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First mid-majors continue to shine in the mid-week games next year's long single return to the college station and the next one and multiple places up to the moment. Let's get into it. I am here alone tonight because Kenny could not be here. But no worries, I'm going to give you the rundown for what went on in the midweek this week as well as discuss a little bit of uh the upcoming matchups this weekend. So we got a lot on our plates. Let's jump right into it. We'll jump first into the midweek games. So first we had some big games go down this weekend or this week. Florida and Florida State. Uh Florida was able to take it, take it from Florida State with a first home run from Hayden Yost in the third inning to open up the scoring. This was the nine-hole hitter, so that's great to see. As well as UF tacking on a few more in the fifth inning with a late push with a two-run homework by Hunter Carnes from Florida State, but it wasn't enough. And uh Florida ended up with 11 strikeouts in this game. Also went on, uh, Oregon State beat Washington State on Monday night in an 18 to nothing one-hitter. Uh it was a combined one-hitter with multiple pitchers, but then they proceeded to lose to Washington State on Tuesday night, 7-6. Rough outing for Oregon State in that game. Ended up making a late push, but could not end up uh surpassing Washington State. But the 18-0 win really stands out as a good win for them. Uh, this is a team that's in the independence, they're not in a conference, so they need every win they can get. Uh, they are still in the top 10, but their schedule is not very strong. And with them not being in a conference, uh, this could hurt them late when it comes down to super regionals and getting a top eight seed and those items. So currently, Portland and Oregon are playing. This is a Wednesday night game, uh, and Portland is winning 13-8. I just wanted to note that. And the big thing about that is uh Portland and Oregon faced off last week, and Portland won that game as well. So very interesting to see Oregon struggling so much against Portland. Also, we had another great game between Louisville and Kentucky. Louisville made a late push with two on and nobody out in the ninth. Uh after getting a run in, they made it four to two, and then that was followed up by a double play and then a ground out to end the game. So their late push to beat Kentucky was uh let down. Only two hits on the day, and uh there were 12 guys left on base in this game. So you guys know uh when it comes to games in baseball, there's some big storylines in the mid-weeks that we notice a lot. There's batters getting left on base, that happens every day. Uh, pitchers are struggling, which a lot of times when we discuss this, um, mid-majors and and these guys that go to the power four conferences. Typically, you'll see a lot of the power four conferences throw as many pitchers as they can. They're trying to get a lot of a lot of volume for these guys, give them innings, get warmed up because we discussed this a few weeks ago. A lot of these guys you're gonna need when it gets down to uh postseason play, you're gonna need them to be ready and perform. And these midweek games allow them to get a lot of innings. So it always begs the question of how much do these games matter? Well, we'll discuss that a little more later. Also, we see errors seem to be a theme here. Ohio State with five errors on the data in their loss to uh bowling green. It's not very great. Uh, Auburn threw 10 different pitchers at Jacksonville State, still gave up 17 hits. It's not going to get it done. And they only had three strikeouts in this game. So big showing for Jacksonville State. A team that's looking to threaten the top 25 next week, uh, depending on how they do this weekend against Liberty. We'll discuss that a little more later. Also, LSU in the seventh inning gave up five runs to Bethany Cookman to give up the game. This included two hit by pitches and two walks in the seventh inning. So uh rough going there. This is a team that we've seen struggle in the midweeks leading up to this point, but they've uh been successful lately on the weekends with recent series wins against uh Tennessee. So we'll see what happens moving forward for that team. And also we've discussed the Campbell Camels lately, but this week they did not fare too well. Two errors late, and nine runs across the last three innings led to their fall, and they left 12 guys on base again. That's a theme here, leaving guys on base. Not typical of the Camels. Uh, we look for them to bounce back this weekend, and uh, for once we'll not discuss them so much in this episode. Next thing we're gonna jump right into is going to be the top matchups of the week. But first, I want to discuss a trivia question for the day. How many regular season midweek games have the last five national champions lost