Rippee Writes: Thursday Scoop
LSU Preview, Magnolia State Golf Update, SEC Picks, Brakefield transfer
Happy Thursday to all. If you were expecting a newsletter yesterday, apologies for the letdown. I sat down yesterday morning with full intent on sending one out, but my day job came calling early and did not relent. We will make up for it with a jam-packed one today.
We’ve got two new podcasts out. The first is SkyBox Sports Picks NASCAR guru mark explains the sport to me like I am four years old. If you like and follow NASCAR, you’ll probably find this funny and the wagering side of in terms of his handicapping method interesting. If you don’t follow NASCAR and want to learn, hopefully you can pick up something through the slew of idiotic questions I asked. Check it out here or Spotify.
We also have our usual baseball series preview with Collin Brister. It was a bit of an impromptu show and we are exploring the idea of doing a live feed tonight during the came. More on that later. Check it out here or Spotify.
A ton to get to today. Let’s go.
A reeling LSU club arrived in Oxford last night
The Rebels begin their weekend series with a 4-11 LSU club tonight at 7 p.m. Ole Miss would do well to sweep the Tigers if it wishes to remain in good position with regard to a national seed. Here’s an LSU scout.
LSU is pretty toothless in its rotation beyond ace Landon Marceaux. If the Rebels can get by him with a win tonight, they ought to feel good about their chances of getting three. Marceaux is your typical Friday night SEC horse. He’s got a mid 90s fastball with a hammer of a breaking ball, good feel for a changeup and a slider he’s developed since arriving in Baton Rouge. The right-hander has a 1.65 ERA and a 0.88 WHIP with 67 strikeouts and 10 walks on the year. He’s a tough cookie to solve and the only line of defense on the mound for a team that is quite literally searching for arms.
I told you I meant literally, didn’t I? Does that sound like a club with postseason aspirations? Imagine the public uproar if Mike Bianco got to the point where he felt it was newsworthy to shake up the travel roster and bring a few pitchers along just to test things out. It’s been a rough year for Paul Mainieri and this LSU club.
LSU’s offense is centered around three guys: freshman Dylan Crew, sophomore Cade Doughty and junior Gavin Dugas. The trio has combined for 38 of the club’s 54 home runs and is the primary punch this lineup offers. Cade Beloso has struggled this year, but is an experienced hitter that can hurt you and freshman Tre ‘ Morgan has good numbers, but the bulk of his work has been done against inferior non-conference opponents. The read here is simple. LSU hits it over the fence a lot, strikes out a lot and struggles to string together quality at-bats. If Gunnar Hoglund, Doug Nikhazy and Drew McDaniel avoid egregious mistakes, the Tigers are going to have a hard time scoring runs until the starter exits the game.
Drew Bianco is drawing a start at second base for LSU Thursday night. He’s struggled at the plate year and has just nine previous starts. Regardless of your opinion on Mike, Drew going to LSU and everything that goes with that, this has to be a pretty cool moment for this kid. He gets to play a collegiate game in the stadium his father essentially built. I spoke to Drew and Mike three years ago for a story on this and enjoyed both their perspectives. He seems like a good kid. I am happy for him. Now, for the real fun. Mike, if you’re reading this, a steady dose of chin music to start would make the message boards light up. Make it happen.
Rolling with the same deal for subscribers for now: a 16 oz. prime strip for $10. I’ll check about switching it up later this week, but go see Greg at LBs. He will hook you up with some delightful meats to throw on the grill.
What to watch for with Ole Miss
Like I said at the top of the LSU scout, Thursday’s game is huge. Marceaux is really damn good, but if the Rebels can get a win, they have a wide open path to sweeping this series and getting back on track for a national seed and back into the thick of the SEC West race. Arkansas goes to South Carolina and Mississippi State is at Vanderbilt. The opportunity to make up ground is there. Will the Rebels seize it? Here’s what to watch for.
The rubber has to meet the proverbial road with this bullpen. I think we all agree there is an issue and that it could have been fixed AFTER a crucial rubber game with Mississippi State, but here we are. The time is now. Someone in this pen not named Taylor Broadway has to get outs. Bradyn Forsythe looked good in the midweek, Jack Dougherty started the game and looked competent, Brandon Johnson struggled, Jackson Kimbrell pitched well and Derek Diamond looked good finishing it off. I would hope the Josh Mallitz experiment is over. Someone in this aforementioned group, along with Austin Miller, Wes Burton and Tyler Myers has to be good for this team to have a prayer. Here are my Bullpen Trust rankings: 1. Forsythe 2. Myers 3. Kimbrell 4. Miller. 5. Diamond. Now let’s see if any of them figure it out as the Rebels hit a bit of a break in the schedule over the next few weeks.
I am a broken record here, but can Ole Miss cobble together enough run support to actually give Hoglund a lead tonight? The poor kid can’t catch a break. There’s no better time than now because if they do, imagine LSU losing tonight, facing Nikhazy tomorrow and trying to seem excited about heading on Saturday. If Ole Miss gets this one, a sweep is right there for the taking.
