Blue Mountain, Mississippi- Two programs off to exceptional starts get the call for the NAIA Ball Big Series of the Week! This week features a big Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) matchup between the only two teams in conference who swept their opening weekends.
Who’s Playing
#8 Mobile travels to northern Mississippi this weekend with an overall record of 17-2 (3-0 SSAC) to take on 18-4 (3-0 SSAC) Blue Mountain Christian. This will be BMC’s first real big test of the year as it will be the first matchup against a team in the Top 25 for them. Mobile, on the other hand, raced into the top 10 in the first in-season poll and so far 1-0 against Top 25 opponents with their lone win being 8-7 over #4 LSU-Shreveport.
History
Mobile leads the all-time series 17-7, but this series will not be played in Mobile, where the Rams are 11-1 all-time against the Toppers. These games will be played in Blue Mountain, where the teams are an even 6-6 all-time, including being tied 3-3 in their last two series in Mississippi. Blue Mountain has only won the series twice ever, and both of those series wins came in Mississippi.
Schedule
Game 1- Friday 5p cst
Game 2- Saturday 12p cst
Game 3- Saturday 30 minuets after game 2
How to watch
All games available on the Blue Mountain Sports Stream YouTube page
(hit underlined text to be taken to page)
The Teams
#8 Mobile is off to an incredible start in the 2023 year and had the biggest jump in the first coaches’ poll, going from unranked to inside of the Top 10. Mobile is 15-0 at home this year but 2-2 on the road. Trevor Andrews is absolutely going off this season, hitting over .500 with 29 hits, 10 long balls, and 40 runs batted in. This team can hit, and the lineup is solidifying itself into something special. Pitching wise the Rams have a 4.87 earned run average for their staff. In terms of regular starters Michael Sikes has been their best arm in 18 innings pitched with a 3.50 earned run average. In total, 18 pitchers have thrown at least 1 inning for Mobile this season, and 5 different pitchers have recorded a save. The strength of the Rams is offensive, a team average of .364 with a slugging percentage over .580%. They’ve scored more than 10 runs in 8 of their 19 games and have yet to be shutout this year.
Blue Mountain Christian first winning season according to their website was 2017, and by a long shot this team is off to the best start this program has seen in quite a while. The Toppers have not played the wildest schedule by any means, but they have been really good at winning the games you’d expect them to win. Offensively the Toppers are led by Alex Frillman who s tied for the team lead in hits, and the clubhouse leader in runs batted in, just over Reiley Tate. The Blue Mountain pitching staff has been phenomenal this season, Junior Matthew Koch has a 0.96 earned run average in 28 innings pitched. Koch along with Senior Josh Smith have led the way for the Toppers this year, throwing at least 10 more innings than the next arms.
Final Thoughts
This series presents opportunities and challenges for both programs. For Mobile, its seeing what it’s offense can do against a pitching staff in Blue Mountain that has put together good numbers. As well its a good stepping stone before the Mobile schedule gets a bit rocky with great competition in the next two weeks. For Blue Mountain Christian, its the toughest test they will have faced this year, and likely the best offense this staff has seen. The Toppers received the least amount of votes in the most recent coaches poll, one way to change opinions quickly is to go out and be hyper-competitive in a series like this.
-Robby Gutierrez