Baseball Game Notes

April 3, 2002

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GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Date: Wednesday, April 3, 2002
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Site: Smith-Wills Stadium

RECORDS

TEAM	W	L	T	PCT.	SEC	NON-CONF.	HOME	AWAY*	STRK
Ole Miss	21	7	0	.750	5-4	16-3	16-3	5-4	W6
Mississippi State	15	9	1	.620	4-4	11-5-1	10-5-1	5-4	W1

* - includes neutral site games.

TODAY'S PROBABLE PITCHING MATCH-UP

TEAM	No.	Name	Yr.	L/R	IP	W	L	SV	ERA	BB	SO	VS. OPPONENT
UM	18	Mike Gray	Sr.	L	7.0	1	0	0	2.57	4	2	0-0, 18.00 ERA (1 App.)
MSU	29	Jacob Blakeney	Jr.	R	15.1	0	1	0	5.87	4	17	First meeting

UPCOMING PROBABLE PITCHING MATCH-UPS (RADIO/TV)
Friday vs. Vanderbilt: Jeremy Sowers (Fr., RHP, 3-2, 3.72) vs. J.R. Pickens (Jr., RHP, 5-1, 3.06) - Ole Miss Radio Network, 6:45 p.m.
Saturday vs. Vanderbilt: Jeff Little (Sr., RHP, 4-2, 4.03) vs. Pete Montrenes (Sr., RHP, 6-2, 4.37) - Ole Miss Radio Network, 1:15 p.m.
Sunday vs. Vanderbilt: TBA vs. Alan Horne (Fr., RHP, 1-1, 6.46 ERA) - Ole Miss Radio Network, 1:15 P.M.

REBEL GAME NOTES
AT A GLANCE: No. 11 Ole Miss (21-7) and in-state rival Mississippi State (15-9-1) will meet tonight in the 23rd annual Mayor's Trophy game at 6:30 p.m., at Smith-Wills Stadium in Jackson, Miss. Tonight's game will not count in the Southeastern Conference standings. The Rebels, winners of six straight, will send senior left-hander Mike Gray (1-0, 2.57 ERA) to the mound. The Bulldogs, 5-5 in their last 10 games, are expected to counter with junior right-hander Jacob Blakeney (0-1, 5.87). Tonight's can be heard on stations along the Ole Miss Radio Network beginning at 6:15 p.m., with David Kellum and Gary Darby.

LAST TIME OUT: Ole Miss scored 10 unanswered runs, starting in the fifth inning, en route to a 12-2 win at Kentucky Sunday and complete a three-game sweep of the Wildcats. Freshman RHP Alan Horne picked up his first career victory, allowing two runs on seven hits and two walks over 5 2/3 innings, while striking out three. Burney Hutchinson, Drew Rogers, and Matt Tolbert all recorded three hits each as the Rebels out-hit the Wildcats 14-9. Hutchinson and Rogers also homered in the contest.

FRIDAY'S SERIES OPENER WITH VANDERBILT SCHEDULED FOR 7 P.M.: Friday's series opener against Vanderbilt is scheduled for 7 p.m., at Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field, instead of the normal 6:30 p.m., start time for night games, due to the Chucky Mullins Courage Award banquet being held on campus that evening at 6:30 p.m.

IN THE POLLS: Ole Miss is ranked No. 11 in this week's Collegiate Baseball Top 30, up four spots from last week, jumped five spots to No. 12 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, moved up five places to No. 13 in the Baseball Weekly/ESPN Coaches Top 25, and gained four spots to No. 15 in the Baseball America Top 25. Mississippi State enters tonight's game unranked.

REBELS VS. BULLDOGS: Tonight's meeting is the 395th all-time between Ole Miss and Mississippi State dating back to 1893 ... The Bulldogs leads the all-time series 214-175-5 ... Ole Miss is 95-83-3 against Mississippi State in Oxford, 64-109-1 in Starkville, and 16-23 at neutral sites, including 10-13 in Jackson.

MAYOR'S TROPHY NOTES: Tonight's contest is the 23rd Mayor's Trophy game, which has been played annually in Jackson since 1980 ... Mississippi State leads the Mayor's Trophy series 13-9, though, the Rebels have won two of the last three ... 10 of the previous 22 Mayor's Trophy games have been decided by one run ... Heading into last season's contest, Ole Miss won the trophy in back-to-back years for the first time in the series, winning 10-6 in 1999 and 3-2 in 2000 ... Last year's 15-6 win by Mississippi State was the largest margin of victory in the 22 previous games.

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS: Mississippi State enters tonight's game hitting .317 as a team, and ranked fifth in the SEC entering the week. Seven regulars are hitting over .300, led by senior OF Casey Long's .393 (33x84) average. Freshman Jon Mungle had hit a team-best five home runs and sophomore Matthew Brinson had recorded a team-leading 29 RBIs. Bulldog pitchers have a team ERA of 3.97, ranking sixth in the conference entering the week. Mississippi State was fifth in fielding percentage in the latest SEC statistics, and has committed 34 errors in 25 games.

