Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hey, welcome in. We've got Joe Healey from D1Baseball.com here in studio with us. He's in town for this Arkansas Ole Miss series that begins tonight at Baum Walker Stadium. It'll be a 6 o' clock first pitch on the SEC Network. Plus, want to tell you our show brought to you by Eglin's Best. When it comes to your game day, you want the best in your lineup. That includes your eggs. Eglins Best delivers more of the nutrition you need with six times more vitamin D and 25% less saturated fat than ordinary eggs. Score now with Eglins Best. Better taste, better nutrition, better eggs. Visit eglinsbest.com for more information.
Also brought to you by Bentonville Glass. They've been serving their community since 1971. They're committed, professional and versatile. If you're looking for a quality leader in Northwest Arkansas or looking for skilled craftsmanship, look no further than Bentonville Glass for all your glass market needs with the highest quality products. You can come by and see them now at 507 South Main in Bentonville or online at bentonvilleglass.com wherever you're joining us, we appreciate you being with us. Maybe it's Apple Podcast or Spotify, our YouTube channel, Facebook, Facebook, Twitter. We post our podcast there as well. Just search Whole Hog Sports. You can find all of our shows like our tennis show with Patrick McEnroe and Matt Brown from a couple of days ago. We really enjoyed doing that. Bubba Carpenter was in studio with me yesterday. We talked about Razorback baseball and we'll talk a little more. Razorback baseball, SEC baseball in general with Joe Healy. He works for D1baseball.com runs the SEC extra side there to their site. Joe, appreciate you being here. Yeah man, Arkansas Ole Miss.
As someone who's not necessarily in the weeds in Oxford or Fayetteville, what's your take on this series and what might happen this weekend?
[00:01:37] Speaker B: I think the most interesting matchup is Ole Miss pitching staff against an Arkansas offense that's really struggled for consistency this season. You look at Ole Miss pitching staff and all of a sudden over the last, let's call it four to six weeks, they've really started to come together to be one of on paper the best pitching staffs in the sec. When you consider a rotation of Hunter Elliott and Cade Townsend, Taylor Rabe, Walker Hooks in the bullpen has been really good. I think a wild card for this series is Will Libert, a really high end lefty out of the Ole Miss bullpen. It feels like they're still trying to figure out what his best role is, but he's one of their best arms out of the bullpen.
So it's, it's really come together for them. And that's kind of what you want at this time of year is to feel like you're figuring more things out as time goes on. And that leads me to the Arkansas offense which is just that it feels like as time has gone on the answers just haven't come for this unit. And there's individual pieces on this team that have had nice seasons. There's guys that have swung it better in SEC play, there's guys who are maybe on the right track, but we just haven't seen that breakout from this group that we've been looking for all season long.
[00:02:34] Speaker A: Some news today. Arkansas is not going to have Reese Robinette at least in the series opener. He's listed as out on the SEC availability report that came out last night. We don't know why. I would assume that Dave and Horn is going to address this either before or after the game tonight against Ole Miss. But Reese obviously batting 252 hadn't been a great season for him. He's got a home run, 12 doubles, 20 RBI. Typically, you know, lower mid to bottom third of the orders where he's been batting. So we'll see how Arkansas plays this. They've had some games where and some times this year where he hasn't been hitting well and sometimes it's, it's just a matter of, of, of matchups where you know, you get a left hander out of the lineup, try to get a right hander in. I would assume what we're going to see now with, with him out is you'll see Carter Rutenbar go to first probably Zach Stewart I would guess would play in right field and this would get Kahil's bat into the lineup which I would assume Kahia would play regardless with it being a left hander in Hunter Elliott. But Reese Robinette going to be out for this game tonight. Elliott is a guy that we've seen a lot at Arkansas like right.
[00:03:44] Speaker B: We've all seen a ton of him.
