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The University of Mississippi Athletics
No. 16 Ole Miss To Host Northwestern State
2/28/2005 | Baseball
Feb. 28, 2005
OXFORD, Miss. -- No. 16 (Baseball America) Ole Miss (5-2) will continue its 17-game home stand Tuesday evening when the Rebels (5-2) open a two-game midweek series against the Northwestern State Demons (9-4). First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., at Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field.
The two teams will conclude the series with a Wednesday afternoon game at 4 p.m.
Ole Miss dropped one spot in this week's Baseball America Top 25 to No. 16. The Rebels are also ranked No. 17 in this week's Sports Weekly/ESPN Coaches Top 25 and No. 20 in the Collegiate Baseball Top 30.
Junior right-hander Anthony Cupps (2-0, 2.45 ERA) will start for the Rebels on Tuesday night opposite senior lefty Rusty Jones (1-0, 2.45 ERA). On Wednesday, junior left-hander Matt Maloney (1-0, 0.00 ERA) is scheduled to pitch for Ole Miss, while Northwestern State is expected to counter with freshman right-hander Derek Cloeren (2-0, 1.56 ERA).
The Rebels are coming off a rain-abbreviated two-game series with Southern Illinois over the weekend. The Salukis won 8-7 in 10 innings on Friday before Ole Miss rebounded for a 9-2 win on Saturday. Sunday's game was rained out.
Northwestern State will bring a six-game win streak into Tuesday's series opener.
Ole Miss enters the week ranked third in the SEC in hitting with a .329 average, and has four regulars hitting over .400. Sophomore outfielder Mark Wright leads the team with a .467 average, and freshman DH Jon-Jon Hancock is batting .438 and carries a five-game hit streak. Sophomore third baseman Chris Coghlan has raised his average to .419 after going 8-for-14 in the last three games, while junior outfielder Brian Pettway is hitting at a .400-clip, and leads the Rebels with three home runs and seven RBI. Pettway has also recorded a hit in all seven games this season.
The Demons are hitting .247 as a team, led by senior DH Blake Jones' .375 average. Jones also leads Northwestern State with three home runs and nine RBI.
Northwestern State's pitching staff has a team ERA of 3.46 and opponents are hitting .228 against them with four home runs.
Following the two-game series with the Demons, Ole Miss will open a three-game weekend series with the Purdue Boilermakers (1-2), starting Friday night at 6:30 p.m.
PITCHING MATCH-UPS VERSUS NORTHWESTERN STATE
TUESDAY, 6:30 P.M.
NSU - Rusty Jones (Sr., LHP, 1-0, 2.45 ERA)
UM - Anthony Cupps (Jr., RHP, 2-0, 2.45 ERA)
WEDNESDAY, 4 P.M.
NSU - Derek Cloeren (Fr., RHP, 2-0, 1.56 ERA)
UM - Matt Maloney (Jr., LHP, 1-0, 0.00 ERA)
