One question for every SEC baseball series this weekend as conference play begins

In the blink of an eye, college baseball is already beginning conference play. The first of 10 weekends of SEC action will get underway on Friday as the road to Hoover kicks into another gear.

Much of the top conference in the nation is looking good through the first four weeks of the season. LSU, Tennessee, Arkansas and Georgia are the top four teams in the updated D1Baseball Top 25, while No. 7 Florida, No. 11 Texas, No. 12 Oklahoma, No. 13 Ole Miss, No. 16 Vanderbilt, No. 17 Alabama, No. 19 Texas A&M and No. 25 Auburn are all also among the nation’s top programs to date. That’s 12 of the 16 teams in the conference.

Losses will begin to pile up for some, however, given the nature of the beast that is playing an SEC schedule. Tennessee is the lone undefeated team left in the nation, but Florida comes to Knoxville looking to change that in the biggest series of the weekend. Texas A&M looks to get right at home against red-hot Alabama, while Ole Miss gets Arkansas in Oxford. Both Texas and Oklahoma begin their SEC journeys on the road.

Looking at the eight series on deck, there’s plenty of interesting storylines to follow. Here’s something to watch in each matchup.

Florida vs. Tennessee: Will the Gators’ pitching hold up?

Tennessee is off to its best start in program history at 17-0 and is now the lone undefeated team in the nation after Florida defeated Florida State on Tuesday night. Can the Gators, now 16-2, remove a second zero from a loss column this week?

Friday night’s matchup between the two elite programs will be appointment television, as two of the top arms in college baseball will square off. Tennessee left-hander Liam Doyle (3-0, 0.44 ERA) has looked nearly untouchable through his first four starts, allowing just one run on six hits, striking out 47 while walking five in 20-and-a-third innings. Florida counters with right-hander Liam Peterson (4-0, 0.86), a 6-foot-5 sophomore who’s allowed just two runs in 21 innings, fanning 34 while walking six.

Behind Peterson, how will UF pitching fare against an offense that’s slashing .340/.485/.690 and has hit the most home runs (50) of any team in the country? With designated hitter Levi Clark, second baseman Gavin Kilen and shortstop Dean Curley among the seven every-day players currently carrying an OPS over 1.000 for the Vols, there’s danger throughout the entire Tennessee lineup.

Freshman righty Aidan King (3-0, 0.55) slotted into the rotation last week in place of LHP Pierce Coppola and already looks capable of succeeding in a weekend spot, while RHP Jake Clemente (1-0, 3.86) is holding opponents to a .128 average. The Gators’ team ERA of 3.14 is 13th in the nation, but maneuvering through a weekend against a powerful lineup in a hitter-friendly ballpark is never an easy task. Righty Alex Philpott, RHP Luke McNeillie and LHP Frank Menendez were each called upon in a big way against Miami two weekends ago and will likely prove crucial in Lindsey Nelson Stadium this weekend.

On the other side, Tennessee matches its top-notch offense with a team ERA of 1.77, quietly the top mark in the country. A weekend against Florida’s bats (.331/.441/.564) will also be its toughest test to this point. Righty Marcus Phillips (1-0, 1.42) has been nearly on-par with Doyle, while Sundays have been pieced together by RHP Nate Snead and others while RHP AJ Russell works to get back to full strength.

Runs will inevitably come at some point for both teams, but who will limit the damage better?

Alabama vs. Texas A&M: Will the Aggies wake up?

Texas A&M was the consensus preseason No. 1 team in the nation. Alabama entered as a team looking to separate from the middle of the pack in the SEC. In an unexpected twist, it’s the Crimson Tide that heads to College Station with a higher number next to its name this weekend.

Behind superstar shortstop and potential Golden Spikes frontrunner Justin Lebron (.380/.489/.944), the Tide have hit their way to a 17-1 record, scoring nine-plus runs in 14 games. Only Tennessee and VMI have scored more runs than Rob Vaughn’s team. First baseman Will Hodo, center fielder Richie Bonomolo Jr. and left fielder Kade Snell are all hitting over .400 and have started in all 18 games alongside Lebron, who leads the nation in home runs with 11. Bama has the second-highest batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage in the SEC.

It’s been a much different story for Texas A&M. The Aggies enter the weekend with a 10-6 record, highlighted by losing five of six amidst the second and third week of the season. First-year head coach Michael Earley and his staff have faced some early adversity.

A&M has a conference-worst .268 average and .387 OBP. Right fielder Terrence Kiel II (.420), third baseman Wyatt Henseler (.357) and shortstop Kaeden Kent (.310) are the lone Aggies hitting above .300 heading into conference play, where the pitching will only get tougher. Center fielder and preseason National Player of the Year Jace LaViolette is slashing .241/.419/.556 and will need to hit his next gear to help bring his team back to life at the dish.