[00:03:45] Speaker A: I was thinking about this yesterday. He four years ago, remember when Kendall Diggs hit the walk off home run to beat Ole Miss on a Saturday. Like Elliott started that game. That seems like a long, long time ago. It is in 2022 and of course he pitched against Arkansas and Omaha that year. Had a couple of years where he was injured. He's back pitched against Arkansas Last year, apparently, he could come back for another year. Another year, if you wanted to. It's wild just to think about the eligibility situation, but he didn't have a good game last week against Georgia. The worst game that he's ever had.
[00:04:17] Speaker B: Yeah, worst game.
[00:04:19] Speaker A: Eight runs, nine hits, just three and two third innings. What have you seen from him this year?
[00:04:23] Speaker B: He's been the same guy. The reality is he's not necessarily. When you think of aces in the sec, he's not necessarily the stereotype. Like, he'll strike some guys out, but he's not going out there striking out 10 or 12 in an outing necessarily with regularity. He'll walk some guys. He's got to have. He's got to have command. Like, he's not a guy that's going to blow anybody away necessarily. So he is prone to having the kind of outing we saw last weekend against Georgia, especially if you're in a situation where you feel like you're getting squeezed a little bit, you have to give in a little bit more. Like, he just doesn't have the stuff to necessarily get away with that. So what I've seen from him is what he's been all along, which he is a. He is a warrior out there. Like, he is a guy who's going to compete every single timeout, even if he doesn't have his best stuff. But, like, you can get to him a little bit. And the key is you've got to make him be in the strike zone because he does kind of keep it around the edges of the strike zone. He wants you to get yourself out first and foremost. You can't allow him to do that if you want to have success.
[00:05:17] Speaker A: He's made three starts against Arkansas in his career, thrown 17 and a third innings over those three starts, 312 ERA, a 110 WHIP, 20 strikeouts in those 17 and third innings. Most importantly, Arkansas is 1 and 2 in the games that he started. He's been very effective. And even again, that game that Diggs hit the home run and Arkansas won. Ole Miss was up when Hunter Elliott left the game. Argus had a little bit of a comeback to win that. Yeah. I was talking to Mark Etheridge, who you worked with yesterday. He said that he thinks Cade Townsend. The sky is the limit for this guy. The number two starter for Ole Miss.
[00:05:49] Speaker B: It's a guy I'm most excited to see this weekend out of every individual player. I haven't seen him with my own eyes this season. I've seen him on TV quite a bit, but haven't had a chance to really lock in on one of his starts. And, you know, if he hadn't had that injury where he was out of the rotation for a couple weeks, he's right there alongside Tomas Villenquez at Mississippi State, Dylan Volantis at Texas, Aiden King at Florida, Jake Marciano at Auburn. He's in that mix to be SEC Pitcher of the Year. Now, I don't think he probably ends up there because he just missed a couple starts and I think he just missed too many. But in terms of on a rate basis, he's been just as good as all of those guys so far this season.
[00:06:23] Speaker A: Where does Hunter Dietz fit in the hierarchy of best SEC pitchers?
[00:06:26] Speaker B: He's certainly getting there. Yeah. I mean, really, it's amazing after a couple of rough starts early this season, there was a lot of panic about that, about, you know, my goodness, the first couple starts didn't go particularly. And I remember just kind of saying as much as I could, hey, let's. Let's give this guy some time, right? Like, it's been a long time since he's been asked to do what he's doing right now. Let's give him some time. And he's really answered the bell as of late.
He's certainly in that. He's probably in that next tier for me, just because we haven't seen it over as long a period of time of the season as some of those other guys. But, yeah, he's certainly right there with those guys. And I think it's impressive that we've seen some starts from him and including last weekend where it's like, hey, you know, runs into a little bit of a speed bump early on, but then figures it out as the game goes on and ends up having a nice start. That's, to me, the mark of a really good starter is when you get kind of stuck in the mud, can you get yourself out of it? And a lot of guys just can't, but he can.
