The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Baseball Game Notes
6/21/1999 | Baseball
May 15, 1999
GAME #55 VS. NO. 17 MISSISSIPPI STATESATURDAY, MAY 15, 1999; 4:00 PMOXFORD-UNIVERSITY STADIUM/SWAYZE FIELD
TODAY'S GAME: Ole Miss (31-23, 16-12 SEC) will host arch-rival Mississippi State game two of this weekend's three-game Southeastern Conference series today at 4:00 p.m. from Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field. Ole Miss leads the series 1-0 after winning 2-1 last night. Tomorrow's series-finale is set for 1:30 p.m.
TV/RADIO: There is no television for this weekend's series but all games can be heard on stations along the Mississippi Network with David Kellum and Gary Darby providing play-by-play and color commentary. The game can also be heard live over the internet at www.wqlj.com.
TODAY'S STARTING PITCHERS:Dan McShea (Jr., RHP, 5-3, 4.92 ERA) Career vs. MSU: 0-0, 5.40 ERAHank Thoms (Sr., RHP, 7-4, 2.39 ERA) Career vs. UM: 0-0, 1 Sv., 0.00 ERA
TOMORROW'S PROBABLE PITCHING MATCH-UP: Nathan Lyons (Fr., LHP), 4-2, 3.57 ERA vs. Matt Ginter (Jr., RHP), 7-6, 4.52 ERA.
McSHEA VS. BULLDOGS: Chapman .000 (0-2), Knott 1.000 (1-1), McGrath 1.000 (1-1), Terry .333 (1-3), Wiese .000 (0-2), Willingham 1.000 (1-1)
THOMS VS. REBELS: Henderson .000 (0-2), Hill .000 (0-1), Huisman .000 (0-1), Mead .000 (0-2), Shelton .000 (0-2), Voltz .000 (0-2), Williamson .500 (1-2)
LAST NIGHT: Justin Huisman came on with the bases loaded in the ninth inning and preserved a 2-1 Rebel lead to notch his 10th save of the year and give the Rebels' a series-opening win. Burney Hutchinson's, two-out, two-run double in the seventh proved to be the game-winner. Ole Miss starter Jeff McAvoy, 8-4, worked eight-plus inning, allowing one run on eight hits and striking out six to earn the win. Mississippi State out-hit the Rebels 8-4 in the loss.
REBELS VS. BULLDOGS: Ole Miss records lists Mississippi State leading the series 161-134-1 dating back to the early 1900s ... Mississippi State records has the Bulldogs leading the series 210-166-5 dating back to 1893 ... The Rebels lead the season-series 2-0 ... Ole Miss has out-scored MSU 12-7 in 1999 ... MSU has won the last two SEC series against the Rebels, including sweeping Ole Miss the last time the two met in Oxford in 1997 ... The Bulldogs won last year's series 2-1 in Starkville ... The Rebels last series win was in 1996, 2-1 in Starkville ... Ole Miss has lost all three, three-game SEC series against Mississippi State that have been contested in Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field since the facility opened in 1989 ... The Rebels are 11-27 against the Bulldogs in the 1990s ... Third-year head coach Pat Harrison is 3-7 against MSU.
REBELS CLINCH BERTH TO SEC TOURNAMENT: Last night's 2-1 win clinched Ole Miss a berth into next week's SEC Tournament in Birmingham. It is the first time the Rebels have qualified for a conference tournament since 1982. Ole Miss competed in the 1995 SEC Western Division Tournament when the conference held seperate East and West Division tournament. If the season ended today, Ole Miss would be the No. 6 seed and would open the tournament against No. 3 seed Alabama.
HUISMAN BREAKS SINGLE-SEASON SAVE RECORD: Justin Huisman notched his 10th save of the season last night to break Rory Ferrell's 1977 Ole Miss single-season save mark of nine. It was the 13th save of his career to tie him with Skipper Wright (1983-86) as Ole Miss' all-time save leader. Prior to last night, Huisman hadn't recorded a save in over a month, since April 7 against Memphis.
