Ole Miss Baseball Game Notes

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Wednesday, April 18, 2001 * Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field * Oxford, MS * 6:30 p.m.

RECORDSTEAM             W   L   T   PCT.   HOME   ROAD   NEUTRAL   CONF.   NON-CONF.  STREAKArkansas State  16  23   0  .410   12-13    4-8       0-2    8-7    8-16       L1REBELS           27  12   1  .688  18-5-1    9-6       0-1   11-7      16-5-1       L1
TONIGHT'S PITCHING MATCH-UP                                                                 CAREER VS.TEAM  NO.  NAME         Yr.  L/R    IP   W  L  SV  BB  SO   ERA  OPPONENTASU    TBAUM    18   Mike Gray Jr.  L    51.2   2  1   0  23  44  5.92  First appearance

TV/RADIO
TV: None
Radio: Ole Miss Radio Network (David Kellum and Gary Darby), 6:15 p.m. airtime

UPCOMING PROBABLE PITCHING MATCH-UPS VS. FLORIDA (TV/RADIO)
Friday: Keith Brice (Sr., R, 1-2, 9.85) vs. Pete Montrenes (Jr., R, 7-3, 3.38), TV- None, Radio- Ole Miss Radio Network, airtime 6:15 p.m.
Saturday: Jimmy Ramshaw (Jr., L, 3-3, 6.38) vs. Dan McShea (Sr., R, 2-4, 4.41), TV- None, Radio- Ole Miss Radio Network, airtime 3:45 p.m.
Sunday: Alex Hart (So., R, 2-1, 8.18) vs. TBA, TV- None, Radio- Ole Miss Radio Network, airtime 12:45 p.m.

IN THE POLLS: Ole Miss is ranked in all three major college baseball polls for the fifth straight week, receiving a rating as high as No. 15 by Collegiate Baseball newspaper, up seven spots from the previous week. The Rebels maintained their ranking from last week in the Baseball America and Baseball Weekly/ESPN Coaches polls at No. 18 and No. 22, respectively.

LAST TIME OUT: Freshman LHP Lane Mestepey pitched a complete game and overcame four errors by his defense to improve to 7-0 on the season as No. 2 LSU defeated No. 18 Ole Miss, 6-3, Sunday afternoon at Alex Box Stadium, in the rubber-match of the three-game SEC series. The win put the Tigers in sole possession of first place in the SEC Western Division and overall conference standings. The Rebels dropped a game back of LSU. Mestepey scattered nine hits and walked none, while striking out two. Senior RHP Dan McShea went 7.2 innings for Ole Miss, allowing six runs on 10 hits and one walk, while striking out six in his first start on a SEC weekend since 1999. Burney Hutchinson, Lance Jones and Banks Robinson all recorded two hits each. Jones hit his sixth HR of the season with a lead-off blast in the fourth inning to spark a three-run inning that gave the Rebels a 3-2 lead. LSU took the lead with three runs in the sixth, capped by Mike Heath's two-run home run to break a 3-3 tie. The Tigers later added an insurance run in the eighth for the 6-3 final.

SCOUTING THE INDIANS: Arkansas State enters tonight's game 16-23. The Indians are 8-7 in the Sun Belt. ASU won 2-of-3 this past weekend against Louisiana Tech in Jonesboro, and has won five of its last seven, including winning two from Louisiana-Lafayette in a conference series. UL-Lafayette was a participant in last year's College World Series. The Indians are hitting .258 as a team with 16 HRs, led by senior OF/C Nick Martin's .316 (50x158) average. Senior OF Kyle Brunen is hitting .260 (40x154) but is tied for the team-lead in HRs, three, and leads the Indians in RBI with 24. Senior 1B/C Kent Brunen and senior 3B Allen Mazzanti also have three HRs. Indian pitchers have a team ERA of 4.71 (342.0 IP, 179), and opponents are hitting .265 against them 24 HRs.

SERIES INFO: Tonight's meeting is the 75th all-time between the two schools dating back to 1951 ... Ole Miss leads the all-time series 59-15 ... this is the second meeting of the year, as Ole Miss defeated ASU 5-2 in Jonesboro back on Mar. 7 ... the Rebels have won three straight in the series and nine of the last 10 ... Ole Miss has won six consecutive against ASU in Oxford ... the Indians' last win in Oxford was 9-4 in 1994, and their last win in the series came in 1999, 6-4 in Jonesboro ... the Rebels are 43-6 versus ASU in Oxford, including 11-1 at Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field, and 16-9 in Jonesboro.

