Rippee Writes: Monday Scoop
Ole Miss drops series to Arkansas, State sweeps, Matsuyama wins at Augusta
Happy Monday. We’ve got a new podcast out with Collin Brister on all things Ole Miss-Arkansas. You can check it out here or anywhere you get your podcasts. We’ve got golf, baseball and more to dive into today.
Let’s go.
Ole Miss loses series to Arkansas
The Rebels dropped two of three over the weekend to the Razorbacks, including a game three that felt like an entire series on its own. The lineup was quite good in its first chapters of life without Tim Elko but the bullpen dropped the ball. I don’t think this series kills Ole Miss by any means and it is certainly still in the thick of things in terms of the SEC West race. Sure, it would have been nice to hold on to an early lead in game one or make good of a remarkable comeback on Sunday, but the Rebels learned some things about themselves and will live to play another day. Some thoughts:
Not a huge ‘blame the umpire’ guy but it is worth mentioning it had an effect on how the weekend played out. Gunnar Hoglund was dealing through five innings, ran into some trouble in the sixth inning and was quickly ousted from the game. I thought he got squeezed on several pitches, which caused the situation to escalate quickly and eventually led to three runs. Ole Miss could have and should have been better out of the bullpen, but Hoglund compiling a season-high in walks, after the way he looked for the four of the first innings, in what tied for his shortest outing of the season makes little sense to me. Oh, and Sunday spoke for itself in terms of just how bad the man behind home plate was.
With that said, Ole Miss was horrific out of the bullpen on the weekend and I didn’t think the way the unit was managed helped the cause. Drew McDaniel faced more SWAC hitters than SEC hitters this week and him throwing 66 pitches on Tuesday against Alcorn State affected the way he was used. I would argue he would have been most effective coming on in relief of Hoglund with a 3-1 lead to try to get the game to Taylor Broadway. But I feel like I am talking out of both sides of my mouth because I have repeatedly stated him being used as a bridge guy isn’t the best fit. In fairness, I would have started him on Sunday, and since he didn’t, helping preserve a lead in the opening game seems like a wise way to use him, though I understand Bianco trying to get someone else to get three more outs to get to Broadway so McDaniel can go in the second game. Regardless, Ole Miss was pretty brutal behind Broadway and the 19 free passes on Sunday are hard to overcome.
Derek Diamond (presumably) got one last crack at remaining the No. 3 starter and it did not go well. He collected just four outs and exited with Ole Miss in a 5-0 hole early in the game. I am not exactly sure what the issue is with Diamond, but the results are clear enough at this point to definitively argue that he cannot offer enough consistency to give the Rebels their best chance to win in the finale. The length in his starts against Auburn and Alabama were a little bit of fools gold and masked the fact that the same deficiencies with command and location still remain. The number of home runs given up and the lack of swings-and-misses generated are evidence of that. The team needs Diamond in some significant role and his velocity would translate well to short relief work, but it is time to give McDaniel a shot at being a weekend starter again.
The offense did its part in trying to replace Elko. One thru five in the lineup hit .431 on the weekend. Kevin Graham was 5-13 with a HR, Peyton Chataginer was 7-15 and drove in four runs in the finale, Jacob Gonzalez was 5-15 with a pair of multi-hit games, Justin Bench went 8-14, drove in four runs and had a mammoth home run Sunday, and Hayden Dunhurst was 8-15 with 7 RBI.
You get the picture. The top was as productive as possible. Throw in another productive weekend from Hayden Leatherwood and you’ve still got a pretty sturdy core if Leatherwood’s .323 average and .916 OPS in SEC play can hold up. Him having two productive weekends in a row at the plate is a significant development.
So, with that said, how does Ole Miss fill the remaining three spots? Cael Baker and Trey LaFleur had a rough weekend. Ben Van Cleve notched an important hit on Sunday and drove in a run in each of the last two games, but the overall sample size is still not great. He’s yet to homer in a D1 game. Calvin Harris has his hands full with right-handed pitching, let alone the coaching staff’s clear hesitancy to bat him versus lefties. Harris played first base on Sunday, the first time he’s played the field all year due to an elbow injury. That helps a little in terms of flexibility. Basically, Ole Miss needs to continue to tweak the lineup to find the three best out of that group of five — or insert John Rhys Plumlee into the outfield and move Leatherwood to DH (or left field with Graham at first). There are options. The question is how many are good ones?
