The University of Mississippi Athletics
Baseball Twins Sign Letter of Intent
6/21/1999 | Baseball
May 28, 1998
OXFORD, Miss. Twin brothers, Joel and Nathan Lyons, left-handed pitchers from Kennett, Mo., have signed national letters of intent to play baseball at Ole Miss, head coach Pat Harrison announced Thursday.
The two brothers continue a family athletic tradition at Ole Miss. Their father, Tommy, was a two-year letterwinner in baseball for the Rebels in 1974 and 1975. Kenny Lyons, Tommy's brother and uncle to Joel and Nathan, played quarterback at Ole Miss during the 1971, 1973 and 1974 seasons. He still holds the single-season mark for completion percentage at 64.8 percent set in 1971. Another uncle, Barry Lyons, is a former Delta State great in basball and played six years in the major leagues with the New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers and California Angels from 1986-1991. He is currently in his second-year as manager of the Cincinnati Reds' Class A farm team in Charleston, W.V., of the South Atlantic League.
"We're very glad to have Joel and Nathan decide to come here and carry on their family's athletic tradition at Ole Miss," Harrison said. "With both of them being left-handed pitchers, we feel they will make a very big contribution to our pitching staff."
This past season, Joel and Nathan both earned all-conference honors with Nathan also being selected as the conference's player of the year. Nathan recorded a 4-2 record on the hill, striking out an astounding 102 in 51 innings of work, and recording a stellar 1.37 earned run average. He also tossed three one-hitters and registered 17 strikeouts in a contest this season. As a hitter, Nathan hit .573 with 34 runs batted in and tied a Kennett school single-season record with eight home runs. Nathan was also an all-conference selection as a sophomore.
Joel ended his career as a three-time all-conference honoree after earning all-conference accolades after his freshman and junior seasons as well. As a pitcher this season, he recorded the same 4-2 record as his brother and registered 50 strikeouts in 30 innings of work with a 2.23 ERA. He also fired a no-hitter this season. At the plate, Joel hit .477 with seven home runs and 24 RBIs.
The duo started every game since their freshmen seasons for Kennett and helped lead Kennett to two district and three conference championships. They also helped their school to two berths in the Missouri state playoffs and helped Kennett's American Legion squad to a pair of berths in the American Legion state tournament.