OLE MISS VS. THE SUN BELT: Arkansas State is the third Sun Belt Conference team Ole Miss has faced this season. The Rebels have gone 5-2 against the Sun Belt, winning 2-of-3 from Arkansas-Little Rock to open the season, Fen. 10-11, taking 2-of-3 from Louisiana Tech in Ruston, La., Feb. 23-25, and defeating the Indians 5-2 in Jonesboro, Ark., back on Mar. 7. All-time, Ole Miss 114-58 (.663 winning percentage) against teams that currently play baseball in the Sun Belt Conference, including 11-4 dating back to last season. The following chart shows how Ole Miss has fared against individual Sun Belt schools:

School                 Record     Pct.Arkansas-Little Rock    10-4    .714Arkansas State         59-15 .797Louisiana-Lafayette  1-2    .333Louisiana Tech         25-10    .714Middle Tennessee State  6-10    .375New Orleans          3-5    .375South Alabama           8-12    .400Western Kentucky     2-0    1.000

AFTER 40 GAMES LAST YEAR: Ole Miss was 24-16 after 40 games last season ... The Rebels had a .287 batting average (407x1,416) with 34 HRs, 216 RBI, 70 doubles and six triples ... Ole Miss had outscored its opponents 243-218 ... The Rebels stole 37-of-54 bases and had hit into 22 double plays ... Ole Miss pitchers had a 4.44 ERA (352.2 IP, 174 ER), allowing 356 hits, including 28 HRs, walked 162 and struck out 260 ... The Rebels had committed 61 errors and turned 31 double plays.

REBEL DIAMOND NOTES:
* Tonight's game is the first of six consecutive home games following a season-long seven-game road trip.
* The Rebels finished the road swing 3-4 after losing 6-3 to LSU on Sunday.
* Ole Miss has not lost back-to-back games this season.
* Ole Miss has homered at least once in six straight games, its longest such streak of the season.
* Rebel pitchers have allowed at least one HR in six consecutive games, its longest such streak of the year.
* The Rebels lead the SEC in triples with 16, two ahead of Arkansas with 14.
* Ole Miss has been errorless the last two games.
* Ole Miss has allowed 10 or more hits in five of the last six games.
* The Rebels are 17-12 (.586) in April dating back to last season after going 15-5 (.750) in April during their regional year of 1999. Ole Miss is 5-4 during April this season.

TONIGHT'S STARTING PITCHER
#18 Mike Gray (6-1, 196, Jr., LHP)

* Is making his 12th appearance, including 11th start of the season.
* Is 2-1 with a 5.92 ERA (51.2 IP, 34 ER), 23 walks and 44 strikeouts.
* Ole Miss is 9-1 this season in games he's started, scoring an average of 8.8 runs per game.
* Opponents are hitting .313 (66x211) against him with two HRs.
* Is allowing an average of 11.5 hits and 4.0 walks per nine innings.
* Is striking out an average of 7.7 per nine innings.
* Has turned in six quality starts (at least 6 IP, 4 ER or less).
* Has not made its past the fourth inning in his last four starts, going 0-1 with a 19.29 ERA (9.1 IP, 20 ERA).
* Made first career start versus Arkansas-Little Rock (2/11), earning a no decision in a 5-2 Ole Miss win (6.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 SO).
* Notched first career win in his start versus SE Missouri State (2/18), working six innings, allowing two runs on five hits and two walks, and struck out four.
* Worked a season-long eight innings and struck out a season-high 10 start against Arizona (3/3).
* Allowed three runs -- two earned -- on seven hits and three walks against the Wildcats in taking a no decision in the Rebels' 5-4, 17-inning win.
* Made his first relief appearance against Mississippi State in the Mayor's Trophy game in Jackson, Miss., on Mar. 28 (ND, 1.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 SO).
* Suffered his first loss of the season against Georgia on Mar. 31, allowing five runs on three hits and two walks while not making it out of the first inning (5 hitters faced).

LAST START: Pitched into the third inning before being relieved by Adam Yates following a lead-off walk to Mike Heath ... Allowed back-to-back hits Ryan Theriot and Mike Fontenot to start the game ... Wally Pontiff's sac fly to right scored Theriot and gave LSU a 1-0 lead ... LSU batted around against him in the second, scoring five runs on four hits and two walks ... Bryan Moore's two-run double capped the inning and put the Tigers up 6-0 ... Ole Miss rallied to tie it in the top of the third to give Gray a no decision ... Threw 63 pitches, 32 for strikes.

PRIOR START: Pitched four-plus innings, allowing four runs, three earned, on nine hits and one walk ... Struck out three .... Threw 81 pitches, 47 for strikes ... Brian Kirby had a RBI single in the first to score Brad Hagedorn ... Retired the side in order in the second for his only 1-2-3 inning ... Arkansas scored two runs on four hits in the third with a RBI single from Ryan Fox and a run-scoring double from Jeff Fletcher ... Issued a lead-off walk to Kirby to start the fifth inning and was then lifted for Nick Bradshaw.

GRAY VS. ARKANSAS STATE: This will be Gray's first career appearance against Arkansas State.

GRAY AND NON-CONFERENCE OPPONENTS: Is 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA (28.0 IP, 7 ER) in four starts versus non-conference opponents this season.

GRAY'S MISCELLANEOUS STATS:
* Is 2-1 with a 5.70 ERA (30.0 IP, 19 ER) in six starts at home.
* Is 0-0 with a 5.66 ERA (20.2 IP, 13 ER) in four starts on the road.
* Is 0-0 with an 18.00 ERA (1.0 IP, 2 ER) in one relief appearance at a neutral site (Mar. 28 vs. Mississippi State, Mayor's Trophy game in Jackson, Miss.).
* Is 2-1 with a 5.68 ERA (50.2 IP, 32 ER) in 10 starts during the day.
* Is 0-0 with an 18.00 ERA (1.0 IP, 2 ER) in one relief appearance at night.

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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