Settling in at Swayze Field. Can’t see any water in the outfield. The rain fell on me until about Pontotoc, and I saw a peek of sunshine when I got into Lafayette County.
I’ll be on Miss98 FM with Matt Wyatt at 6 p.m.
I’ll post game updates under the comments below. Leave a question, and I’ll do my best to provide an answer that will be accurate or will at least sound accurate.
– PA
Things aren’t all great when you’re 4-9 in the SEC. As Andy Kennedy has tried different things with his lineup, so is Alabama coach Mark Gottfried, blogs Huntsville’s Paul Gattis. When the Crimson Tide visits Ole Miss Saturday, the Rebels may see less of athletic 6-6 forward Alonzo Gee than they saw in Tuscaloosa.
Gee is the Tide’s second-leading scorer and rebounder, but he saw his minutes take a hit in the Tide’s 59-56 home win over Arkansas on Wednesday. They were replaced by a freshman.
Matt, you got an opinion on this from over there in Crimson Country?
– PA
Sure you do. It’s Larry Bird, and he’s featured prominently on the school’s web site. Never seen one player mean as much to one basketball team as Bird did for Indiana State in 1979.
Anyway, Bird probably won’t be in Oxford today when the Sycamores and Ole Miss play baseball at 6:30.
ISU is 1-2 after losing twice at South Florida. All three games were decided by two runs or less. ISU won 6-4 on Sunday.
The Sycamores were 26-26 last year and were picked eighth in the Missouri Valley Conference this season.
In all likelihood the Rebels will be 8-0 going into next week when they will be challenged more. They’ve got Southern Miss on Tuesday, then three games at TCU.
With all the talk of depth on this year’s team it’s been good to see some of the newcomers come up big in the early going. Sean Stuyverson, Michael Guerrero and Michael Hubbard are all hitting better than .400 with at least 12 at-bats.
I’ll be covering tonight’s game, and I’ll have some blog updates from Swayze.
– PA
A broken hand could cause Vanderbilt All-American Pedro Alvarez to miss the Ole Miss series if initial guesses about his time on the shelf prove to be correct. Sounds like Vandy’s got some depth behind him, but it never helps to lose a two-time All-American and the No. 1 prospect in the 2008 draft. Ole Miss plays Vanderbilt April 4-6 in Oxford in a meeting of the two projected division winners.
– PA
Given the current state of affairs with a four-way tie in the West, the Rebels, losing the tie-breakers, would be the West No. 6 seed.
My only goal here is to stay out of the West No. 3 spot. Anything else will do. The West No. 3 plays the 8:45 game on Thursday, and that game never begins before 9:20.
That just isn’t newspaper friendly.
– PA
SEC Tourney Seeds as of 2/28
East Games Remaining
1. Tennessee UK, @Fla., SC
2. Kentucky @UT, @SC, Fla
3. Vanderbilt @Ark, MS, @Ala.
4. Florida MS, UT, @UK
5. South Carolina @Auburn, UK, @UT
6. Georgia @LSU, @Auburn, Ole Miss
West Games Remaining
1. Miss. State @UF, @Vandy, LSU
2. Arkansas Vanderbilt, @Ole Miss, Auburn
3. Alabama @Ole Miss, @LSU, Vandy
4. Auburn SC, Georgia, @Arkansas
5. LSU Georgia, Alabama, @MS
6. Ole Miss Alabama, Arkansas, @Georgia
As Ole Miss works to push the ball up the floor against Alabama Saturday, the Crimson Tide will be working to do just the opposite.
Tipoff at Tad Smith Coliseum is 1 p.m.
The slow down game was effective for Alabama in its 59-56 home win over Arkansas last night.
“We wanted to slow it down. We’ve had games where we haven’t had as much success pushing it up as we would like,” Alabama coach Mark Gottfried said. “I don’t know if it frustrated them, but it helped us. We need to have good possessions running our offense. They’re so good at the fastbreak, with (Sonny) Weems and (Patrick) Beverley and even their bigs shooting it. We ended up winning the game, so you feel like you did something right.”
A faster tempo in the second half was what allowed Ole Miss to climb back into the game against Kentucky. The Rebels were able to get a transition game going and had a chance to win at the end.
Like Ole Miss, Alabama is winless in SEC road games.
The only other team that has yet to win an SEC road game is Georgia.
– PA
If Ole Miss wins only its remaining home games against Alabama and Arkansas it will finish 6-10 in the SEC.
To have a chance to win last night in Lexington was quite impressive given the effort at the beginning. This team is unable to overcome its dead periods on the road. The only remaining road game is at Georgia. Comebacks like last night mean you can’t write off the Rebels on the road, but the periods with lackluster energy are too many to predict victory.
LSU was 5-11 in the SEC last year and did not make the NIT. It was the first year for the NIT under the ownership of the NCAA, and the NCAA worked successfully to make it a harder, more respectable bid to earn.
Wins against Arkansas and Alabama at home would give the Rebels 20 wins for the season to go along with the conference record.
It’s not about the NCAA anymore, it’s about the NIT. A chance for postseason hangs on winning at home.
– PA
Freshman Drew Pomeranz and four relievers gave up some walks but combined to limit Northwestern State to five hits and one run in a 14-1 victory. Six Ole Miss players had multiple-hit games, led by left fielder Logan Power who was 3-for-5 and homered twice. Northwestern State aided the cause with five errors.
– PA
Will he be the “offensive coordinator of the year” in 2008? Ole Miss fans can hope. But today Kent Austin is Coach of the Year in the Canadian Football League.
– PA
These guys were a little slow on the draw, but here are two more national pitcher of the week honors for Lance Lynn following his 12-strikeout, five-inning win over Minnesota. Lynn fanned the first eight he faced, and the Gophers really didn’t get any hard foul ball swings against him.
– PA
OXFORD – Junior right-hander Lance Lynn continued to receive national accolades following his season opening performance as he was named the National Pitcher of the Week by both the National Collegiate Baseball Writers and InsidePitching.com, the organizations announced on Tuesday.
With his selection by the NCBWA, Lynn is now a candidate for the Clemens Award, honoring the nation’s top pitcher.
Lynn opened the season for the Rebels in dominant style as he tied a career-high 12 strikeouts in 5.0 innings of work against Minnesota on February 22. Lynn struck out the first eight batters of the game and allowed only two hits in his time on the mound as he held the Golden Gophers scoreless.
It is the second National Pitcher of the Week selection for Lynn by the NCBWA. As a sophomore, Lynn was named the NCBWA Pitcher of the Week following a dominant performance at then No. 1 Vanderbilt that saw Lynn hold the Commodores one hit and an unearned run in 8.0 innings of work.
– Ole Miss media relations
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