The early struggles are coupled with the early loss of elite third baseman Gavin Grahovac, who was ruled out for the season due to a shoulder injury after just six games. Henseler has filled the hole at third well, but Grahovac is sorely missed as the lineup continues to lack juice.

The left-handed starting trio of Ryan Prager (2-0, 0.39), Justin Lamkin (1-1, 2.28) and Myles Patton (2-1, 2.28) has been among the best in the SEC, paving the way to a 2.87 team ERA. It’s the bats that have been playing down to competition to this point.

Alabama uses more arms than any other team in the league, presenting a bevy of different looks behind a solid weekend rotation, headed by lefty Zane Adams (3-0, 3.44) and righty Riley Quick (4-0, 1.76). No team needs a better start to SEC play than A&M, but will it wake up in the box behind its home crowd this weekend?

Arkansas vs. Ole Miss: Will the Rebels hang?

Of the eight SEC teams hosting this weekend, Ole Miss is the club with the biggest chance to jut its way into a higher echelon and garner a little more respect out of the gates. Despite the 14-2 record, the Rebels have come across as pedestrian compared to some of their conference counterparts.

Finally healthy, ace lefty Hunter Elliott (3-0, 1.86) looked fantastic through his first three starts before allowing four earned in three-and-a-third innings to Jacksonville State last Friday. Righty Riley Maddox (3-1, 3.44) was roughed up in his first outing against Texas, but has since rebounded with 15 innings of one-run ball. RHP Mason Morris and freshman LHP Walker Hooks have both been nails out of the bullpen. Walks have been the main issue, as 78 free passes are the second most in the SEC.

Ryan Moerman (.397/.486/.857) is playing at an elite level with eight doubles, seven homers and 24 RBIs. Third baseman Luke Hill is hitting .358, while freshman Hayden Federico has been a revelation, hitting .333 in 13 games. Judd Utermark also has seven home runs, but some questions begin to arise the further you get down the lineup.

Everywhere you look with Ole Miss, there’s a lot to like, but there’s also a lack of oomph. What better way to remedy that than by making a statement and winning your first home SEC series of the season against the No. 3 team in the nation?

Arkansas heads to Swayze Field riding high with a 16-1 record, dominating both in the box and on the mound. The Razorbacks are averaging 11 runs across their last 10 games and are allowing just 3.3 runs per game across that same span. One loss through the first 17 games is tied for head coach Dave Van Horn’s best start in Fayetteville.

A majority of the damage has come from three bats: DH Kuhio Aloy (.460/.557/1.000), his brother, shortstop Wehiwa Aloy (.400/.500/.785) and third baseman Brent Iredale (.431/.581/.961). Those three have combined for 71 hits, 20 of which have been homers, and 78 RBIs.

The trio of RHP Gabe Gaeckle (1-0, 6.16), LHP Zach Root (2-0, 2.11) and LHP Landon Beidelschies (3-0, 2.37) has been dynamic, with Gaeckle’s ERA inflated thanks to a nine-run blowup against Charlotte two weeks ago. Righty Gage Wood will also factor back into the weekend once he returns from injury. The Hogs also perhaps have the most defined bullpen in the SEC to this point, even if some of the numbers don’t look as gaudy as other staffs.

Ole Miss feels it has the caliber of roster to hang with the Hogs, but will it look that way when both are on the field together this weekend?

Kentucky vs. Georgia: Will the Bulldogs hit their way to glory?

Georgia has slugged 46 home runs through 20 games, the second-highest mark in the nation, just behind Tennessee. Eight Bulldogs have hit three or more as scoring runs is possible at all times for Wes Johnson’s crew.

That’s been very necessary, too, as the UGA pitching has faltered numerous times to this point. It has a team ERA of 4.37, the second-worst in the SEC. Teams have been able to connect for big innings and build early leads on the Dawgs, but they just haven’t been able to withstand comebacks.

Ryland Zaborowski leads the way with 10 bombs, 36 RBIs and is slashing .442/.561/1.096. Outfielder Robbie Burnett (.362/.598/.914) has nine homers and 27 RBIs, while third baseman Slate Alford, catcher Henry Hunter, outfielder Nolan McCarthy, first baseman Tre Phelps and second baseman Ryan Black are all hitting above .300. There’s no pitching around this lineup, which also ranks second in the SEC in walks at 136.

Those comebacks won’t be anywhere near as easy against SEC competition, though. Scoring runs won’t be as easy, either, as Kentucky brings a team 1.89 ERA to Foley Field this weekend. The Wildcats’ arms have allowed just three homers in 15 games, with RHP Nic McCay (3-0, 0.42) and LHP Ben Cleaver (2-1, 2.11) looking like frontline starters early on.

For UK, it will say hello to some old faces, including McCarthy, who transferred to UGA from Lexington in the offseason, as well as former assistant coaches Will Coggin and Nick Ammirati, both of whom left to join Johnson’s staff in Athens.