If you needed another piece of evidence about the resolve of this team, the Rebels’ comeback from down 11 runs is nothing short of remarkable and a testament to just how good and how tough this group is. Nothing went right for the first three innings in a week in which they lost their best hitter, and yet there was never a sense they mailed it in. Sure, it didn’t end up working out the way Ole Miss wanted to. The bullpen has issues. But there is something to be said for never being out of a fight and that group showed just that on Sunday.
Last thing on the bullpen. I think it’s more of a finding the right pieces thing rather than searching to see if the pieces exist. Braden Forsyth had another good outing that was lost in the insanity that was the Sunday defeat. Wes Burton showed he can get meaningful outs on the weekend and I still am an Austin Miller believer. It’s just a matter of slotting these guys in the correct roles. Moving McDaniel to the rotation would help provide clarity elsewhere. All is not lost, but it was not a great weekend for the pen.
Bianco getting tossed for the first time since 2014, over balls and strikes, in the fifth inning of a regular-season game with real implication, tells you all you need to know about the quality of umpiring this weekend. That was brewing for two days and was not caused by Sunday’s ineptitude alone.
Ole Miss is still in the thick of the West race. The Rebels are 8-4 and still in fine shape. This weekend in Starkville is huge, but for now, they still ought to like where they sit. Those were two Omaha-caliber teams on the field this past weekend, Arkansas simply issued the knockout blow and was the last one standing in the ring.
We are starting this week with the 16 oz prime strip for $10 bucks for all subscriberss, per Greg himself. Only one per subscriber (or store trip), but go check out everything else they have to offer. It’s the best place in the state to get meat. You know the drill. Show your sign up email or the original promo code. More from Greg soon.
Around the SEC
Tennessee took 2 of 3 from Florida - Tennessee is good and the Vols go to Nashville next weekend. Sign me up for that match-up. Florida has pitching issues and I think this team frustrates head coach Kevin O’Sullivan
Mississippi State swept Auburn - Back-to-back sweeps have the Bulldogs back in the thick of things as they sit just one game back of Arkansas and tied with Ole Miss in theWest standings. Credit to MSU for rebounding from being swept at home by Arkansas. I think we all knew they had enough talent to be a factor until the end, and one weekend didn’t sway that opinion.
South Carolina took 2 of 3 from Mizzou - If you don’t sweep the Tigers, you feel like you left something out there. South Carolina is 8-4 and has a puncher’s chance of hosting, but I can’t help but wonder if letting one slip here will bite them later on. Mizzou somehow has four league wins. That is kind of remarkable if you’ve watched them play.
Alabama swept A&M on the road - Time may be ticking away for Rob Childress in College Station. These Aggies are not dominant on the mound and don’t hit. That’s a problem. As for Alabama, I think anyone who watched Ole Miss play the Tide knew this team was better than its record. Alabama is 5-7 in league play with Auburn, Missouri and Kentucky upcoming, and get first-round pick Connor Prielipp back sometime in the next two weeks. Look for them to go on a run. The Tide are a regional team in my opinion.
LSU took 2 of 3 from Kentucky - Kentucky was fraudulent. LSU stopped the bleeding but still has a litany of issues to resolve.
Georgia took 2 of 3 from Vanderbilt - The Bulldogs had a pair of convincing wins in a weekend that may be the upset of the year. UGA’s offense was quite impressive. I am not worried about Vanderbilt, but this does show Kumar Rocker is beatable and Sunday is up for grabs when playing the Commodores.
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Matsuyama wins Masters
Hideki Matsuyama outlasted a field that faltered around him to become Japan’s first-ever Major Champion. His Saturday back nine — and really the final eight holes after a short rain delay — will go down as one of the greatest stretches in Masters history as he torched the softened course to the tune of 6-under par over the final eight.
The finish on Sunday flirted with being compelling for about 20 minutes there on the back nine when Matsuyama flew the 15th and Xander Schauffele made birdie, but Schauffele’s eight iron in the water at 16 essentially sealed the tournament for Matsuyama. Despite the lack of drama down the stretch, it was a pretty cool scene watching Matsuyama soak in the moment. He certainly earned it with the way he played for four days.
He’s 29 years old and has played in 10 of these things. That is insane to think about. Congrats to him on one hell of a week. He is a star and I bet this is not his last one.
On the horizon
a week of newsletters with baseball, golf, spring football and whatever else arrises
More LBs deals with Greg and a grill corner segment for the Friday podcast
Mississippi State series preview
Magnolia State Golf update
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