Week Five (3/18-3/20): vs. The Missourah (spits) Tigers of the Big XII

Friday @ 6:00pm CT on SECN+

Saturday @ 2:00pm CT on SECN+

Sunday @ 12:00pm CT on SECN+

2021 Record: 15-36 (8-22 SEC Big XII).

2022: Record: 12-2. Normally, when we say a team hasn’t played anybody, we mean they haven’t played any top foes, and, as such, their record should be taken with a grain of salt. With Missourah (spits), we mean anybody. Though they’re 12-2, it’s on the backs of series against Nicholls (3-1 series win), UL Monroe (2-0 series win), and Tarleton State (3-0 series win). Quite literally the only time they challenged themselves was with one game against an okay Gonzaga team (a 10-5 loss). You may be thinking, “Wait, they also played one game at Arizona State,” but that’s a little like pointing to a football win over Vanderbilt and acting like it’s still the Coach Dan McGugin era. The Sun Devils are 8-10 right now. Come on.

Player to Watch: They actually have four people batting north of .350 (though again, keep their level of out of conference competition in mind). Of those four, I’ll say it’s probably wise to keep an eye on #5 Sr. SS Josh “Dayman” Day (.364/.478/.673 with 5 2B, 4 HR, and 12 RBI) and #26 Jr. 1B “The Shroud of” Torin Montgomery (.400/.475/.533 with 6 2B and 14 RBI).

Anchor of Gold Tiger Beat Hottest Pitcher: #8 Jr. RHP Spencer “Les” Miles (2-0, 1.88 ERA). He’s their Friday starter and has been their best pitcher thus far. Of course, he didn’t pitch at all this past week, so he might be injured. Google’s telling me nothing (not shocking that there’s not a lot of Missourah baseball coverage out there), but it’s something to keep an eye on.

Confidence Level: High. Though we’re 1-2 against Big XII foes, I like the Dores in this SEC conference opening weekend SEC-Big XII Challenge.

On the Mound (probably)

Friday @ 6:00pm CT on SECN+

#35 Vanderbilt Jr. RHP Chris “McBain” McElvain (2-0; 2.33 ERA)

vs. #8 Missourah Jr. RHP Spencer “Les” Miles (2-0, 1.88 ERA)

Saturday @ 2:00pm CT on SECN+

#20 Vanderbilt Fr. LHP Carter “Southpaw Sonny Gray” Holton (3-0; 2.74 ERA)

vs. #25 Missourah So. RHP Austin “Pride of Fatima High” Troesser (3-0, 2.45 ERA)

Sunday @ 12:00pm CT on SECN+

Vanderbilt RHP/LHP ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

*Nick Maldonado missed his last start with an oblique injury. No word yet if he is ready to return this weekend.

vs. Missourah RHP/LHP ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

*Though if I had to guess, it will likely be: #43 Missourah Jr. RHP Austin “Human Giant” Marozas (0-0, 3.60 ERA)

The Lineup

1 cf 51 Enrique Bradfield Jr L .298

2 3b 11 Davis Diaz R .415

3 rf 34 Spencer Jones L .382

4 c 12 Dominic Keegan R .429

5 1b 39 Gavin Casas L .423

6 dh 16 Jack Bulger R .269

7 lf 2 Javier Vaz L .348

8 2b 6 Tate Kolwyck R .328

9 ss 9 Carter Young B .255

See you in the comments.