The Pirates open up conference play this weekend with a trip down to Houston to take on a struggling Cougars team. The Pirates are being picked to win the conference by everyone this season and it should be no surprise. The conference is fairly weak according to the experts and the Pirates who are currently ranked 8th in the country according to D1 baseball should have no problem being the team to beat.
As previously mentioned it all starts in Houston this weekend as they take on a 12-13 Houston team who has a team ERA of 6.32. The thing the Pirates have to be careful of is the Cougars can get back in the game with just one swing of the bat as they have hit 24 home runs this year and it has come from a variety of players as they have six different players whom have gone yard more than once this season.
The 2nd weekend of league play the Pirates will welcome one of their tougher opponents of the campaign to town, as the UCF Knights come in for the 1st home conference weekend of the season. The Knights are a little different than the Cougars the pitching overall have been decent to this point in the season, but the scare comes if you are down late. As, their best pitcher this season has been their closer Kyle Kramer who has an ERA of 2.81 and has 6 saves on the young season. The guy who have to lookout for in the Knights lineup is redshirt senior catcher Ben McCabe who is hitting .430 with 10 home runs.
The the Pirates will play their 1st of 2 series against Cincinnati who they will see again in early May. Not much has gone right for the Bearcats to this point as they have more players hitting in the 100s than the 300s and the team ERA is a hair below 7. The one thing they do well is steal bags as they have stole 47 already this season to only 26 they have allowed.
Then the Pirates play what is probably the scariest series of conference play as they head to Wichita. The Pirates are just 4-3 in Wichita since the Shockers joined the conference back in the 2017-18 school year. The Shockers to this point are 10-5 at home this year and that is in big thanks to their bats. Seven of their starters are hitting over 300 and the team average sits at .306
The Pirates will then welcome a Tulane team who’s season has been embarrassing to this point. Their team ERA is 6.78 and they have 28 errors on the season. Pair this with a lack of hitting and their RPI is 201. This series is a must sweep for the Pirates if they want another national seed.
After playing a series at Cincinnati the Pirates will host their final home weekend of the season against the Memphis Tigers. The Tigers have been decent to this point in the season and you can’t be surprised. Following the 2022 campaign their head coach of 18 years Daron Schoenrock retired. There have been some growing pains but it doesn’t mean the Tigers don’t pose a threat. They are 15-11 and return 3 of their top bats from a year ago. The Bullpen isn’t deep so you better get there early as Jake Curtis and Dalton Kendrick have been stellar. Both have an opponent average of under 200 and Kendrick has seven saves on the year.
The Pirates finish off the season with a trip down to Tampa to take on a South Florida team that always seems to peak at the right time. The Bulls are the only other team in the AAC that received at 1st place vote this season other than the Pirates and in 2021 they won the Gainesville Regional before losing to Texas in the supers. The downside of the Bulls this year has been the pitching. With opponents hitting .286 against then and a team ERA of 6.64 they have put a lot of pressure on the guys at the plate. They have a lot of time to get the pitching figured out before they host the Pirates on May 18th. They should be well prepped for conference play, because even though the pitching hasn’t been good and the record is 10-16 they have played 7 games against ranked opponents and it will only get easier from here. Well until they play the Pirates of course.
The Pirates have a long AAC season ahead but hopefully they can capture another conference title and we see them right back here in Greenville hosting games come postseason play.