So far the lineup has notched close to an A grade in life after Tim Elko. The DH spot continues to be a bit of a mystery but the rest of the lineup seems to have fleshed itself out with Cael Baker’s recent good stretch and the plate and Hayden Leatherwood bashing baseballs a quarter-mile. Does it continue this weekend? I say yes. Ole Miss has proven to hammer bad teams this year. LSU is a bad team.
SEC Picks:
I have all but given up on tallying our record because I am lazy, but here are Collin and me’s picks this weekend. Two indicates a series win and three means a sweep.
Mississippi State at Vandy: Collin - Vandy 2, Rippee - Vandy 2
Arkansas at South Carolina: Collin - USC 2, Rippee - Ark 2
Alabama at Kentucky: Collin - Alabama 2, Rippee - Alabama 3
Florida at Auburn: Collin - Fla 3, Rippee - Fla 2
LSU at Ole Miss: Collin - Ole Miss 3, Rippee - Ole Miss 3
Tennessee at Texas A&M: Collin - UT 2, Rippee UT 2
Georgia at Missouri: Collin - UGA 3, Rippee UGA 3
Speaking of SkyBox, go check them out here. They’re not only crushing NASCAR, but also golf, baseball and NBA picks as well. If you fancy having some skin in the game, these guys are guaranteed to lead you to profit. Use my promo code “Rippee” for 20 percent off any package you purchase. It’s well worth the money and they have a package that will fit your price range.
Magnolia State Golf Update:
The Ole Miss and Mississippi State Men’s golf teams are at Sea Island this week. Stroke play action got started yesterday. Both clubs had a brutal day. Ole Miss is in last at +19 and State is second to last at +11. You can follow the scoring here, hopefully one of thems gets back into and gets into the match play.
Shoutout to the Mississippi State Women’s team for making it to the SEC Championship finals against Auburn last week. The Bulldogs knocked out the Rebels in the quarterfinals. Strong showing for both teams.
The PGA Tour is at in New Orleans at The Zurich this week. No Missisippians in the field to my knowledge, but as I always say, one day soon there will be a ton to cover in this space. Cheers to that.
The Korn Ferry Tour is quite literally across the street from my apartment this week. The Tour’s Arlington stop is at The Texas Rangers Golf Club. It’s a cool course with an incredible new clubhouse. They switched the two sets of nines up this week so that new building and the grandstands can be the backdrop for the finishing hole (normally No. 9, but No. 18 this week). The fivesome of usual suspects are in the field.
Tupelo native and Mizzou alum Hayden Buckley tees off at 7:15 this morning and 12:15 Friday. A bit of breaking news here: I texted Buckley that I needed him to make the cut for the sake of my weekend plans because I couldn’t get off work today or tomorrow. He was able to confirm to me that is in fact his goal. I feel like a reporter again with these scoops. Anyway, Buckley is 29th in the standings and looking to regain the form that led him to a win in February. He’s still in good shape to hop inside that top 25 and earn a Tour card
Ole Miss alum Braden Thornberry tees off at 1:25 this afternoon and 8:25 tomorrow morning. Thornberry is at 43rd in the standings and continues to inch up toward that top 25. He is one great week away from being in the driver’s seat for a Tour card.
Tupelo native and Mississippi State alum Chad Ramey tees off at 7:25 this morning and 12:25 tomorrow. Ramey’s stretch of golf over the last 16 months is nothing short of remarkable. He is a top-10 machine and sits at 8th in the standings despite not having a win. Ramey is well in line to realize his PGA Tour dream.
Brandon native and Ole Miss alum Jonathan Randolph tees off at 7:15 this morning and 12:25 tomorrow. He sits at 100th in the standings and needs to find something here as the summer approaches if he wants to have a shot at cracking the top 25, making the Korn Ferry Finals, or improving his status on this tour next year at the least.
Hattiesburg native and Alabama alum Davis Riley tees off at 12:45 this afternoon and 7:45 tomorrow morning. Like Ramey, Riley should already be on Tour and was penalized by the wraparound season due to the pandemic. For now, he bides his time as he sits 5th in the standings and essentially a lock to get a card.
Ole Miss hoops adds Brakefield:
Ole Miss landed Duke transfer Jaemyn Brakefield on Tuesday. The Rebels were in the mix for the Jackson native out of high school, but lost out to a blue blood program. At 6-foot-8, 215 lbs, Brakefield offers a versatile frontcourt option for Kermit Davis and the Rebels. He averaged just three points and a couple of rebounds per game in 13 minutes a night at Duke. I don’t make a ton from his time there. The Blue Devils were a stagnant mess offensively and he fell behind in the pecking order early on in the year. I don’t know what to make of this year, other than it is certainly a good thing for Ole Miss. I would venture to say Davis will find a better way to utilize this talented prospect. What that looks like now, I am not sure.
On the Horizon:
Friday newsletter with a Grove Bowl preview
Some sort of reaction podcast from the baseball game and a look at the spring game
A live show from Collin and me tonight during the baseball game. Still working out details, will update on social media.
That’s all from me today. Thanks for reading and being a loyal subscriber. Forward to your friends and tell them to join the fun. Back tomorrow with more. Have a great Thursday.