What do you think of our conference schedule?

[lakecityhog]

We have 2 of our toughest series left on the schedule at home, LSU and Vandy which should be a big + for us.
We miss Florida, South Carolina and Kentucky from the East, another + for us.
We do finish with ATM on the road, but not as big a - as it could be.

Looking at out next 3 series, Bama on the road, LSU at home and Georgia at home, we could put ourselves in a VERY good position for a post season run. If we win all three series and go 6-3 we would in all likelihood be in 1st place in the West.

If our pitching staff can continue to develop and we get to the point of not having to worry over a starter not going 7 or 8 innings we should be fine. I think that we will produce enough runs on average to keep us in most games.

[ThisTeetsTaken]

LSU, Vandy, Auburn, Ole Miss, and aTm will all be tough series to win.  Even a favorable SEC schedule is hard to navigate.  This seems like a year where the division champs will win 18 conference games instead of 20 or more.

[98hogs]

Still need a closer and the Hogs could do it.

[LJHOG]

Still need a closer and the Hogs could do it.

and a Sunday starter.  some reliable middle relief would be helpful also.

[SPAL]

It's the best possible SEC schedule. However, nothing easy in SEC or baseball. I think the next 3 are crucial. I'm looking for one sweep either bama or Georgia....I'm hoping to avoid getting swept by LSU, a series win would be amazing. 6 wins of the next 9 SEC games would put us in good shape.

That would get us to 11 of the 15 win magic number.

[SPAL]

Still need a closer and the Hogs could do it.

Howitzer will be fine.

[BroyledNutts]

We're due for a series win vs. LSU ... been too many years, and they finally look ever so fragile so far this season...it helps that we have them here, but it would be just like LSU to gel into a juggernaut just before coming here. A&M at their house will be tough, even if they never do quite figure it out over the season. Ole Miss is always a tough series, especially there, and Auburn seems legit and is going to be particularly tough this year...that could be a home series loss. Cannot afford to overlook Tennessee either.

It would seem the schedule is set up well, but this is the SEC - and nothing is as easy as it would first appear. Injuries, hitting slumps, ineffective pitching - the wheels can come off at any time.

Ideally need to sweep Bama, Georgia, and Tenner to pad the total, in able to offset potential results from Auburn, Vandy, and Ole Miss...but that might be asking too much. The more reasonable thing to ask would be to win those winnable series, and hope to squeeze one win from the others.

As Kevin says, just win. Let the rest settle where it may.

[Kevin]

Win series, don't look for too many sweeps.
Don't get swept.

Just win baby, is the billboard up in Vegas yet.

[onebadrubi]

and a Sunday starter.  some reliable middle relief would be helpful also.

At least you're not asking for much. 

[lakecityhog]

I'm just looking at the current state of the league and thinking that "most" of our toughest series will be at home and that we avoid some of the "better" teams from the East.

I fully understand that this is baseball and anything can happen, but given my choice I would much rather play LSU and Vandy at Baum and go on the road to play Auburn and ATM.

[lakecityhog]

1 series won, 2 more to go during this 3 series set.
We have 9 of the next 11 games at home(1 in Little Rock) (1 in Springfield)and we need to make some hay!!
8-3 would have to be considered a great stretch.

[SPAL]

Bama was much more difficult than I had even anticipated. I knew they were no slouch, but they really gave us all we wanted. To get two of there was big.

[ricepig]

Bama was much more difficult than I had even anticipated. I knew they were no slouch, but they really gave us all we wanted. To get two of there was big.

It's baseball, we didn't play at our best, but managed a series win.

[WBOBO]

Every series is tough in the SEC.  Take nothing for granted.

[Kevin]

1st game played well
2nd game terrible
3rd game managed to win.

[southarkhog06]

1st game played well
2nd game terrible
3rd game managed to win.

I will take that in an SEC road series every time.

[Kevin]

now for the rest of the conference,
don't get swept in any series.
pretty much means postseason play.

