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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss To Open Season Friday Versus Jacksonville State
2/14/2002 | Baseball
Feb. 14, 2002
OXFORD, Miss. - The nationally-ranked Ole Miss Rebels will open their 2002 season Friday at 3 p.m., when they host the Jacksonville State Gamecocks at Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field.
Game two of the series is set for Saturday at 4:30 p.m., and Sunday's series-finale is at 1:30 p.m. Saturday's game time was originally scheduled for 1:30 p.m, but was pushed back due to the Ole Miss-Florida men's basketball game at 2 p.m., in the Tad Smith Coliseum.
The Rebels enter the 2002 season coming off one of the best seasons in school history. Ole Miss finished 39-23-1 last spring in Head Coach Mike Bianco's first season with the Rebels, one win shy of the school record of 40 set in 1995. Ole Miss is a consensus preseason top 20 team, and is ranked No. 12 in this week's Collegiate Baseball newspaper poll.
"We're real excited to get the 2002 season going," Bianco said. "Sure, there are high expectations this year with us being a preseason top 20 team, but we also look at it as an honor. Jacksonville State will be a good test for us to open the season. They've swung the bats real well in their first three games, and beat UAB in Birmingham. Hopefully, the weather will stay nice and we will have some large crowds this weekend."
Senior right-hander Pete Montrenes will start on the hill for the Rebels in Friday's season-opener. He went 10-4 with a 3.45 ERA and struck out 107 in 117.1 innings pitched last season, joining former Ole Miss All-American Jamey Price as the only pitchers in school history to record at least 10 wins and 100 strikeouts in a season. Montrenes was named the 2002 Preseason SEC Pitcher of the Year and a second team preseason All-American by Collegiate Baseball newspaper.
Junior right-hander J.R. Pickens, a junior college transfer from Blinn (TX) Junior College, is slated to start Saturday for the Rebels, and sophomore right-hander Nick Bradshaw is scheduled to pitch Sunday. Pickens was an all-conference performer last season at Blinn, posting an 11-2 record with one save and a 3.86 ERA. Bradshaw led the Rebels in relief appearances last spring with 24, and posted a 4-2 ledger with one save and a 3.90 ERA.
Jacksonville State (3-0) opened its season last weekend, sweeping a pair of games from Alabama State and defeating UAB this past Tuesday in Birmingham. The Gamecocks are coached by former Mississippi State assistant Jim Case, and feature Ole Miss transfer Evan Conley.
Conley, a shortstop/third baseman, is hitting .417 (5x12) with one home run and a team-leading seven RBIs through the Gamecocks' first three games.
Jacksonville State is expected to counter on the mound with senior right-hander Steve Shippey (1-0, 0.00), who allowed one unearned run in five innings of work to earn the win in the Gamecocks' season-opener against Alabama State, on Friday. Senior right-hander Jeremy Hudson (0-0, 6.75 ERA) is slated as Saturday's starter, and senior right-hander Lucas McCollum (1-0, 1.59) is expected to go on Sunday. McCollum worked 5.2 innings to earn the win against UAB.
Ole Miss will enter Friday's opener with a streak of 20 consecutive season-opening wins. The last time the Rebels dropped their season opener was in 1981, 8-6 against Livingston at old Swayze Field in Oxford. The Rebels own a perfect 13-0 mark in home openers since moving into Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field in 1989.
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCH-UPS
FRIDAY: Steve Shippey (Sr., RHP, 1-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Pete Montrenes (Sr., RHP, 10-4, 3.45 ERA)
SATURDAY: Jeremy Hudson (Sr., RHP, 0-0, 6.75) vs. J.R. Pickens (Jr., RHP, 11-2, 3.86)
SUNDAY: Lucas McCollum (Sr., RHP, 1-0, 1.59) vs. Nick Bradshaw (So., RHP, 4-2, 3.90)
