Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

The final weekend of the SEC baseball season is set up to be a wild one. All six teams in the SEC West are still in the hunt for the four remaining SEC Tournament bids. The SEC East’s Vanderbilt, South Carolina, Florida and Georgia have locked up bids but the SEC East crown is still up for grabs. The only teams without anything to play for other than being the spoiler are Kentucky and Tennessee.

Given all the scenarios and matchups this weekend, the ebb and flow of who is in, who is out and even who will win the SEC divisions could change daily. Even Georgia (27-26, 15-12), who can’t win the SEC East, has to finish above .500 to be NCAA tournament eligible. This perfect storm should make for an exciting weekend of college baseball, and the No. 18 Arkansas Razorbacks (34-17, 13-14) are right in the thick of things.

The Ole Miss Rebels (29-23, 12-15) visit Baum Stadium starting with tonight’s 6:35 ballgame. The Rebels currently sit in fifth place in the SEC West, but are only one game out of first place due to the four-way tie at the top. Coach Mike Bianco’s squad isn’t as strong as they have been in recent years, especially on the mound. The Rebels' 4.29 team ERA is a tad high in this new “dead” bat era, and they lack dominant starting pitching which is uncharacteristic for a Bianco ballclub. Despite the Ole Miss pitching struggles, Razorback fans shouldn’t mark this series as automatic since Ole Miss owns an 8-1 record in its last three trips to Fayetteville.

The Rebels will send LHP Matt Crouse (6-4, 3.56 ERA) to the mound tonight against Hog ace DJ Baxendale (8-1, 1.57 ERA). Baxendale has emerged as one of the top pitchers not only in the SEC but in the country. The Razorback sophomore owns premier wins over three top-five teams in Vanderbilt, Florida and South Carolina. The Hogs need another big time, clutch performance from Baxendale tonight to secure that first win in the series and ease the pressure for the remaining two games. Expect Crouse to be around the plate as he has only walked 17 in 83+ innings of work.

Saturday’s 6 p.m. game (which will be televised on CSS and Cox Sports Television) will feature Razorback LHP Randall Fant (2-3, 3.58 ERA) versus Rebel RHP David Goforth (4-7, 5.03). Fant wasn’t sharp in his last start against South Carolina and will have to improve if he figures to be around long come Friday. Fant fell in love with his breaking ball early in the game, especially against the Gamecock lefties, and he consistently pitched from behind in the count. Goforth has won three of his last five starts but dropped a decision last weekend to rival Mississippi State.

Arkansas has not named a Saturday starter as sophomore Cade Lynch (4-3, 2.75 ERA) was shaky against South Carolina in his last start and no one else has stepped forward to claim that spot in the rotation. Lynch has not been able to establish a consistent off-speed pitch and control of the zone with the fastball. Every inning seems to be like walking a tightrope with base runners a'plenty and the Hogs can’t afford that this weekend.

Freshman Ryne Stanek (2-2, 4.40) and his big time fastball threw well against South Carolina in relief of Fant despite giving up the game winning home run in the bottom of the ninth. Stanek may be a candidate for the Saturday series finale. Ole Miss will start LHP Austin Wright (5-4, 4.73 ERA) who is coming off a 10 strikeout win over Mississippi State in his last outing.

Neither team has a lockdown closer as Hog freshman Nolan Sanburn (2-4, 8 saves, 3.73 ERA ) has faltered as of late. Trent Daniel (2-0, 2 saves, 1.91 ERA) did an outstanding job in the Friday win last weekend and will likely be the go-to guy with the game on the line late. Ole Miss has three relievers with four or more saves so they will go with matchups and who has the hot hand. It's easy to imagine that with everything on the line, these games will be tight at the end. The bullpen that steps up and handles business should fare well this weekend.

The Ole Miss offense is led by Alex Yarbrough (.351, 7 HR, 38 RBI), Tanner Mathis (.343) and Matt Snyder (.324, 7 HR, 30 RBI). The Rebels are hitting .285 as a team which ranks eighth in the SEC. The Rebels don’t steal many bases (42 compared to the Hogs’ SEC leading 104) and they don’t move runners often with the sacrifice bunt. They still like the long ball as the Rebels are third in the SEC in home runs with 43. The Rebels are 23-5 when they score first so it will be important for the Razorback pitchers to be sharp early and make Ole Miss earn their way around the bases.

Razorback freshman Dominic Ficociello (.363, 4 HR, 47 RBI) continues to produce and his success was recognized this week with a roster spot on the USA Junior National team along with Baxendale. The prestigious honor will put the two Hogs on an elite team of college players who will play a series of games across the country this summer with a series finale against Japan in Durham, NC. Ficociello currently has a 12-game hitting streak and has hit a scorching .447 with 13 RBI in his last ten games.

The team that shows the maturity to focus between the lines at Baum Stadium and not what is going on in the other SEC ballparks will likely end up winning the series. Ole Miss starts three seniors compared to Arkansas’ one and generally has a more veteran team, especially on the mound. The Hogs will rely heavily on the leadership from juniors James McCann (.312, 6 HR), Collin Kuhn (.265, 4 HR, 32 RBI, 19 SB), James McKinney (.293, 8 SB) and Bo Bigham (.291, 17 SB). All four have been through the conference battles, NCAA regionals and the College World Series.

The key for Arkansas will be another starting pitcher stepping up behind Baxendale. Winning Friday night is great and the Hogs have done that frequently in 2011. The Razorbacks are 7-2 on Friday night, 7-13 on Saturday and Sunday. Fant, Lynch or Stanek will have to produce better than they have if the Razorbacks hope to win this series and do any damage in the post season.