We have ourselves a glorious Friday night slate on the diamond, as aces are wild and there are a plethora of marquee matchups to break down.
I'm not going to lie — it was hard to narrow down my three best plays for this slate because there are plenty of spots that I like tonight.
If you want my full card, be sure to follow me on the Action app. Without further ado, here are my top three plays for tonight's slate.
Miami vs. Florida State
7 p.m. ET · ACC Network
On a Friday full of quality arms, this matchup may feature two of the best.
Parker Messick will be on the mound for the Seminoles, and he has been nothing short of fantastic this season. He'll enter this start looking for his seventh victory of the year while carrying a 2.56 ERA and the national lead in strikeouts (128).
The Hurricanes' lineup will not roll over against Messick, as they're very potent. That production at the plate is the main reason why Miami's a top-10 team.
However, Messick may be the best they've faced thus far and should keep them relatively quiet.
Although, the Seminoles' bats may be kept in check as well. Miami ace Carson Palmquist is set to toe the slab with his 2.95 ERA and 92 strikeouts in 64 innings of work.
Palmquist has the lighter task on his hands as the Seminoles lineup has been dormant at times. They are hitting just .262 as a team and average under six runs per game.
I expect Messick and Palmquist to duel for the duration of this game and keep the scoring to a minimum.
Pick: Under 8.5
Vanderbilt vs. Arkansas
7:30 p.m. ET · SEC Network+
We move onto the next top-notch pitching matchup as Vanderbilt's Devin Futrell will square off against Arkansas' Connor Noland.
The freshman Futrell has pitched so well that he has muscled his way into the Friday night slot. It's hard to argue with numbers like these:
And Devin Futrell's national rankings because he has too many to fit in one tweet:
-0.80 WHIP (4th)
-1.11 BB/9 (9th)
-9.17 K/BB ratio (9th)
-8 wins (T-9th)
-2.03 ERA (20th)
-6.1 H/9 (29th)— Aria Gerson (@aria_gerson) May 10, 2022
While Futrell's numbers may be impressive, this bump up to the Friday night slot from the midweek spot is big, especially when you consider that he's the SEC's leader in ERA without facing an SEC team all year.
Fortunately for him, the Razorbacks offense has not been up to snuff this season.
They'll enter hitting just .277 as a team and averaging a little over seven runs per game, but we've seen them go quiet in conference play. It just hasn't hurt them as much because they've had Noland to bail them out.
Noland has been stupendous this season, and he enters this start with a 2.99 ERA and .230 BAA. It has typically been "win day" when Noland takes the mound for Arkansas, but the Vandy lineup has several bats to worry about, including stud catcher Dominic Keegan, who's hitting .392.
Overall, Noland and Futell should match each other as both of these lineups struggle to maintain rallies.
Pick: Under 8.5
Mississippi State vs. Texas A&M
7:30 p.m. ET · SEC Network+
The Aggies are a surging program as they enter this series coming off of three straight SEC series victories over Vanderbilt, Arkansas and Georgia. This run has vaulted them all the way to No. 10 in D1 Baseball's top 25 rankings.
Not only is this Aggies program hot, but they'll have ace Nathan Dettmer going tonight. He's been the leader of the staff all season and has stepped up the last couple of weeks to deliver some gems against the conference's best.
Now, he'll get a Mississippi State team that's about as cold as it gets. The Bulldogs enter this game on a six-game losing streak, and their conference record has dropped to 9-15.
Look for the Aggies to keep on rolling tonight behind their ace.
Pick: Texas A&M -165
