Taylor Stadium at Simmons Field - Columbia, MO
Thursday @ 6 PM CT
Friday @ 6 PM CT
Saturday @ 1 PM CT – Fox
College Sports
Kentucky (29-22, 10-17 SEC) @
Missouri (16-30, 9-19 SEC)
Missouri will close out their
season with a weekend series at home against a Kentucky team that has spent
much of their year in Baseball America’s top 25. They have struggled lately,
dropping five of their last six conference games, which includes getting swept
at home by No. 1 Vanderbilt last week. Vandy taking over the top spot marks the
first time all season North Carolina has relinquished it. Mizzou will try to at
least break even at home this year coming in 10-11. Kentucky will try to do the
same as they are 7-9 on the road.
Projected Lineup
RF Kyle Barrett (L) .351
LF Zac Zellers (R) .239
P A.J. Reed (L) .291
C Greg Fettes (R) .250
2B J.T. Riddle (L) .286
CF Austin Cousino (L) .256
3B Max Kuhn (R) .251
1B Michael Thomas (R) .240
SS Matt Reida (L) .235
Position Players
The lineup below is the best
that I can anticipate for Thursday’s game, as it changes up a bit when AJ Reed
is not on the bump. The rest of the weekend, expect Michael Thomas behind the
plate, Greg Fettes taking care of the DH duties in the middle of the order, and
Reed moving over to play first.
This is the most lefty-heavy
lineup the Tigers have faced this year, which can cause problems for the back
end of their rotation. Leadoff man Kyle Barrett is making a statement as a
freshman, leading the team with a .351 average and .405 OBP, mostly getting on
with singles. He has to rely on teammates behind him to move him over though as
he has only swiped four bases, something they’d like to see more of out of the
leadoff spot. They can’t really complain though with the amount he reaches.
He sets up all around athlete
A.J. Reed, who resides in the three spot in the order. Reed, who earned
first-team Freshman All-America honors from Baseball America and Louisville Slugger
last season, will likely be drafted next month for the second time (25th
round by NY Mets out of high school in 2011). His 13 dingers and 51 RBIs are both
more than twice anybody else on the team, and his homer total puts him third in
the SEC (Mississipi St. C Hunter Renfroe leads with 15). This naturally gives
him the best slugging percentage on the team by over .100, at .548.
Kentucky has power spread
throughout the lineup, with six players that have gone deep on three or more
occasions. This makes for a very strong and consistent lineup top to bottom;
they just have struggled putting it all together to close out the season. They
will look to use this weekend as a tune-up for the SEC tournament, as they have
the capability of going deep in the postseason if they return to the form they
were at when the season began.
Projected Pitching Matchups
RHP Eric Anderson (0-3, 3.98
ERA) vs. LHP A.J. Reed (2-7, 3.81 ERA)
RHP Brett Graves (1-5, 3.95
ERA) vs. RHP Kyle Cody (3-3, 4.82 ERA)
LHP Rob Zastryzny (2-9, 3.64
ERA) vs. LHP Corey Littrell (5-5, 3.92 ERA)
Pitchers
These matchups may be a
little off depending on what Kentucky coach Gary Henderson wants to do going
into the SEC Tournament, but regardless all three projected pitching matchups
should be fun to watch. Two-way player A.J. Reed can get lit hit from time to
time, as his batting average against is .293, highest of any starter the Tigers
will see this weekend, but he does not walk many. Corey Littrell and Kyle Cody
both have decently high strikeout totals, so the Tigers should jump on them
early in counts. Relying on walks will not work, as all three have shown they
are very efficient.
Matchup Wrap-up
Do not be fooled by their SEC
record, this Wildcat team has the capability to go deep in the conference
tournament when they put it all together. On the flip side, Missouri has the
opportunity to capitalize off Kentucky struggles of late and finish the season
on a high note. If they play well, we could see the Tigers as a low seed in the
tournament; but if they proverbially poop the bed, it could mean watching from
home. Kentucky defense can be suspect at times, while 58 errors may not seem
like too many over 51 games, but those have resulted in 51 unearned runs. Their
errors have come back to hurt them many times.
Other SEC games this weekend (all 5/16-18):
Alabama @ (1) Vanderbilt
(11) Arkansas @ Auburn
Florida @ Georgia
(23) Ole Miss @ (2) LSU
(14) South Carolina @ (24) Mississippi
State
Texas A&M @ Tennessee
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