Oxford Region 2014 Baseball World Series Breakdown
Mississippi, Washington, Georgia Tech, Jacksonville State
Mississippi just missed out on getting a national seed, but they will still be hosting a regional. Ole Miss is led by a tremendous 1-2 punch in their starting rotation in Chris Ellis and Christian Trent. Ellis is 9-1 with a 2.17 ERA and Trent is right behind him at 8-0 and a 2.44 ERA. Backing those two up is a powerful lineup. The Rebels 2-3-4-5 hitters, Auston Bousfield, Austin Anderson, Will Allen and Sikes Orvis have combined to hit 66 doubles, 28 home runs and drive in 187 runs. As a whole, the Rebel’s offense is hitting .304, which leads the SEC, and is in the top 20 nationally in slugging percentage. This is a veteran ball club and they have their eyes set on making it to the College World Series.
Washington will be making the cross-country trip as the two seed. The Huskies have been successful this season because of their defense. Washington is currently fifth in the country in fielding percentage, .981, and third in double plays turned per game, 1.17. Pitching in front of the outstanding defense has been the solid junior duo of Tyler Davis, 10-2 with a 1.75 ERA, and Jeff Brigham, 7-3 with a 2.93 ERA, and sophomore closer Troy Rallings, 5-1 with a 2.18 ERA and nine saves. Offensively, the Huskies have a quartet of hitters, Brian Wolfe, Trevor Mitsui, Austin Rei and Andrew Ely, who are all hitting at least .300 with at least 27 RBI’s. They will square off against the three seed, Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets will try and take them down with a balanced attack. Offensively, the Yellow Jackets have seven different players who have driven in between 29 and 36 RBI’s, led by Daniel Spignola and Matt Gonzalez, who have the teams highest batting averages at .328 and .314, respectively. The same goes for the pitching staff, as the top four starters have all won either four or five games, and the duo of Sam Clay and Dusty Isaacs have been money out of the bullpen, combining for 11 wins and 15 saves while both maintained ERA’s below 2.00. Ohio Valley Champ Jacksonville State rounds out the group and they specialize in extra base hits, as they rank in the top 40 in the country in doubles, triples and home runs per game. Both Washington and Georgia Tech are very good ball clubs and they could give Ole Miss a run for their money.
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