[00:07:16] Speaker A: The thing I've been impressed by Dietz is the fact that the last four weeks, you know, the way the Auburn series worked out, Auburn held its pitchers. Arkansas went ahead and threw on a, like, you know, Game one Thursday, game two, similar. They do a Friday through Sunday, but the last four weeks, he faced Marciano at Auburn, won the game. Tyler Fay at Alabama won the game. Joey Volchko at Georgia won the game last week, like you said, got off to a pretty poor start on a night where, you know, Missouri was pitching the ball really well and you know, they end up winning the game.
I like the way he competes. It seems like he's.
He doesn't really back down from. From competition on the other side.
[00:07:57] Speaker B: Yeah, that's a good word for it, is he competes on any given day. I think there are SEC starters I like more. If you told me, hey, you've got to go out there and throw a shutout tonight, who are we throwing? Like, I'm not sure I'd necessarily pick him, but I would certainly. If you need a guy to kind of figure it out and just find his way through a start, which sometimes you need, there is value in that. Especially when you're in a situation like Arkansas where you don't know what you're going to get later in the weekend, especially on Sunday.
You just kind of need to know that you're going to get 100 pitches from your guy to start the weekend. And right now he's that type of guy for them.
[00:08:30] Speaker A: What's been your take on Arkansas, like, why it's gone the way it's gone for them at this point?
[00:08:34] Speaker B: I think it's just. I think it's. Well, it's a couple things. One is the biggest thing is the consistency in the offense. You and I were talking about this before we came on, just that it feels like every team in the sec, at least the good teams, have a period of time during the season when they have a guy in the lineup you just can't pitch to. He's just, you know, incandescently hot. Like right now, Gavin Grohovak is that guy for Texas A and M where you just. You just can't pitch to him.
Arkansas, not for any point of this season, has had that guy. It feels like. And you would know better than I on that. You're more in the weeds with Arkansas than I am, but, you know, you kind of have to have that guy. It feels like the centerpiece of your lineup to really be an elite offense, and Arkansas just hasn't had that. So that's the number one thing for me. I also think it's not nothing that we're still trying to figure out exactly what the Gabe Gackel experience is. Right. I think there a lot of the optimism, at least for me, I'll just speak for myself, was that I thought he was going to figure it out from a starting perspective this year. You know, last year it went okay. Not terrible, not great. And it was more of the same this year. There was some good. There was some good in there. There was some bad but ultimately just kind of feel like maybe he's just a guy that needs to be in the bullpen and he's Arkansas's best arm in terms of arm talent.
And I think in this version of college baseball that is so offensive, you need your best arm to be in your rotation. I think all things equal. And so the idea that their best arm is not a guy who's able to go out there and pitch on the weekends and be consistent with it, I think really ends up hurting them, and that's hurt their ceiling. So the floor has been hurt by the fact that the offense has really, really struggled. I think the ceiling has been hurt by some of your best arms. Specifically, Gack will just haven't necessarily been what you hoped they would be when the season started.
[00:10:13] Speaker A: I just. I think their transfers haven't worked out the way that fair to think.
[00:10:17] Speaker B: Great point.
[00:10:17] Speaker A: You know, I mean, you go out and you spend money in the portal and you bring in a Mike and new. You bring in a TJ Pompey, you bring in some of these others.
You know, some. Some pitcher. Ethan McIlvaine has been.
He's been really good for them on the back end. Like, you would know better than I would because you saw him at Vanderbilt. Like, he looks like a totally different pitcher, at least from a stat perspective, than he did at Vanderbilt. But this is really the first year that I can remember, you know, kind of during this era of going out and revamping your team through the transfer portal or where they don't have somebody who has really stepped up and had a big year, you know, whether it be a Tavian Josenberger or a Jared Wagner or a Hudson White or, I'm sorry, Vahiva Aloy. Kuhio Aloy too, last year was. Was really good. Charles Davilin. They've. They've had some really good success over the years of. It feels like. Of identifying and getting the right guys in the portal. And for whatever reason, those portal guys just have been terribly inconsistent for them this year. And I think that that's had a big impact on what we've seen from them offensively.