combined? So this is every year since 2021, since the COVID season. All five have been from the SEC. We've had Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Tennessee, and LSU has won it twice. So, how many midweek games have all five of them combined losing in the in those five seasons? So, this is gonna be a big one. We'll discuss this at the end of the show. So, stick around to find out. Next, we have the top matchups this week. First, we'll discuss Florida State and Georgia Tech. That kicks off on Thursday at 7 p.m. Eastern. Florida State and Georgia Tech are gonna be battling out for first place in the ACC with Georgia Tech winning nine their last nine games. They're number two in the country in most batting statistics, posting an average of 359 with an OPS of 1.119 and a pitching staff with a 4.0 ERA and four walks per nine innings. Florida State looks to bounce back after their Florida loss during the midweek uh on back-to-back series wins um on the backs of a series win of over Virginia, two to one. Their offense looks good, not spectacular, but the pitching is gonna have to control that Georgia Tech offense. So offense for Georgia Tech has been really consistent. They're scoring a lot of runs, so it'll be interesting to see if Florida State could make a bounce, bounce at them uh at Georgia Tech. So I got my screen. Kenny and I have uh different ideas here. So one second. So Kenny and I are both 2-1 on Georgia Tech for this one. So it's definitely uh we're both leaning towards Georgia Tech. So we'll see if that ends up being the case this weekend. Next we have Central Florida uh looking to stay on top of the Big 12 after their big series win against West Virginia at West Virginia, 2-1. We discussed this last week. Uh, even in that game that they lost, they really could have won that after an error late in the ninth. Uh opened up a big, big turnaround for West Virginia, and then it led to a walk-off hit to score the two in the game winning runs. So looking to see if Central Florida will continue that success on the road this week at Kansas that kicks off on Friday at six o'clock. Uh, Kenny has Central Florida winning the Series 3-0, so he thinks they're coming in hot, continuing that hot streak against Kansas. He must not think Kansas is very good. I'm gonna actually go Kansas. I'm gonna go with the home team this week, uh 2-1. Uh Kansas has won seven of seven in a row, and their numbers don't jump off of a wall, but they're scoring a lot as of late in their last five of their last six games. They've scored double-digit runs. So I'm looking to for them to continue that hot streak into this series. As well as Central Florida has a great pitching staff, posting a 3.77 ERA and only a 1.17 whip. Uh, that's led by junior right-hander Camden Wicker, who's given up just 14 walks in 39 innings. So I'm thinking that's probably going to be the game that they'll get over Kansas, but I'm thinking Kansas maybe comes out with their offense in the other two games and wins those two to win the series two to one. Next, we have Nebraska travels to Oregon. I believe this is their first time traveling to Oregon. They've these two teams faced off last year in the Big Ten postseason tournament uh with Nebraska winning that game. So it'll be interesting to see how they do traveling out west. Like we said, we discussed Oregon a little bit earlier. Oregon's already on a struggle bus. They lost the series last weekend against Michigan, they lost their last weekday uh game against Portland. They're losing again tonight. We'll see if they end up making a comeback, but it's not looking great. Um, and Nebraska just lost their midweek game to Kansas. So, who we just discussed. So it'll be interesting to see if Nebraska can bounce back as well, led by the number one hitter in the conference for average Mac Moyer. Not a big power hitting team. You're not going to see these guys swing for the fences every day, but you're gonna see them get on base. So it'll be interesting to see how they do against Oregon's team who has struggled, like we were discussing. But this team is number one in conference in homers and slugging percentage, so it'll be interesting to see if Oregon's offense can carry them higher than Nebraska's offense. They have three players with at least eight homers. They have a good slight lead in the series in the pitching department, but I believe it should be good. I have Nebraska coming out two one just because I don't see Oregon's team really playing very well right now. And Kenny has Kenny also has the same thing 2-1-2 Nebraska. Sorry, my screen is hidden a little bit, so it's hard to see the predictions uh while I'm discussing this and sharing my screen. Next we have Texas and Texas AM. This is a doozy. So, as everybody knows, and maybe you don't, Texas's head coach Jim Schlossnagel uh used to be the AM coach, said he was never gonna leave. He left his family to go