College Podcast: Recapping NCAA Baseball Week 9

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On this episode of the Baseball America College Podcast, presented by Rapsodo, Teddy Cahill and Joe Healy recap week nine of college baseball action.

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The series discussed at length on this episode are: 

• Mississippi State continuing its dominance of rival Mississippi with a series win in Starkville. The Bulldogs have now won 16 of their last 19 against the Rebels and have established themselves as the SEC West’s second best team behind Arkansas. Ole Miss, meanwhile, has serious questions to answer in its bullpen and needs to start playing well in its best series on the schedule. It is now 3-6 in series against Florida, Arkansas and Mississippi State this season. 
• Vanderbilt winning a series on the road against Tennessee. Kumar Rocker was back on his game, and the Commodores gutted out a Sunday game when it was clear that it was just a team more accustomed to winning high-level series in the SEC. Tennessee played pretty well throughout and should be heartened by its performance, but at the same time, coach Tony Vitello said afterward that the series was an important lesson for his team as it learns to win big. 
• Texas Christian sweeping Oklahoma State, which pushed its Big 12 record to 10-2 on the season. When TCU needed big hits over the weekend, it always seemed to get them. The Frogs now look like Texas’ top challenger at the top of the conference standings. 
• Georgia Tech surprising many by winning a series on the road against Virginia Tech, a particularly impressive performance when you consider that it was without lefthander Brant Hurter, further damaging its already tenuous pitching depth. Just when you think you have a read on the Yellow Jackets, they zig when you expect them to zag. 
• Southern Mississippi and Louisiana Tech splitting four games in Ruston. The weekend’s result means that La Tech won five of the eight games this season between the teams. From a conference-wide perspective, that’s a positive result, as it keeps the Bulldogs as a team in the driver’s seat to host, but also keeps USM safely into the field of 64 and gives it an outside shot to host if it can run the table from here on out. 
• The hosts also discuss the retirement announcement of New Mexico’s Ray Birmingham, a baseball legend in the state who transformed the Lobos from an also-ran in the Mountain West Conference into a perennial regional team for a period of time. His successor will have big shoes to fill.