[00:11:17] Speaker B: I'm with you on that one and I. I've long felt that not necessarily that it was inevitable this year that it was going to happen, because I'm not smart enough to be able to diagnose that in the off season. But I think when you are recruiting consistently out of the portal, guys that are coming up a level, and I would even count someone like a Josenberger, right. Kansas was Not a good program at that time, like, so he was coming up a level. Like Aloy, obviously. Coming up a level when you're recruiting a lot of guys who are trying to come up that level of college baseball, if you're doing that year after year, I think some staffs are better than others and Arkansas has proven they are better than others at that. But if you continue to roll the dice with that, I think you're going to roll snake eyes every once in a while. And I think that kind of feels like what it's been this year.
[00:11:56] Speaker A: To a lesser extent. That's what you're seeing at LSU this year. Right. You heard Jay Johnson, you know, very famously, I guess it was a clip that went viral a couple, three weeks ago where he just said that, you know, they missed on their transfers.
[00:12:09] Speaker B: Yeah. Which I appreciate the honesty. Like you don't, you don't get that kind of transparency typically. And he, he said, yeah, we, we met. I met.
It wasn't we, it was, I messed up our roster construction. And so that'll be interesting this offseason to see what they end up doing because it's, it's. I think your viewers probably pay enough attention to it to know what's happening at LSU this year. That's going to be a big off
[00:12:28] Speaker A: season for the Tigers, I'd say. So what do you think? Bubba Carpenter and I were having this conversation in here the other day. You know, LSU is the latest example of a team that won a national championship and had a really bad follow up season.
It happened to Mississippi State, it happened to Ole Miss, and it's happening to LSU to a lesser extent. It happened to Tennessee and LSU after they won their first national championship. Now, granted, LSU won that first national championship under Johnson, I should say, with Paul Skeens and Dylan Cruz and a lot of generational type players. But I've wondered, you know, because I had a, you know, kind of a firsthand look at what was going on with Arkansas last year. And I see the coaches off on the side of the practice field taking phone calls as they're trying to get ready for a college World Series game.
I wonder how much that, you know, the calendar, so to speak, and kind of having to have that dual role when you're in Omaha getting ready for your biggest games, but also trying to construct your roster for next year as the portals open, how much that might have an effect on a team.
[00:13:31] Speaker B: I think it's huge. I think that's exactly what it is. If I had to pick one thing you just can't.
These are humans that have the same number of hours in the day that you and I have. And, yes, maybe they get a little more out of those hours than you and I do, because that's the job. Right.
But I've seen it, too. I've seen it in Omaha where, you know, a coach will come down. You know, you're in the. You're kind of hanging out in the hotel lobby, and you'll see a coach come down from the conference room areas, and you kind of say hello to them, and you ask what they're up to, and they're like, oh, I just had a. Had a portal call, you know, and it's like, you're at the College World Series, right? And like, you would think it would be 100%. And I know why it's not, but you would think it would be 100%. Focus on, we're here to win a national title, and if you're in Omaha, by definition, you are capable of winning the national title. And. And it's just. They're not able to focus on it that way. They've got split attention. And I just don't think just Joe's opinion. I don't think you can do a good job of doing both things at the same time. I'm really increasingly concerned that that's not the case, that you can do both of those things well. And maybe that's a way to just kind of inject some parody into college baseball. Right. I mean, maybe it's keeping LSU from being a dynasty we're talking about right now because of these. These odd and even years back, going back and forth. But I think you're exactly right on what it is. You just. You just can't do all of that stuff simultaneously.
[00:14:46] Speaker A: It seems like it would be best for college if they would flip the draft and the portal. Make the portal open in July. I think you've still got enough time to make your visits to, you know, whatever campus you're wanting to get to by mid August, when school starts. Put the draft in June. And then you don't have, you know, the waiting game on the back end where you're trying to figure out, okay, who. Who have we got coming to campus? Who do we not. It just. It feels like the whole calendar is broken. And you hear coaches say that all the time.
