| BSB/SB ⚾#25 Alabama vs. #1 Arkansas - Bama wins series versus #1 Arkansas with 5-0 win, Sunday.

[Brandon Van de Graaff]

Obviously, this will be a battle for Bama. Against some SEC teams you can win the series simply by having hots bats -or- great pitching/defense for the weekend. The Hogs? It's gonna take both. And hot bats against them may only mean scoring 4 runs in a game, which puts the pressure on the starters/pen to perform well. Honestly, I just want to see how Bama competes this weekend... they should have good crowds and they play better at home. Can they play some cleaner defense and give out fewer free passes? Can they have some better approaches at the plate? I'd LOVE to see Vaughn change some things with the lineup, but I'm not sure we'll see too much of that (he did slide Sleight down in the order against USA, and Sleight went 2 for 3). I will say, a couple of times in recent years, Bama has jumped on Arkansas for at least one of the games. Maybe that trend will continue tonight...

 

[Brandon Van de Graaff]

Well, got some lineup shuffling... a little more in line with what I was hoping to see... maybe it'll give the bats some juice. Hope so. Good to see Eblin back.

 

[Brandon Van de Graaff]

Arkansas already up 3-0, B1 (2 HR's in the 1st). I'll be pretty impressed if Bama scores 3 all game. This isn't ideal.

 

[Brandon Van de Graaff]

Now 5-0, B3. I'm going to cease with updates unless something extraordinary happens.

 

[Bammerboy321]

This team is imploding.

 

[Brandon Van de Graaff]

Good news: Bama hung in there and battled. Bad news: It was just too much of a hole. The Tide trailed 5-0 in the 8th and scored 3 in their half, but then couldn't get it going again in the 9th. Final, Hogs win 5-3.

 

[BamaFan334]

Respectable atleast. Arkansas has a great team. Holding them to 5 and showing some fight is an ok showing.

 

[UAgrad93]

HUGE win tonight!! Took extras to get it done, but anytime you take down #1, it’s a big deal. Maybe since Davis blew the save in the 9th, he can get his head out of his ass and start pitching to his potential.

 

[Bammerboy321]

Pitching has actually been really good this series. Arkansas made some incredible fielding plays late.

Let's win the series tomorrow!

 

[Brandon Van de Graaff]

Just got home from the game. Great win in front of a big crowd! Taking the series tomorrow would be huge.

 

[Brandon Van de Graaff]

And hopefully some people listened to me and bought stock in Lebron very early on. The kid is still green, but special.

 

[UAgrad93]

Pitching has actually been really good this series. Arkansas made some incredible fielding plays late.

Let's win the series tomorrow!

I was referring to something @Brandon Van de Graaff mentioned a week or two ago about Davis and his inflated ego.

 

[Brandon Van de Graaff]

I was referring to something @Brandon Van de Graaff mentioned a week or two ago about Davis and his inflated ego.

Whoa now. If I said anything about his ego it was a typo for ERA. I love the kid, he’s had some rough outings, but he may by my favorite player on the team.

 

[UAgrad93]

Whoa now. If I said anything about his ego it was a typo for ERA. I love the kid, he’s had some rough outings, but he may by my favorite player on the team.

Misuse of words on my part. It may not have even been you, but someone mentioned him listening to the hype and there was a response about the light show for his entrance. I just used ego for hype. My bad.

 

[Brandon Van de Graaff]

Misuse of words on my part. It may not have even been you, but someone mentioned him listening to the hype and there was a response about the light show for his entrance. I just used ego for hype. My bad.

Ha, no worries. I just didn't want anyone to think I was down on him. He brings a different kind of energy for sure. He gets amped up. Sometimes, as you know, that can hurt a guy's performance. With him? I'm not sure. Most of his issues this season have been control/locating his pitches. He's also had a little bit of bad luck...

 

[UAgrad93]

Ha, no worries. I just didn't want anyone to think I was down on him. He brings a different kind of energy for sure. He gets amped up. Sometimes, as you know, that can hurt a guy's performance. With him? I'm not sure. Most of his issues this season have been control/locating his pitches. He's also had a little bit of bad luck...

On the mound, being “amped up” is BAD. Got to be even keeled! Once the out is recorded, show some emotion but dial it back in! If he can control his emotion, it will help with his control issues!

 

[Brandon Van de Graaff]

LOL, keeping an eye MSU v. OM while watching UFC 300 on another screen. Tied at 8 in the 12th, MSU guy rips a solo shot to take the lead in the top half. He hotdogs it and showboats, which this season usually translates to an ejection (and would have nullified the HR). The HP ump was not happy, but warned the MSU team instead. OM's Bianco (head coach) goes nuts, hot mic is on, and he's throwing his f bombs, arguing with the ump.. so he does get tossed. To the bottom half we go, State up 1... I kinda hope OM comes back and ties it or wins.

 

[Brandon Van de Graaff]

LOL, keeping an eye MSU v. OM while watching UFC 300 on another screen. Tied at 8 in the 12th, MSU guy rips a solo shot to take the lead in the top half. He hotdogs it and showboats, which this season usually translates to an ejection (and would have nullified the HR). The HP ump was not happy, but warned the MSU team instead. OM's Bianco (head coach) goes nuts, hot mic is on, and he's throwing his f bombs, arguing with the ump.. so he does get tossed. To the bottom half we go, State up 1... I kinda hope OM comes back and ties it or wins.

...and the Rebels walk them off... the Baseball gods have spoken.

 

[UAgrad93]

@Brandon Van de Graaff I pitched in HS and then was HC for 5 seasons at Fultondale HS when I first got started in education. I can’t tell you the number of times I had to reel myself in during my career and then reel my players in on the bump. Really is hard to temper those emotions when you have 8 others guys out there with you that are allowed to get amped up.

 

[Brandon Van de Graaff]

Perfect day for some baseball.

Tide up 1-0, B5.