The Dores came through last night behind the outstanding pitching of Kyle Wright. 
Of our 6 runs only 3 were earned as A&M, for the second straight night, was a bit weak in the field. Unfortunately, our hitting with RISP woes continued as we went 2-15 after Thursday night's 0-6.
It's very interesting to note that Vandy's RPI before the series was #15. After going 1-1 in the series it is now #10. Winning games on the road against Top 5 RPI teams does wonders for your RPI and we still have 4 more games like that upcoming. Another important metric is record against Top 50 RPI teams. Currently we are 8-6 with 5 more games to go. Also, Florida is still #1 in RPI and Louisville is still #2.
The Aggies are throwing senior righthander Kyle Siamonds who is arguably their best pitcher; however, that could be because he's their game 3 guy and the opposition's pitching is the weaker of the weekend usually. He is 4-1 in the SEC with wins over Arkansas, Alabama, Georgia, and Auburn. Not exactly the league's best teams I might point out (combined record of 32-45 in the SEC.)
Siamonds' loss was to Florida and he had no decisions with Miss State and LSU. Three of the better SEC teams I might also point out.
Even so, his SEC ERA is 3.76 which isn't bad. He typically strikes out 4.3 batters in his usual 6 innings of work but also walks 2 1/2 in his usual 6 innings. (K/9 is 6.4 and BB/9 is 3.3 if you prefer it presented in that manner.) It is worth noting that last week he threw a 115 pitch complete game against Arkansas and previously went 8.2 innings against Kentucky He lasted 2 innings against Florida. Earlier he threw 97 pitches and 99 pitches so trying to "get him out of the game" may not be a good strategy. I think we need to be aggressive if the first pitch is a strike and patient if the first pitch is a ball. But what do I know?
It is interesting to note that tomorrow will be the 5th time Siamonds has started game 3 (tomorrow will be his 8th start in the SEC) when the series was on the line. A&M ended up winning every one of those games (against Auburn, Alabama, and Arkansas.)
Vandy's official pitcher is TBA but it will likely be Patrick Raby. This is his 4th SEC start and his record is 1-0 with no decision in his first two starts against Kentucky and Tennessee (the bullpen lost both games.) He beat Georgia with a good performance. His total pitches each week has been climbing, from 55 to 71 to 82. The same is true with his innings pitched from 4 to 5 to 6. I suspect Brownie will try to push that into the 90's tomorrow and/or into the 7th inning.
Raby's SEC ERA is 2.40. Most impressive is his Opp BA of only .156. Also impressive is his K/9 of 9.6. He has only walked 4 batters in 15 innings a BB/9 of 2.4. It's only fair to Siamonds to point out that Raby has pitched against 3 of the bottom 4 teams in the SEC East (despite that, we lost 2 of those games.)
Many different things could happen but my guess is Corbs would like to NOT have to use Kilichowski and, instead, save him for Louisville on Tuesday. OTOH, he will do whatever it takes to win tomorrow and will worry about Tuesday later if it works out that he needs Kilichowski.
I don't expect our hitting with RISP will improve much tomorrow and we'll need to win a low-scoring game. The question is whether Raby can silence A&M's thunderous bats like Sheffield and Wright have.
It is also important to note that Florida swept A&M a few weeks ago. Just sayin'.
Of our 6 runs only 3 were earned as A&M, for the second straight night, was a bit weak in the field. Unfortunately, our hitting with RISP woes continued as we went 2-15 after Thursday night's 0-6. It's very interesting to note that Vandy's RPI before the series was #15. After going 1-1 in the series it is now #10. Winning games on the road against Top 5 RPI teams does wonders for your RPI and we still have 4 more games like that upcoming. Another important metric is record against Top 50 RPI teams. Currently we are 8-6 with 5 more games to go. Also, Florida is still #1 in RPI and Louisville is still #2.
The Aggies are throwing senior righthander Kyle Siamonds who is arguably their best pitcher; however, that could be because he's their game 3 guy and the opposition's pitching is the weaker of the weekend usually. He is 4-1 in the SEC with wins over Arkansas, Alabama, Georgia, and Auburn. Not exactly the league's best teams I might point out (combined record of 32-45 in the SEC.)
Siamonds' loss was to Florida and he had no decisions with Miss State and LSU. Three of the better SEC teams I might also point out.
Even so, his SEC ERA is 3.76 which isn't bad. He typically strikes out 4.3 batters in his usual 6 innings of work but also walks 2 1/2 in his usual 6 innings. (K/9 is 6.4 and BB/9 is 3.3 if you prefer it presented in that manner.) It is worth noting that last week he threw a 115 pitch complete game against Arkansas and previously went 8.2 innings against Kentucky He lasted 2 innings against Florida. Earlier he threw 97 pitches and 99 pitches so trying to "get him out of the game" may not be a good strategy. I think we need to be aggressive if the first pitch is a strike and patient if the first pitch is a ball. But what do I know?
It is interesting to note that tomorrow will be the 5th time Siamonds has started game 3 (tomorrow will be his 8th start in the SEC) when the series was on the line. A&M ended up winning every one of those games (against Auburn, Alabama, and Arkansas.)
Vandy's official pitcher is TBA but it will likely be Patrick Raby. This is his 4th SEC start and his record is 1-0 with no decision in his first two starts against Kentucky and Tennessee (the bullpen lost both games.) He beat Georgia with a good performance. His total pitches each week has been climbing, from 55 to 71 to 82. The same is true with his innings pitched from 4 to 5 to 6. I suspect Brownie will try to push that into the 90's tomorrow and/or into the 7th inning.
Raby's SEC ERA is 2.40. Most impressive is his Opp BA of only .156.
Also impressive is his K/9 of 9.6. He has only walked 4 batters in 15 innings a BB/9 of 2.4. It's only fair to Siamonds to point out that Raby has pitched against 3 of the bottom 4 teams in the SEC East (despite that, we lost 2 of those games.)Many different things could happen but my guess is Corbs would like to NOT have to use Kilichowski and, instead, save him for Louisville on Tuesday. OTOH, he will do whatever it takes to win tomorrow and will worry about Tuesday later if it works out that he needs Kilichowski.
I don't expect our hitting with RISP will improve much tomorrow and we'll need to win a low-scoring game. The question is whether Raby can silence A&M's thunderous bats like Sheffield and Wright have.
It is also important to note that Florida swept A&M a few weeks ago. Just sayin'.