[00:15:14] Speaker B: Yeah. If you want to really get a college baseball coach talking about something, ask them about the draft, because right now, that. That is the biggest thorn in their side is the draft is late enough to where you have to, at this level of college baseball, you have to wait for the draft to go through. You have to wait to see who gets drafted, you have to wait to see who signs. And by the time that all gets fleshed out, the portal is basically done. So you don't have any recourse to fill your roster. And if you get surprised by a team throwing way more money at a guy, you assumed you're going to have him back, but the team ends up throwing a lot more money at him than you anticipated and they end up signing, you're just caught out. So that is a big talking point. But you and I have lived through a time when the draft used to be during regional weekend. And that doesn't feel any better to me. Like, it just feels like the draft feels like a, an event that doesn't have an obvious place in the calendar. And no matter where you move it, it's going to be a problem somehow.
[00:16:04] Speaker A: Remember in 2020, before the season got shut down, they were going to have the draft coincide with the College World Series in Omaha. Yeah. And I feel like I would love to have seen how that worked out because I almost feel like that was kind of a sweet spot to have it there.
Maybe it goes back there. I don't know. You don't get this. The CBA coming up with Major League Baseball. I'm sure the draft is going to be part of that conversation.
It'll be interesting to see how that works out. So it's weird to say that Georgia, that they've got the easiest path, it feels like now to the SEC title because they've got lsu, but they got LSU and they got Missouri and I think they play both of them in Athens.
[00:16:38] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:16:39] Speaker A: You know, they've got a game, what is about a half game lead, I guess they've got on A and M going into this weekend.
It feels like Georgia is the team to knock off for the title right now.
[00:16:47] Speaker B: I think. So the schedule kind of works out in their favor. As you mentioned, the cancellation of that A and M Texas game on Sunday of that series is why they have the half game lead. That's worked out in their favor. And from an on field perspective, I think what's changed this year for Georgia is in previous years, it was a lot of, I felt like there was a lot of trying to almost convince themselves they were as good as they were. It was a lot of false bravado. It was a lot of beating their chest. And I've been really impressed by this year's team. I mean, yes, they still hit a ton of home runs, yes, they still have a bunch of dudes throwing 97 off the mound. But there is a professionalism and a buttoned up nature to this team that I've not seen before. The last couple of years with Georgia, it feels like they know they're good and they don't need to sell that to anybody because they just know it. There's a assuredness about this team that I really, really like. They're also, let's not excuse, let's not gloss over the fact that they are also deeper on the mound. That was kind of an issue for them in the past where it felt like they had some guys, they had a couple guys. But then once you got past that, there was a soft underbelly. Like there is a lot more depth this pitching staff. And you saw it last weekend when they had to bring in that series last weekend against Ole Miss. They had to bring a bunch of guys back on Sunday that had pitched on Friday and Saturday to get it done. And those guys were, were excellent their second time through. So it's just the quality goes a lot deeper than it has on the Georgia pitching staff before.
[00:18:02] Speaker A: I think they're, they're about six deep on the pitching staff where you think they're really good. It looked to me like when, at least when they were here, once you got and I know that they also had help me with their number two starter.
Yes, Vigu, he got hurt and so Kaden Aoki had to come in and basically give him a starter performance in Game two. So that, that affected it, I'm sure. But I wasn't real impressed with some of the like, the more toward the back end arms that they had. And I think that that's the thing really to watch for them because I mean, from a hitting perspective, like, to me, Trey Phelps is the most impressive hitter I think I've seen all year. And that might surprise some people when you're talking about Georgia because Daniel Jackson's so good, but Phelps at the top of the order, he has a handful to deal with. And, but yeah, you know, and the other thing that stands out to me about Georgia, Joe, is the fact that you look at where they've won series this year. College Station, Starkville, Fayetteville, Oxford, like they've won series at all four of those. They've still got to go to Auburn. But I mean, based on the way they played to this point, there's really no reason to think that they couldn't go in there and win a Series two.
[00:19:00] Speaker B: Right. You mentioned Daniel Jackson.