The Cats are toward the bottom of the league in most hitting statistics, but they have easily struck out the least, doing so just 83 times so far. Left fielder Cole Hage (.458/.606/.813) is third in the league in average. Freshman star shortstop Tyler Bell, right fielder Shaun Montoya and first baseman Dylan Koontz are all hitting .300 or greater.

Kentucky is far from the most potent offense that the Georgia pitching staff will face this season, but the Cats will serve as a great measuring stick for the Bulldogs. Who will step up in red and black on the mound? Or will the UGA bats continue to render that point moot for the time being?

Around the league

–Texas vs. Mississippi State: Jim Schlossnagle and the Longhorns begin conference play in Starkville and enter with a 14-1 record. Already 5-1 against Power Four competition, Texas has been buoyed by its pitching, with LHP Jared Spencer (2-0, 0.86), LHP Luke Harrison (2-0, 1.53) and RHP Max Grubbs among those excelling thus far. The Longhorns haven’t looked as flashy at the plate as others around the league, but they’ve quietly chugged along to a .310/.418/.542 slash line.

Mississippi State sits at 13-4, and while there’s been some documented problems at the plate and on the mound, the Bulldogs enter this weekend with a team .325 average and 2.77 ERA, the latter of which is third in the SEC. The bats are red-hot right now, with five everyday starters hitting over .300. Outfielder Aaron Downs has the sixth-best OPS in the league at 1.481. Lefty Pico Kohn (3-0, 2.28) and RHP Ben Davis have each been among the best for MSU on the mound thus far. Which staff will hold up better this weekend at Dudy Noble Field?

–Vanderbilt vs. Auburn: Both Vanderbilt and Auburn enter the weekend battle-tested with 14-3 records and something to prove early on in conference play. The Commodores, to no surprise, look the part on the mound. Friday-night lefty JD Thompson (2-0, 3.66) and Sunday righty Cody Bowker (2-1, 1.89) have powered the rotation, while seven other arms have made four-plus appearances and have a sub-2.00 ERA.

For Auburn, its bats have thrived behind some serious freshman production to go along with veteran first baseman Cooper McMurray (.415/.519/.785) and shortstop Deric Fabian (.369/.462/.615), among others. Catcher Ike Irish, an important piece to Butch Thompson’s team, has been ruled out for the series due to a fracture that came from being hit by a pitch last weekend. The Tigers still have some long-term questions to answer on the mound, too. A team 3.74 ERA isn’t bad whatsoever, but it does rank 14th in the SEC, and the likes of RHP Samuel Dutton (2-1, 1.31) and lefty Cade Fisher (0-0, 5.14) still have a lot to prove, as does a bullpen that’s been ho-hum to this point. Will Auburn continue to look like a top-half SEC team at the dish this weekend?

–Oklahoma vs. South Carolina: Oklahoma has been one of, if not the conference’s biggest surprise thus far, heading to Columbia with a 15-1 record. It’s been smooth sailing for the Sooners, who pulled off back-to-back top-10 wins over Oregon State and Virginia last month. Friday-night ace righty Kyson Witherspoon (4-0, 1.17) headlines what’s been one of the top rotations in the conference thus far. OU has been able to lean on its entire team, which has led to wins, despite it not lighting up the box score on a nightly basis. Its team average of .313 ranks eighth in the SEC.

South Carolina, now 15-3, is still facing plenty of skepticism, as it was swept by Clemson in its lone high-profile series of the season thus far. The Gamecocks, hitting just .279 as a team, have found themselves in plenty of close games, often relying on star juniors Ethan Petry (.359/.462/.719) and Nathan Hall (.422/.506/.609) to try and supply some big hits. After excelling in long relief, right-hander Brandon Stone (1-0, 1.93) is getting the nod to start Friday’s game at Founders Park. Will the Gamecocks be able to consistently score runs?

–Missouri vs. LSU: It’s easy to dunk on Missouri given its status within the conference, coupled with what’s been a less-than-ideal 8-8 start to the year. Pitching has been messy, leading to a 6.20 team ERA. At the plate, Mizzou has drawn the least walks and struck out the most in the conference. However, Kerrick Jackson’s team now has 10 weekends to prove itself against the best of the best in the sport. There will be no shortage of opportunities, beginning with a trip to Baton Rouge to play No. 1 LSU.

Jay Johnson’s Tigers have flourished and enter the weekend at 17-1, headed by a team .346 average. Among plenty of standouts, freshman outfielder Derek Curiel (.450/.602/.650) and star first baseman Jared Jones (.448/.547/.881) are raking. LHP Kade Anderson (3-0, 2.08), RHP Anthony Eyanson (3-0, 3.00) and RHP Chase Shores (4-0, 3.15) continues to look like an elite rotation, too. Will the home team break a sweat this weekend?