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Leading Off
Whew. That was some week. Let’s have a look...
Week in Review
| Team | W | L | RS | RA | Diff. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | RS | RA | Diff. |
| Alabama | 2 | 2 | 17 | 12 | 5 |
| Arkansas | 0 | 3 | 2 | 20 | -18 |
| Auburn | 4 | 0 | 25 | 12 | 13 |
| Florida | 4 | 1 | 35 | 10 | 25 |
| Georgia | 1 | 3 | 20 | 24 | -4 |
| Kentucky | 2 | 2 | 4 | 12 | -8 |
| LSU | 4 | 0 | 21 | 4 | 17 |
| Missouri | 2 | 1 | 9 | 12 | -3 |
| Ole Miss | 2 | 2 | 15 | 7 | 8 |
| Mississippi State | 2 | 3 | 14 | 14 | 0 |
| South Carolina | 1 | 2 | 10 | 21 | -11 |
| Tennessee | 5 | 0 | 42 | 7 | 35 |
| Texas A&M | 3 | 0 | 26 | 3 | 23 |
So, Tennessee certainly made their presence felt didn’t they? The red-hot Vols went 5-0 this past week, outscoring their opponents 42-7 (!) in their five games played. At 31-5, the Vols are also 6-3 in the SEC, tied with Auburn for fifth place in the conference. They didn’t play league games this week, but that doesn’t make their accomplishments any less encouraging. They’ve won their last 10games in a row dating back to March 19 and are 12-2 in their last 14 and 18-3 in their last 21. Needless to say, you’re going to want to keep your eye on UT going forward especially if they’re going to dumptruck their opponents in this kind of fashion.
Also posting unbeaten records his week were Auburn, Texas A&M and LSU. Auburn kicked off their week with a 1-0 victory over Florida and proceeded to take down the Georgia Bulldogs, collecting a three-game weekend sweep. The Tigers dismissed the 16th-ranked ‘Dawgs with relative ease, outscoring them 24-12 thanks in part to a 13-4 win on Saturday. Their other games may’ve been a bit tighter, but Auburn still managed to find a way to win ‘em. Auburn’s now 10-2 in their last 12 games dating back to March 12 and 19-3 dating back to March 2.
Texas A&M played just three games this week, but made the most of them as they posted victories in all of them. Their Sunday outing against South Carolina was most impressive as the Aggies blew them out, winning 16-0 (!) in five innings. The Ags certainly showed why they’re the 5th-ranked team in the country this week and will look to continue that trend going forward.
Finally, LSU kept their hot streak going with a successful 4-0 week. The Bayou Bengals took down UL Monroe on Tuesday before sweeping the Mississippi State Bulldogs over the weekend. The Tigers’ dominance showed itself in the run differential column, as they outscored their opponents 21-4 in the four outings including a 1-0 shutout of Mississippi State on Saturday. LSU is third right now in the SEC at 7-2, trailing Florida and Texas A&M. There’s plenty of time still for them to make a move and one should expect them to if they’re going to play like this.
They may’ve taken a loss to Auburn but the Florida Gators were still terrific. The Gators were +25 in their five games this week, scoring 35 runs while allowing only 10. They went 4-1 with wins over Bethune-Cookman as well as a three-game sweep of the 24th-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks. It was a dominant effort for Florida as they outscored the Hogs 20-2 in a series that included an 8-0 shutout that was posted on Saturday. Florida remains one of the top teams in the country and they showed exactly why even if they did have a blemish on an otherwise terrific week.
Then there’s Mizzou, who went 2-1 this week with a series win over 9th-ranked Alabama. They opened the series with a 2-0 shutout victory on Friday, and after losing 9-3 on Saturday, they escaped with a 4-3 win on Sunday. These were the Tigers’ only games this week as a series at Wichita State was postponed until May.
No one else in the SEC was able to maintain a record of over .500 this week. Several were right on the line as Alabama, Kentucky and Ole Miss all went 2-2. Mississippi State went 2-3 this past week, while Georgia posted a 1-3 record with South Carolina not too far behind at 1-2. The only team to go winless this week was Arkansas as the Razorbacks were 0-3 after being swept by aforementioned Florida.
On Deck
No games will be played on Monday, so the week will start on Tuesday when Tennessee faces Eastern Kentucky and when Ole Miss plays Central Arkansas. The action shifts over to Wednesday with a loaded slate as nine teams will be in action. Arkansas-Oklahoma is the best matchup of the day as it will pit the 12th and 24th-ranked teams in the country against each other.
No games will be going down on Thursday but Friday will bring more action aboard. Kentucky and Tennessee begin a series against each other, as do LSU and Alabama, Arkansas and Missouri, Auburn and Ole Miss and Mississippi State and South Carolina. Texas A&M will face former Big 12 rival Oklahoma State in the lone nonconference series of the weekend. On Saturday, the slate widens a bit as Florida faces off with Georgia.