Talk about a guy who's really made a leap from year to year. He's always been, he's always been an impressive athlete. He's always been a guy whose potential was just way up here. But now you see it not just in the numbers he's going to be. He might be a 30, 30 guy before the season is done. Like stolen bases, home runs. He might, he might get there.
But it's his ability too. Like it felt like last year he would swing as hard as he could to try to hit a ball 450ft. And occasionally he would.
Now he's doing that. But he's also added, you know what, I'm getting pitched away here. I'm getting soft stuff away. I'm just going to flip this ball into right field.
And that was something that was definitely not in his toolbox before. That is now his, his, his maturation has been incredibly impressive.
[00:19:43] Speaker A: He did a lot of that flick into right field here in Fayetteville and it helped me have like a 25 mile an hour wind behind him that would carry the ball an extra 50ft.
That certainly helped that three home run game that he had going back to Arkansas for a second. So they come into this weekend, they're 11 and 10 in the SEC. They're tied with Ole Miss, Oklahoma and Florida for sixth in the conference. And ironically, OU and Florida are also playing this week. So I think we'll get a little bit of separation there in the middle of the pack. But Arkansas's got OU next week too, here in Fayetteville. So they got six games against two teams that they're really kind of battling for position for here in the standings. How do you think this can go for them? I think if you're Arkansas right now, like hosting a regional, that's off the table. I don't think that's happening because of the way the RPI thinks.
[00:20:25] Speaker B: Right.
[00:20:26] Speaker A: But you know, I think there are still some things there for you where you can improve your resume. You can get to maybe where you don't have to play till Thursday in Hoover as a top eight seed. You can get to the point where as a number two seed, maybe you're positioning yourself better to where you're not having to go to a Georgia Tech or a UCLA or a team like that week one. Maybe you're getting a KU or a Nebraska or somebody like that. So I still think there's a lot there for Arkansas, but in particular these next two weeks. How do you see this potentially playing out with ole Ms. And ou in here.
[00:20:57] Speaker B: Yeah, it's a big couple of weeks. When you consider you get Ole Miss at home, that gives you a little bit of a leg up there playing in the mid home as opposed to on the road. I say that and Georgia just went there and won a series, but that's kind of the SEC this year. It's been a little topsy turvy, but you certainly prefer the series at home. And then Oklahoma is a team that even in this, even this version of Arkansas, if it shows up and plays its best, it's a team that will take care of business against Oklahoma. Oklahoma has been more solid this season than Arkansas, but Arkansas has more ceiling than Oklahoma. Oklahoma is a team that I'm probably actually a little bit lower on than what we have them ranked right now and that'll mean that disrespectfully. I just think it's a ceiling. A team that has a lower ceiling and a higher floor versus Arkansas has a little lower ceiling and excuse me, a higher ceiling and a lower floor.
But I really trust this is where we start to get into like the, some of the non tangible stuff here. I really trust this coaching staff to get this team to play some of its best baseball down the stretch. I really do. And so I think this is a situation where if you come out of here going four and two, I think, I think you're disappointed if you come out of here three and three. I think if you're four and two or better over these next two weekends, I think you feel really good about that result.
[00:22:01] Speaker A: Can you imagine being a KU or a Nebraska and you finally get a regional.
[00:22:05] Speaker B: Just a nightmare.
[00:22:05] Speaker A: And then you see the Arkansas is the number two and it doesn't mean that they can't win their home region. It just means. And I think that probably goes for just about any team. If you see a team that's just got the postseason reputation that Arkansas has and we know they've got pro potential, you know, and pro type players on this team. I just feel like you're like, oh man, like, like why?
[00:22:23] Speaker B: Yep. And you're. And your stadium is going to get partially taken over by that fan base.
[00:22:28] Speaker A: I mean can you imagine if they play Hoagland park up in Lawrence? It's like 2500 seats. Yeah, it'll be.
[00:22:34] Speaker B: Yeah ticket for sure. They'll ku will have to do that thing where they, they have to manipulate how they get. Sell tickets to try to try to get more KU fans in the ball no, no, no.
