Nearly every team in the SEC has a handful of pitchers who have been unhittable during non-conference play.
Finding a consistent lineup has proven much more difficult.
The SEC begins conference play today and several of the league's highly regarded teams, including Florida, South Carolina, Vanderbilt and Mississippi, have had a similar story during the first month of the season: While the arms have been mostly fantastic, it's been much harder to put runs on the scoreboard.
Florida (13-5), which is ranked No. 5 in the most recent d1baseball.com poll, might be the best example. The Gators have a lockdown weekend rotation with Alex Faedo (3-0, 1.37 ERA), Brady Singer (2-0, 1.50) and Jackson Kowar (3-0, 2.19), but the lineup is dead last in the league with a .247 batting average.
Ole Miss (12-5) is in a similar situation. The Rebels' pitching staff is on an incredible run, throwing five shutouts over the past six games, but the lineup has scored just 14 runs over the same stretch.
Ole Miss Coach Mike Bianco said he'd like his team to score more runs, but the success on the mound bodes well for the future.
"If you're going to be good at something, you need to be good at pitching," Bianco said.
There are a few teams who have shown the ability to hit and pitch. Going into Wednesday's game, LSU (13-5) was third in the league with a .327 batting average and ranks sixth with a 2.82 ERA. Texas A&M (14-4) is hitting .313 and has a 2.98 ERA.
Here are a few more things to watch as SEC play gets started this weekend:
WHO'S HOT
LSU's Greg Deichmann leads the SEC with seven home runs. ... Mississippi State's Brent Rooker is hitting .431 with five home runs and a league-high 27 RBI. He also leads the league with 12 stolen bases. Teammate Jake Mangum is batting .403. ... LSU's Jared Poche has thrown 29 scoreless innings so far this season. ... Auburn's Casey Mize has struck out 38 in 222/3 innings and has a 0.40 ERA.
WHO'S NOT
Georgia and Mississippi State have both struggled with pitching during non-conference play and are tied for last in the SEC with a 4.55 ERA. Georgia (8-10) is the league's only team with a sub-.500 record. Mississippi State (12-6) has walked 91 batters, which is easily the most in the league.
IMPRESSIVE
Missouri (16-1) and Tennessee (12-2) have struggled during recent seasons, but are both off to a good start. The Tigers have won 16 consecutive games after losing their opener. Tennessee has benefited in a major way from the return of second baseman Jeff Moberg, who was batting .415 last year when a mid-March knee injury ended his season prematurely. He's batting leadoff for Tennessee now and has a .475 batting average and .537 on-base percentage with five home runs and 14 RBI in 14 games.
OPENING WEEKEND
Ole Miss hosts Vanderbilt (12-6) in the only series of the opening weekend matching teams ranked in d1baseball.com's Top 25. Other series: Florida at Auburn, Kentucky at Texas A&M, South Carolina at Tennessee, Missouri at Alabama, Mississippi State at Arkansas, and Georgia at LSU.
Sports on 03/17/2017