The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Hosts Georgia April 16-18
6/21/1999 | Baseball
April 15, 1999
OXFORD, Miss. - The Ole Miss Rebels will host the Georgia Bulldogs this weekend in a three-game Southeastern Conference baseball series beginning Friday night at 7:00 p.m. from Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field.
Game two of the series will be Saturday at 4:00 p.m., and Sunday's series-finale is set for 1:30 p.m.
Saturday will also be the Ole Miss football team's annual Red-Blue game at 1:00 p.m. at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. In addition to buying tickets for Saturday's baseball game at the Swayze Field ticket office, fans will also be able to purchase tickets at the athletic ticket office in the Rebel Shop, next to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. The ticket office in the Rebel shop will open at 11:30 a.m.
The Rebels enter the weekend series 21-16 overall, 10-5 in the SEC and in third-place in the SEC Western Division, two games behind first-place Arkansas. Georgia comes in to the weekend 19-17 overall, 5-9 in the SEC and in third-place in the SEC Eastern Division.
Senior second baseman Brad Henderson needs five hits this weekend to tie Kevin Kessinger as Ole Miss' all-time hit leader with 262 career hits. Henderson currently has 257 career hits, and is hitting .392 on the year with five home runs and 23 RBI. He will also break Jeffrey Johnson's career double record of 53 with his next two-base hit.
Sophomore Justin Huisman comes into the Georgia series one save away from breaking the Ole Miss single-season mark of nine, and tying the school career-record of 13. Huisman has converted on nine-of-11 save opportunities this season, and is 1-0 with a 2.19 ERA in 12 appearances this season. Huisman is also batting .325 as the Rebels' regular shortstop with seven home runs and a team-high 31 RBI.
Georgia is led by junior outfielder Brian Rainwater's .393 batting average with eight home runs and 35 RBI. Rainwater's 35 RBI is also leads the squad. Freshman catcher Doc Brooks is the Bulldogs' top home run hitter with 11. As a team, Georgia is hitting .318, ranking fourth in the SEC.
This weekend's pitching match-ups will feature Ole Miss' junior right-hander Jeff McAvoy, 6-3, 5.28 ERA, against Georgia's senior right-hander Barry Fowler, 4-2, 4.07 ERA, on Friday.
McAvoy has won his last three starts, including last Friday against Florida, pitching 8.1 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk while fanning eight in the Rebels' 8-0 win to earn SEC Pitcher of the Week honors. The shutout marked the first time that Florida had been shutout in 268 games, the longest active streak in NCAA Division I at the time, and the sixth-longest of all- time.
On Saturday, the Rebels will send junior right-hander Dan McShea, 4-1, 4.20 ERA, to the mound against Georgia's freshman right-hander Rob Moravek, 3-2, 3.86 ERA. On Sunday, Georgia will start senior right-hander Cliff Brand, 4-3, 2.61 ERA, while Ole Miss lists TBA.