[00:22:43] Speaker A: 72704 zip codes can buy tickets to the KU game. So that goes here. A couple more before we get you out of here. Joe.
I asked a few people on our message board if they had questions for you. He said, and somebody wrote in, they said, does it seem like roster limits have spread talent out enough to help mid majors be more competitive?
[00:23:04] Speaker B: It's a good question.
So I think, yes, I think that has helped, but I think there are other factors that are helping it. I don't think it's just roster limits alone. I think the other thing that has happened is that mid majors are no longer getting caught flat footed from a transfer and nil perspective. Now they don't have the nil budgets, the SEC does. I'm not suggesting that they're throwing all that kind of money around, but they're at least now know they know going into the off season we're going to have to re recruit our roster. Where there were a couple of years, you go back to 20, 22, 2023, where it felt like there were mid majors that just were almost willingly ignorant, like head in the sand about the transfer thing and then got caught flat footed. No one's getting caught flat footed anymore. And I think about, you know, a team that Arkansas fans are familiar with, Missouri State. They've got a guy on their roster now, Kaden Boganpole, who is a top 40, top 50 type of prospect. Like there is in another scenario. There's a, there's a very real scenario where he's playing here, right, or somewhere else in the sec. But Missouri State was very proactive about. And he wants to be at Missouri State. That's part of it.
[00:24:09] Speaker A: He likes playing for Joey Hawkins.
[00:24:10] Speaker B: He does like playing for Joey Hawkins. Yeah. And I would too. I like Joey Hawkins a lot.
But they're, you know, but at the same time, Missouri State knows we have to, we can't just assume he's coming back here. We've got to make sure he understands he's wanted here. What we're going to do to try to keep him here. I think more of that's happening at the mid major level. Even if, even if the money is not necessarily equal at all times. I think, you know, people, you and I, you know, when we made our college choices, we ended up at the colleges we ended up to for a reason. Right. Like people don't want to transfer. Like transferring is a pain in the rear end. Right. Like you don't want to have to transfer. So if all things are equal you kind of just want to stay where you're at and where you're comfortable. And so these mid majors I think have done a really nice job of at least playing a little bit of defense against the transfers and I think that has helped as well.
[00:24:54] Speaker A: How do you think the series goes this weekend? Arkansas Ole Miss I just have a
[00:24:59] Speaker B: hard time picking against Arkansas at home. Like I think that's where I look at it is I just really like Arkansas at home in these situations. I also think the time of year helps. We're now in the month of May. I think there is like a little bit of an urgency to it now and I think this coaching staff is going to have them ready to play.
I also feel a little bit like coming off of last weekend with Hunter Elliott on the mound, having the weekend that he had. I think there's maybe, maybe a feeling that you can get him right now and we'll see if that's real or if that's if he comes back and has a bounce back outing. But I think the combination of maybe you can get to Hunter Elliott in this game.
It's a time of year when Arkansas tends to play well and you've got the series at home. That feels like a lot stacked against Ole Miss this weekend.
[00:25:38] Speaker A: Ballpark's gonna play big the next or play small the next two days with the wind blowing out. It'll play bigger on Sunday. Gonna be interesting to see how that plays out. Cause Ole Miss are a team.
[00:25:46] Speaker B: Ole Miss does like the long ball
[00:25:47] Speaker A: when they can hit home runs. They've been, they've been really good.
[00:25:50] Speaker B: Gotta miss bats.
[00:25:51] Speaker A: Joe Healy of D1 Baseball. You can read him at D1Baseball.com, the SEC Extra Society hosts Highway to Hoover podcast. Does a lot there. You do a great job, Joe. Appreciate you being here.
[00:26:00] Speaker B: Appreciate it, Matt.
[00:26:00] Speaker A: We appreciate you all being with us. We'll be back on Monday with Bubba Carpenter here in studio looking back at Arkansas and Ole Miss. Hope that you'll join us at our website wholehogsports.com throughout the weekend for all of our coverage from Baum Walker Stadium. See you Monday.