coach at AM. He was at AM, he was gonna be there, and then all of a sudden, up and left this past offseason uh to go to Texas, who is obviously AM's largest rival. So this is this is very interesting. The move was interesting, uh, especially for an AM team who was just recently in uh the national championship. Uh, but to go to Texas, Texas is playing really well, but you know, now you got a basically a big target on your back. You're going down to college station. Uh the fans are going to be rowdy, people are going to be having a good time pre-game, post-game. And so we'll see if this is going to be a big dogfight all weekend between the Longhorns and Aggies. Uh, just to discuss this one a little bit, Texas has one of the best pitching staffs and hitting staffs in the country. Uh, all their three weekend weekend starters are posting a sub 2.75 ERA, which is great. They'll continue to uh they'll look to continue that success against the uh outstanding offensive team from AM who has hit well themselves, led by Caden Sorrel, their home run leader with 16 tops tied for tops in the SEC with a Georgia player, who we'll discuss a little more later. Um, and they will look to can and AM will look to continue their success at home after a series win last weekend against Vanderbilt, they were they won 2-1. And uh they had a great game three start by Aiden Sims. We discussed a little bit of him this past weekend. Uh big con uh big control guy, great pitcher. So he'll be looking to take down Texas. So uh Kenny has AM winning 3-0. I have Texas winning 2-1. I think Texas is playing really well, and with that pitching staff, they'll be able to take control of the AM bats, hopefully, and be able to get some runs themselves to win the games. And I believe that Aiden Sims will end up winning game three. I think Texas wins the first two. Aiden Sims probably comes in and wins game three just because he's been pitching so well as of late. So that'll be an interesting series. Uh, but Kenny clearly has no faith in the Longhorns, and he's going all in on the home team and a big opportunity for revenge against their former coach. And the last series we'll discuss is Florida and Georgia. Florida going to Georgia. This is going to be a big turning point for Florida. Do they make a big turn against Georgia, win this series, and prove that they're still a great team in the SEC and still have a chance to win the SEC at some point uh the rest of the way? Florida beat Florida State in the weekday, as we discussed earlier. So it'll be interesting to see if they can continue that momentum and carry it here against Georgia. Now, I don't think that's gonna happen. Neither does Kenny. Kenny sees Georgia winning 2-1. I got Georgia sweeping. Uh Georgia is just dominating offensively. They are tops in the country with a 1.106 OPS. They're leading the country in home runs with 98, while also being patient at the plate in when they're top 15 in walks. So they're not only just swinging for the fences, they're also controlled at the plate. They're not swinging at balls they shouldn't swing at. They're getting a lot of on base. Now, I know that's a little inflated from the weekdays uh game this week against Presbyterian, but I still think this team is playing really well offensively. They're just they're just doing great at the plate. They have five hitters that have over 10 home runs this season, led by Daniel Jackson and Trey Phelps with 16 and 14 home runs respectively. And this is coming off of a big series sweep at Starkville last week, where in that la uh that opening game, you know, they had went to extras and Georgia took the took the game. Uh, but that's not an easy place to go win. So for them to not only win that series at Starkville, but also sweep, it's a huge thing for Georgia to carry this momentum going into this week, as well as you know, coming off a 28-3 win against Presbyterian during the midweek. So this will be interesting to see if Florida's pitching staff can handle the Georgia Bulldogs. Uh, but Georgia being at home, I don't see that happening, and I see Georgia with a sweep. Next, we'll jump right into some mid-major series you should watch out for this weekend. Now, obviously, not everybody's interested in the mid-weeks, but you know, we always like to discuss them, and we believe these guys deserve a lot of credit, deserve a lot of uh input just because baseball is one of those sports where we see it every day. Every day, anybody can beat anybody, no matter who is out there. Sometimes you have your best pitcher on the mound, sometimes the other team has their best pitcher on the mound, and you don't. And sometimes that makes a difference. So it'll be interesting to see how some of these midweek uh these mid-majors pan out this weekend, as well as we want to keep our eyes out because when we get to the postseason, these teams may be once to watch for for upsets in the postseason. So