Updated Record: 54-37 for +53.5 units
Last week of the regular season and two dog plays to start it off:
Georgia +135 (@ Georgia Tech) for 2 units ? These in-state rivals take to the big stage as they are playing at Turner stadium for their final meeting of the year (Tech won in Athens in mid-April). Both clubs are very good offensively and have guys that can hurt you throughout the lineup. Tech has a slight edge offensively, but you can?t rely solely on that in my mind. Bullpens are pretty even between the two clubs with no distinct advantage. As for the starting pitching, it is an interesting matchup. Tech goes with Zach Von Tersch who has been their normal Saturday starter. Von Tersch has a 5.47 ERA; 1.54 WHIP; .269 opponents avg. and 45 K?s in 52 2/3 IP. Prior to last weekend I saw a scouting report that commented on how Von Tersch had been losing velocity in his recent outings and then he was bumped from the weekend rotation in Tech?s series against Florida St., presumably to get a bit of rest as the regular season starts to end. His last few outings were definitely bad, so we?ll see if the extra rest has helped him. I?m guessing though that even with a couple extra days of rest, he won?t be throwing as hard as he was earlier in the year. I?ve commented on this before, but to attack Georgia?s bats you need a real power pitcher that can blow it by them. I don?t foresee Von Tersch doing that tonight. Georgia sends freshman Cecil Tanner to the mound for the start. Tanner has a 4.15 ERA; 1.52 WHIP; .239 opponents avg. and 38 K?s in 30 1/3 IP. Tanner is a hard thrower who has had mixed results this year. As long as he isn?t expected to go a long number of innings he should keep Georgia in this game with a chance to win.
Texas State +230 (@ Texas A&M) for 2 units ? Yup, going with the unheralded Bobcats as a big dog. Texas State is honestly having a really good year. They are 37-12 and have already locked up the Southland Conference regular season title despite one more weekend of conference play remaining. They have played a decent slate of non-conference opponents and have even beat Rice as well as Baylor (twice). They have also faced top 25 clubs TCU and Texas, so they are use to facing good competition. Though they only have the nation?s 78th ranked SOS, they have put up some big time offensive stats, scoring almost 9 runs a game and batting .339 as a team. Probably the most important stat though is they don?t strikeout, average 4.34 strike-outs per game. I don?t have the national average on hand, but it is likely to be somewhere around 7. For comparison purposes, of the other schools talked about today, Georgia strikes out over 8 times a game and Tech and A&M both K over 7 times a game. Out of all the stats of teams I?ve looked at this year, they are the only club that draws more Walks per game (4.84) than strike outs. Besides for the offensive numbers, starting pitching is going to give Texas State a chance in this game as well. Garrett Carruth takes the mound for the Bobcats. Carruth has a 4.58 ERA; 1.50 WHIP; .310 opponents avg. and 20 K?s in 39 1/3 IP. Carruth is coming off a great outing last week in which he only gave up 1 earned run to Rice in 6 innings of work. If he pitches close to that well against A&M, Texas State is going to have more than a chance in this one. A&M starts Clayton Ehlert, who has had a disappointing season. He is a very good pitcher that was heralded as the best midweek starter by Baseball America to start the year. However, his season hasn?t been up to those expectations. He has a 5.94 ERA; 1.51 WHIP; .318 opponents avg. and 34 K?s in 36 1/3 IP. He?s pitched well against much lower competition, but his two starts against quality offensive clubs (TCU and Fullerton), he has been roughed up. A Texas State club that is very capable of putting the ball in play could really be trouble for him.
GL guys.
Last week of the regular season and two dog plays to start it off:
Georgia +135 (@ Georgia Tech) for 2 units ? These in-state rivals take to the big stage as they are playing at Turner stadium for their final meeting of the year (Tech won in Athens in mid-April). Both clubs are very good offensively and have guys that can hurt you throughout the lineup. Tech has a slight edge offensively, but you can?t rely solely on that in my mind. Bullpens are pretty even between the two clubs with no distinct advantage. As for the starting pitching, it is an interesting matchup. Tech goes with Zach Von Tersch who has been their normal Saturday starter. Von Tersch has a 5.47 ERA; 1.54 WHIP; .269 opponents avg. and 45 K?s in 52 2/3 IP. Prior to last weekend I saw a scouting report that commented on how Von Tersch had been losing velocity in his recent outings and then he was bumped from the weekend rotation in Tech?s series against Florida St., presumably to get a bit of rest as the regular season starts to end. His last few outings were definitely bad, so we?ll see if the extra rest has helped him. I?m guessing though that even with a couple extra days of rest, he won?t be throwing as hard as he was earlier in the year. I?ve commented on this before, but to attack Georgia?s bats you need a real power pitcher that can blow it by them. I don?t foresee Von Tersch doing that tonight. Georgia sends freshman Cecil Tanner to the mound for the start. Tanner has a 4.15 ERA; 1.52 WHIP; .239 opponents avg. and 38 K?s in 30 1/3 IP. Tanner is a hard thrower who has had mixed results this year. As long as he isn?t expected to go a long number of innings he should keep Georgia in this game with a chance to win.
Texas State +230 (@ Texas A&M) for 2 units ? Yup, going with the unheralded Bobcats as a big dog. Texas State is honestly having a really good year. They are 37-12 and have already locked up the Southland Conference regular season title despite one more weekend of conference play remaining. They have played a decent slate of non-conference opponents and have even beat Rice as well as Baylor (twice). They have also faced top 25 clubs TCU and Texas, so they are use to facing good competition. Though they only have the nation?s 78th ranked SOS, they have put up some big time offensive stats, scoring almost 9 runs a game and batting .339 as a team. Probably the most important stat though is they don?t strikeout, average 4.34 strike-outs per game. I don?t have the national average on hand, but it is likely to be somewhere around 7. For comparison purposes, of the other schools talked about today, Georgia strikes out over 8 times a game and Tech and A&M both K over 7 times a game. Out of all the stats of teams I?ve looked at this year, they are the only club that draws more Walks per game (4.84) than strike outs. Besides for the offensive numbers, starting pitching is going to give Texas State a chance in this game as well. Garrett Carruth takes the mound for the Bobcats. Carruth has a 4.58 ERA; 1.50 WHIP; .310 opponents avg. and 20 K?s in 39 1/3 IP. Carruth is coming off a great outing last week in which he only gave up 1 earned run to Rice in 6 innings of work. If he pitches close to that well against A&M, Texas State is going to have more than a chance in this one. A&M starts Clayton Ehlert, who has had a disappointing season. He is a very good pitcher that was heralded as the best midweek starter by Baseball America to start the year. However, his season hasn?t been up to those expectations. He has a 5.94 ERA; 1.51 WHIP; .318 opponents avg. and 34 K?s in 36 1/3 IP. He?s pitched well against much lower competition, but his two starts against quality offensive clubs (TCU and Fullerton), he has been roughed up. A Texas State club that is very capable of putting the ball in play could really be trouble for him.
GL guys.