[southarkhog06]

now for the rest of the conference,
don't get swept in any series.
pretty much means postseason play.

Im greedy, throw in another home sweep and another road series win and we could be home for 2 rounds in the tourney.

[Kevin]

Im greedy, throw in another home sweep and another road series win and we could be home for 2 rounds in the tourney.

oh, I am too. love to be home for regional.
but, we are now in position to go 10-11 last 21 conference games, 17-13 overall

[southarkhog06]

oh, I am too. love to be home for regional.
but, we are now in position to go 10-11 last 21 conference games, 17-13 overall

yea I would be ok with that. I honestly think we could finish 38-17 (20-10). Most likely scenario is 35ish total and 18ish conference wins.

[JHicks3636]

oh, I am too. love to be home for regional.
but, we are now in position to go 10-11 last 21 conference games, 17-13 overall

Certainly this could happen, but I will be extremely disappointed if we only go 10-11 in conference from here.

[lakecityhog]

With our bats I think that getting swept will be difficult + BK gives us as good a chance as any pitcher in the league.
The thing that has surprised me most has been our defense, 1 error in that 3 game set! When you aren't giving up the cheap runs good things can happen.

Is it possible that Taco could become our Sunday starter?

[PintailKiller]

Is it possible that Taco could become our Sunday starter?

I was thinking the same thing yesterday. 

[dotnet]

Is it possible that Taco could become our Sunday starter?

I don't think so.  I think DVH likes the flexibility of having someone like Taco in the bullpen to use on Friday (see last week) if needed.  If Alberius is going to give 3-5 solid innings to start every Sunday and let the rest of the weekend dictate the pitching from there... he'll take it. 

[WizardofhOgZ]

Every series is tough in the SEC.  Take nothing for granted.

Absolutely true, in general; and even more-so on the road.

Just keep winning series.  Sweeps, of course, are great.  But series wins are fine.  And, MUST avoid being swept.

Follow that formula all the way to hosting a regional.

[dallashog83]

No easy wins anywhere in the SEC.  Hopefully we continue to play well and good things will happen.  Right now I am just happy we have won the last 3 series and hope we continue to improve as we move into our regionals this year (hopefully at home)

[dotnet]

Absolutely true, in general; and even more-so on the road.

Just keep winning series.  Sweeps, of course, are great.  But series wins are fine.  And, MUST avoid being swept.

Follow that formula all the way to hosting a regional.

I couldn't agree more.  And I hate what I'm about to say... but I think the schedule sets up as nice as it could. 

The three easiest series left are all on the road (tenn, a&m, Georgia).  Vandy, LSU, and Ole Miss (depending on how you view them) are the toughest non Auburn opponent left and they're at home.

While the easy on the road and hard at home is a recipe for disaster if you're an average or below average team - you lose games you were always going to lose at home and can't get over the hump on the road against teams on the same level or slightly worse than you and so you just lose a lot of games - its a formula to pile up some wins for a quality team. 

[factchecker]

I couldn't agree more.  And I hate what I'm about to say... but I think the schedule sets up as nice as it could. 

The three easiest series left are all on the road (tenn, a&m, Georgia).  Vandy, LSU, and Ole Miss (depending on how you view them) are the toughest non Auburn opponent left and they're at home.

We play Georgia at home.

Road Series left -  Auburn, Tenn, and AnM  (Auburn and AnM will be tough road series)

Home Series left - LSU, Georgia, Ole Miss, Vandy

http://www.arkansasrazorbacks.com/sport/m-basebl/schedule/

[lakecityhog]

IF, and I do say IF, you base our remaining schedule based on CURRENT record it would look like this:
Tennessee     1-8
Georgia-Ole Miss-ATM    all 3-6
Vandy   4-5
LSU   5-4
Auburn   7-2
Now for sure things can change QUICKLY in the SEC, I expect Vandy and LSU to put things together sooner than later. Is Auburn really one of the best in the league? Are we really one of the best in the league?

[dotnet]

We play Georgia at home

Well, even more of a positive outlook on the season...