The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Baseball Game Notes
3/17/2000 | Baseball
Game #20, Home Game #13 vs. Tennessee
Date: Friday, March 17, 2000
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Stadium: Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field
Location: Oxford, Mississippi
TONIGHT'S PITCHING MATCH-UP
Jamie Bennett (Sr., LHP), 5-1, 1.92 ERA vs. Jeff McAvoy (Sr., RHP), 4-1, 5.68 ERA
UPCOMING PROBABLE PITCHING MATCH-UPS VS. TENNESSEE
Tomorrow: Brian Gates (So., RHP), 3-1, 3.63 ERA vs. TBA
Sunday: Brandon Crowe (Fr., RHP), 1-0, 2.13 ERA vs. Joey Crambitt (Sr., RHP), 3-2, 4.34 ERA
REBELS VS. TENNESSEE: This weekend's series is the first meeting between the two inter-division rivals since 1997 ... Tonight's meeting is the 38th overall in the series, with Ole Miss holding a 20-17 advantage dating back to 1924 ... following two games in Oxford in 1924, the two schools didn't meet again until 1969, and then again till 1979 ... Tennessee has won five of the last six meetings and nine of the last 11 ... the Rebels are 12-8 all-time against the Volunteers in Oxford, including a 12-8 mark at Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field ... in Knoxville, Ole Miss is 7-8 versus the Volunteers ... Tennessee took two-of-three games from the Rebels in Oxford during the last meeting between the two schools in 1997.
SCOUTING TENNESSEE: Tennessee comes into this weekend's series having 12 of its last 14, including two straight ... Arkansas won two-of-three games from the Vols last weekend in Knoxville, including a 10-5 decision last Friday to snap Tennessee's 10-game winning streak ... they are hitting .332 as a team with 22 HRs, and have outscored their opponents 225-88 ... Volunteer pitchers have posted an ERA of 2.98 with four shutouts, and opponents are hitting just .229 against them with 11 HRs ... Tennessee assistant coach Larry Simcox was an assistant at Ole Miss from 1985-90 under Jake Gibbs and played under Gibbs from 1980-81, earning All-SEC accolades in 1981.
IN THE POLLS: Ole Miss is not ranked in any of the three major college baseball polls but did receive 19 votes in the latest Baseball Weekly/ESPN Coaches Poll to finish 13th among "Others Receiving Votes." ... Tennessee received 69 votes in the Baseball Weekly/ESPN Coaches poll to finish tied for third among "Others Receiving Votes."
AFTER 19 GAMES LAST YEAR: Ole Miss was 8-11 through 19 games in 1999 ... the Rebels were hitting .308 (210-682) with 27 HRs, 44 doubles, nine triples and 116 RBIs ... they had been outscored by the opposition 130-128 ... Ole Miss had stole 13 bases in 24 attempts and grounded into 11 double plays ... Rebel pitchers had a 6.33 ERA (162.0 IP, 114 ER), allowing 172 hits, including 17 HRs, walked 91 and had struck out 131... Ole Miss had a .964 fielding percentage with 25 errors.
REBEL BULLET POINTS:
Head coach Pat Harrison is aiming for his 100th victory at Ole Miss today. He is currently 99-88 (.529) as the Rebels' skipper, and is looking to become the sixth coach in school history to win 100 games at Ole Miss.
The Rebels have homered in five straight games.
Ole Miss has won 30 of its last 38 home games dating back to last season.
The Rebels have won 19 of their last 25 games against SEC Eastern Division teams dating back to 1998.
Dating back to last season, Ole Miss has won eight of its last 11 SEC series-openers. The Rebels are 1-0 this season in series openers, and were 7-3 last season.
Since 1998, Ole Miss is 57-8 (.877 winning percentage) when leading after seven innings, and 61-4 (.938) when leading after eight innings.
TONIGHT'S STARTING PITCHER
#34 Jeff McAvoy, Sr., RHP
(Palmer, Mass./Palmer H.S./Western Carolina)
Is making his sixth start of the season.
Is 4-1 with a 5.68 ERA (25.1 IP, 16 ER).
