429) in those four games setting the tone at the top of the order, one that includes a pair of big boppers in left fielder Ronnie Dawson and Jacob Bosiokovic, who have 10 and 11 home runs respectively.

And while the Buckeyes don’t have a standout on their pitching staff they have a quartet of productive bullpen arms that have been getting the job done all spring. Their pitching staff also has quite a few lefthanders, including ace Tanner Tully, which could go a long way in neutralizing a predominantly lefthanded Minnesota lineup.


National Notes

• The Patriot League’s Nos. 1 and 2 seeds – Navy and Holy Cross – advanced from last weekend’s conference semifinal bouts to play one another this weekend for the league title, and an automatic bid in the postseason. Navy (40-13-1) is a well-balanced ballclub that can beat you in a variety of ways, although it’s their pitching staff, led by lefthanded ace Luke Gillingham, that receives most of the accolades. Holy Cross (29-25) doesn’t stack up as well on paper, however they did split their four-game series in early April. The teams will play a best-of-three series, in Annapolis, starting on Saturday and continuing through Monday, if needed.

• The MEAC Baseball Championship will have started by the time this preview hits the site, with a noon, eastern, start time in Salisbury, Md. Norfolk State and Florida A&M are the No. 1 seeds in the Northern and Southern Divisions respectively with the championship concluding on Sunday. Both Norfolk State and Florida A&M enter the tournament tied with 19-5 conference records, although Florida A&M has the slight edge overall with a 30-19 mark. However, the records won’t mean a thing in a one-bid conference.

• The SWAC Baseball Tournament got underway on Wednesday with a similar bracket style of play. Alabama State and Arkansas-Pine Bluff entered the tournament as the No. 1 seeds in the West and East divisions respectively, with the overall winner being crowned on Sunday with an automatic bid to the NCAA college baseball tournament.

• One other series of interest this weekend will see Creighton, who have lost five of their last seven games, traveling to New York to play St. John’s. The Bluejays pitching staff hasn’t been as stout as it was for most of the year, recently giving up 15 runs to the Cornhuskers on Tuesday as part of a midweek doubleheader against nearby foes Nebraska and Nebraska-Omaha at TD Ameritrade Park. St. John’s hasn’t been particularly strong down the stretch either, as they have lost three of their last four weekend series. However, the Johnnies trail Creighton by three games in the Big East standings and could pull even with a sweep. Xavier, currently tied with Creighton in the conference with an 11-4 record, could benefit from the results as they stay at home to host Villanova.

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