GENERAL NOTES: Ole Miss aiming for its sixth SEC series win of the season ... The Rebels are now 20-4 at home this season, including 11-2 in SEC play ... Ole Miss is 5-8 versus the SEC West this season ... The Rebels are 10-4 in one-run contests this season ... Ole Miss is 11-2 when its starting pitcher records a quality start (min. 6 IP, 4 ER or less), and 14-5 when its starter goes six innings or more ... Brad Henderson has hit safely in 18 of the last 19 games ... Henderson has hit safely in 25-of-28 SEC games this season ... Henderson's 20 doubles ranks one shy of the Ole Miss single-season record of 21 set by Chris Snopek in 1992 ... Henderson's 85 hits moves him within nine of tying David Dellucci's 1995 single-season record of 94.
TODAY'S STARTING PITCHERDAN McSHEA (5-3, 4.92 ERA)
Has made 19 appearances, including seven starts ... started the year as a valuable middle reliever before being inserted into the SEC rotation at Vanderbilt on April 3 ... will be making his 58th career apperance today, tying him for 10th-place on the school's career list ... has made 11 career starts ... has an 8-6 career record with a 5.44 ERA ... made first start of the year against SE Missouri State (2/23), allowing two runs on seven hits and striking out a career-high seven in five innings of work to earn the win ... pitched three innings of scoreless relief against South Alabama (2/27) to earn his lone save of 1999 ... pitched the final two innings in relief to combine with Chad Mead and Glen Morris on a one-hit performance of Morehead State (3/17) ... tied career-high with seven strike outs in 3.1 innings of relief versus Kentucky (3/20) in earning the win in a 9-1 Rebel victory ... best outing came in a start against Georgia (4/17), allowing one run on seven hits and two walks, while striking out four in seven innings to earn the win ... pitched a career-long eight innings against Alabama (5/1).
LAST START: Worked 3.1 innings in taking a 9-4 loss to nationally-ranked Arkansas in Fayetteville ... allowed five runs, four earned, on six hits ... Arkansas plated two runs in the second, one earned, one Scott Crossett's two-run single ... The Razorbacks chased McShea in the fourth as three of the four batters he faced in the inning reached base, including giving up back-to-back doubles to Ryan Lundquist and Jack Welsh to open the inning.
PRIOR START: Carried a 4-3 lead into the ninth inning against Alabama on May 1, but the Crimson Tide rallied for five runs in the inning, with two credited to McShea to hand him an 8-4 loss ... all five runs were earned on 13 hits and two walks, while striking out five ... Alabama scored three runs off of McShea in the first ... The Crimson Tide put at least two runners on base in each of the next three innings but McShea was able to escape unscored upon ... Alabama had a runner thrown out at home in the sixth on Darren Wood's double in the sixth ... The Crimson Tide had runners on second and third in the eighth but could not score ... McShea yielded back-to-back singles to start the ninth with both runners scoring to give him the loss.
McSHEA'S CAREER NUMBERS VERSUS THE BULLDOGS: Has no decisions in four career appearances against Mississippi State ... pitched a scoreless inning of relief in his only appearance in last year's series in Starkville ... worked two innings of scoreless relief in the 1998 Mayor's Trophy game ... allowed one run in an inning of relief in the 1997 Mayor's Trophy contest ... longest outing against the Bulldogs came on April 25, 1997 in Oxford, working 2.2 innings of relief and allowing four runs, three earned, on five hits and two walks, while striking out four.
McSHEA MISCELLANEOUS STATS: Opponents are hitting .278 against him with six HRs ... Is 3-1 with a save at home this season with a 3.21 ERA in seven appearances, including four starts ... is 2-1 in home SEC games with a 3.80 ERA in four appearances, making three starts ... in away games, is 2-1 with a 5.79 ERA in 10 appearances with three starts ... has posted a 2-1 record in road SEC games with a 6.29 ERA in six outings, including three starts ... in games contested at neutral sites is 0-1 with a 27.00 ERA in two appearances.