Pitched four shutout innings against Nicholls State in the season-opener (2/11), allowing two hits and one walk.
Was credited with the win versus the Colonels after being lifted due to a pitch count.
Allowed just one hit and two runs in six innings of work in his start against Louisiana Tech (2/18).
Struck out a season-high seven against the Bulldogs.
Worked a season long 6.1 innings in his last start at Florida (3/10), allowing four runs on six hits and one walk to earn the win.
Career Numbers:
Is making the 42th appearance of his career and 35th career start.
Is 18-12 with an ERA of 5.53 (226.1 IP, 139 ER).
LAST START: Pitched 6.1 innings, allowing four runs on six hits and one walk, and fanned three in earning the win at Florida (3/10) ... retired the first nine batters he faced before Mark Kiger led off the fourth with a solo home run ... following Kiger's home run, McAvoy set down seven straight until Pat Osborn singled through the left side of the infield with one out in the sixth ... Tim Olson hit a lead-off double to spark a three-run seventh ... Tony Soccarras followed with a RBI single to score Olson ... after getting Ryan Shealy to foul out to third, Peter Nystrom drew a walk and Taylor Wood hit a RBI double to right center to cut the Rebel lead to 6-3 ... Ronnie Goodwin then came on to relieve McAvoy.
PRIOR START: Worked five innings, allowing one unearned run on four hits and a season-high four walks in earning the win against SE Missouri State last Friday (3/3) ... The Indians scored their lone run in the first ... Kevin Meyer reached on an error by third baseman Banks Robinson, and advanced to third when Clemente Bonilla followed with a single ... After striking out Jeremy Johnson, Darin Kinsolving drew a walk to load the bases ... Phil Warren then grounded into a fielder's choice to score Meyer ... relieved by Ronnie Goodwin at the start of the sixth.
McAVOY AND TENNESSEE: This will be McAvoy's first career appearance versus Tennessee in two-plus seasons at Ole Miss.
McAVOY VS. SEC OPPONENTS: Has a 10-7 career mark with a 5.18 ERA (160.0 IP, 92 ER) against SEC opponents in 24 career appearances, including 23 starts ... went 5-4 with a 4.00 ERA (87.2 IP, 39 ER) in 12 starts against SEC schools last season ... is 1-0 with a 5.69 ERA (6.1 IP, 4 ER) against SEC opponents this season in one start.
McAVOY VS. THE SEC EAST: Is 3-3 with a 6.78 ERA (73.0 IP, 55 ER) in 11 career starts against SEC East teams ... went 2-1 with a 4.50 ERA (36.0 IP, 18 ER) against the SEC Eastern Division last season ... is 1-0 with a 5.69 ERA (6.1 IP, 4 ER) against the Eastern Division this season in one start.
McAVOY MISCELLANEOUS STATS:
Is 11-2 with a 3.12 ERA (109.2 IP, 38 ER) in 20 career appearances at Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field.
Is 3-0 with a 1.20 ERA (15.0 IP, 2 ER) this season in three starts at home.
Has won nine straight decisions at home, with his last home lost coming on April 4, 1998 against South Carolina.
Opponents are hitting .219 (21-96) against him.
Is 6-6 with a 8.68 ERA (85.0 IP, 82 ER) in 16 career appearances, including 15 starts, on the road.
Is 1-1 with a 12.20 (10.1 IP, 14 ER) in two starts away from Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field this season.
Is 8-4 with a career 4.93 ERA (104.0 IP, 57 ER) in 18 career outings at night, including 15 starts.
Is 2-0 with a 3.18 ERA (11.1 IP, 4 ER) in two starts at night this season.
Has a 9-8 record with a 6.03 ERA (122.1 IP, 82 ER) in 23 day game outings in his career.
In 2000, he is 2-1 with a 7.71 ERA (14 IP, 10 ER) in three day game starts.
Has a career mark of 5-3 with a 5.79 ERA (60.2 IP, 39 ER) in 12 appearances, including 10 starts, in the month of March.
Is 2-0 with a 3.18 ERA (11.1 IP, 4 ER) during the month of March this season.
