Crack of the Bat: Primetime Marquee Matchup

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Crack of the Bat: Primetime Marquee Matchup

Patrick Ebert

I’ve long wished one of the major sporting networks would start carrying Friday night college baseball games. There is enough interest in the game of baseball to make it worthwhile, particularly to those of us who spend Friday nights in the comforts of our own homes. Friday nights are obviously reserved for the best pitchers in the college game, and every conference every year has a handful of exciting aces who are projected to be future MLB stars.


ESPN has stepped up to the plate this year, covering a game, in high definition, each of the past three Fridays. Justin Grimm and the Georgia Bulldogs have been one of the teams featured in each of those games. As noted last week, Grimm has faced some tough competition in LSU’s Anthony Ranaudo, Ole Miss’ Drew Pomeranz and Arkansas’ Drew Smyly in these games.


This Friday’s game on ESPNU is arguably the best matchup of draft eligible pitchers, as Ranaudo is set to start opposite Pomeranz in Oxford, Miss. Not only is this a great matchup between pitchers, but it is also a great matchup between perennial college powerhouses and long-time rivals in the SEC West.


I circled this game on my calendar when the schedules were announced six months ago. Ranaudo, of course, entered the spring as the top college player in the nation, and although a stress reaction in his pitching elbow caused him to miss a few weeks this season, he is starting to stretch out his arm and was allowed to throw nearly 100 pitches in his most recent game against Alabama.


Pomeranz, the subject of my column last week, has been nothing short of dominant this season. He continues to lead the nation in punchouts, coming off another strong performance against South Carolina in which he struck out 10 Gamecocks. I also hypothesized last week that Pomeranz makes a ton of sense for the Pirates with the second overall pick, and Ranaudo also should factor among the top three to five overall selections. Despite his injury, only money will cause him to fall out of this range.


Be sure to tune in to ESPNU on Friday night, even if you are flipping between this game and ESPN’s coverage of the NFL draft. You will be glad you did, and you’ll get a look at two pitchers you likely will be hearing more and more about over the next two to three years as they ascend and make their presence known at the big-league level.

[EAGLE07]

Pomeranz is a beast. This should be a great one to watch.