AFTER 28 GAMES LAST SEASON: The Rebels were 21-6-1 after 28 games last season ... Ole Miss was hitting .302 (285x943) with 51 doubles, 11 triples, 27 home runs and 168 RBIs ... The Rebels stole 18 bases in 28 attempts and grounded into 24 double plays ... They were outscoring their opponents 196-124 ... Rebel pitchers had a 3.56 ERA (248.0 IP, 98 ER), allowing 233 hits, including 15 home runs, walked 90 and had struck out 187 ... Ole Miss had committed 38 errors in 28 games.

REBEL MISCELLANEOUS: A win tonight would give Ole Miss its' longest win streak of the year at seven games, and match its longest streak of last season ... Last season, April was the Rebels' best month statistically at the plate, posting a .316 team batting average with 16 home runs ... The Rebels have hit two home runs in each of the past three games, and have homered at least once in eight of the last 11 contests ... Sunday's game at Kentucky was just Ole Miss' second errorless game of the season, snapping a string of 20 consecutive games with at least one error ... Ole Miss' .335 team batting average ranks second in the SEC.

TONIGHT'S STARTING PITCHER
#18- Mike Gray (6-1,185, Sr., LHP)

* Is making his fifth appearance and second start of the year ... Is 1-0 with a 2.57 ERA (7.0 IP, 2 ER).
* Worked a season-long one inning of relief against Indiana State (3/9), allowing two unearned runs on two hits.
* Earned the win in his first start of the year against Austin Peay on March 25, allowing one hit and one walk, while striking out two in throwing five scoreless innings.

2001 Highlights
* Made 16 appearances, including 15 starts.
* Turned in a quality start (at least 6 IP, 4 ER or less) in his first six starts of the year, posting a 2-0 mark with a 2.61 ERA during that stretch.
* Fanned a career-high 10 over a career-long 8.0 innings of work in a start against Arizona (3/3).
* Pitched six scoreless innings in a start against Florida (4/22), allowing six hits and three walks and struck out one in the Rebels' 4-0 win.

LAST START: Worked five scoreless innings to earn the win against Austin Peay on March 25 ... Limited the Governors to one hit and one walk, while striking out two ... Threw 56 pitches, 37 for strikes ... Walked the second batter of the game in Michael Johnson, who was then caught stealing ... Joseph Peer recorded the only hit off Gray with a two-out single in the third ... Retired the last seven batters he faced before being relieved by T.J. Beam at the start of the sixth.

PREVIOUS START: Made a start against LSU on May 19, 2001 in the SEC Tournament at Hoover, Ala. ... Allowed three runs on one hit and three walks, while striking out one in taking the loss ... Issued back-to-back walks to Ryan Theriot and Wally Pontiff to start the game ... Theriot stole second before Pontiff was walked and both runners advanced on a balk to put them on second and third ... After striking out Mike Fontenot, Todd Linden hit a sac fly to right to score Theriot and give the Tigers a 1-0 lead ... Walked Brian Moore and Matt Heath hit a RBI double to make it 2-0 ... Was then relieved by Adam Yates.

GRAY VERSUS MISSISSIPPI STATE: Tonight will mark Gray's second career appearance and his first start against Mississippi State ... Worked an inning of relief against the Bulldogs, allowing two runs, in last year's Mayor's Trophy game.

GRAY VERSUS SEC OPPONENTS: Is 2-3 with an 8.76 ERA (37.0 IP, 36 ER) in 11 appearances, including 10 starts, against SEC teams ... Has not faced an SEC opponent this season.

GRAY MISCELLANEOUS:
* Opponents are hitting .130 (3x23) against him ... Lefties 1x6 (.167) and right-handers are 3x16 (.188).
* Was 1-1 with a 5.82 ERA (21.2 IP, 14 ER) in five April starts last season.
* Is 3-1 with a 4.50 ERA (48.0 IP, 24 ER) in 12 career appearances, including nine starts, at Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field ... Is 1-0 with a 2.57 ERA (7.0 IP, 2 ER) in four appearances, including one start, at home this season.
* Has an 0-2 record with a 7.45 ERA (29.0 IP, 24 ER) in eight career appearances, including seven starts, away from home.
* Is 3-3 with a 5.68 ERA (65.0 IP, 41 ER) in 15 career day time appearances, including 14 starts.
* Is 1-0 with a 5.25 ERA (12.0 IP, 7 ER) in five career night time appearances, including two starts ... Is 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA (6.0 IP, 2 ER) in three appearances at night this season, including one start.
* Is 4-3 with a 5.35 ERA (74.0 IP, 44 ER) as a starter in 15 career starts ... Is 0-0 with an 18.00 ERA (2.0 IP, 4 ER) in four career relief appearances.

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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