it'll be very interesting. First, we'll start off with Jacksonville State looking to continue their hot streak undefeated in conference 12-0, coming off of a run rule against Auburn on Wednesday or on Tuesday, and taking on an equally hot Liberty team Liberty team who has won eight in a row. So that'll be interesting to see who can come out on top in Conference USA. Next, we have Arkansas State looking to take on the top team in the Sunbelt at home against Coastal Carolina. Should be an interesting series to see if Arkansas State can hang with Coastal. Uh, this is going to be a tough one for Arkansas State, but if they can make a run at Coastal, they could uh propel themselves back up into uh contention in the Sunbelt. Next, we have Southern Mist and you traveling to Louisiana to take on the Raging Cajuns in Lafayette, who desperately need to bounce back after their head coach was tossed against James Madison last weekend in a game, and they lost that series. Uh so raging Cajuns really need to bounce back here, and we'll see if they can do that against Southern Mist, come to town. Uh, Southern Mist really needs to bounce back as well. 75 in the conference, but you know, they're gonna want to continue to chase Coastal to see to stay get on top of the Sun Belt to hopefully host a regional and hopefully host a super regional at some point. Next we got South Florida and UTSA who battling it out in the American to stay in contention for that top spot in the American. So they're not currently at the top right now. It's um, I believe it's UAB at the top at 7-2, but both of these teams are going to be in contention when it comes down to stretch, and they're both uh right there at 3-4, I believe, in the conference. So one of these teams could make a run at the top spot uh in the coming weeks. So it'll be interesting to see who can take that series. And our last series, you know, we like to talk about the West Coast teams and seeing who can come out on top. We got UC San Diego and UC Santa Barbara play facing off this weekend, where UC Santa Barbara's coming off of a sweep of Cal Poly as well as a midweek win over USC. So, you know, Santa Barbara's running in hot, they're looking to continue that. Cal Poly is right there behind them. Cal Poly's gonna um travel to Corvallas to play Oregon State this weekend, so that'll also be an interesting one. We don't have that one listed here, but uh will be interesting to see how they can perform out against Oregon State. And UC San Diego has won five their last six and currently on top of the uh Big West at 10 and 2. So it'll be interesting to see which of these teams could come out. I got I think UC Santa Barbara is going to come out on top their hot right now. Uh so we'll see if they can how they can do. And to end the show, we discussed a little bit about this earlier. The trivia question how many regular season midweek games have the last five national champions lost combined? The answer is seven. So when we talk about do midweek games matter, I think it is a tell. If five teams that won the title combined for only seven losses in midweek games, yeah, I mean, across five years, seven losses, I think it shows that midweek games do in fact matter. Maybe they don't matter as much from a standpoint of uh you're looking ahead to the weekend and maybe you're not pitching your best pitchers during the midweek. But a lot of times these are the guys that need to eat up innings in the postseason. And if they can't perform well against the mid-majors in these midweek games, how are they gonna fare against some of the top competition when we get down to uh regionals, super regionals, and and the college world series, even in conference tournaments? Sometimes you're on the you're on the fringe of being out or in the tournament. Sometimes you need them come in and you need a couple wins in the conference tournament. Can these guys get those for you? This is gonna be something that'll be discussed and we'll continue to discuss during the rest of the season as we lead into postseason, but only seven losses across five seasons. And here's the rundown of that. Mississippi State 2021, zero losses, Ole Miss 2022, three losses at southeastern Louisiana 5-1. Uh neutral site against Southern Miss 10-7 and Southeast Missouri 13-3. LSU 2023 had two losses, UL Lafayette 8-5, Nichols 6-5. Tennessee had one in 2024 against Limpscomb, 9-6, and LSU in 2025 last season lost one game to Northwestern State 13-3. So it'll be interesting to see how our mid-majors continue to fare during the midweek and see how the Power 4 teams that are going to be fighting for the national title at some point fare and continue to fare in their midweek games. Thanks for joining this week's show. I appreciate it. Let's have a great weekend. Let's look forward to some great series, and we'll be back on Sunday to discuss how those turned out. Thanks, and have a great rest of your night.