The University of Mississippi Athletics
No. 16 Ole Miss Set To Host Purdue
3/3/2005 | Baseball
March 3, 2005
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OXFORD, Miss. - No. 16 (Baseball America) Ole Miss (6-3) will continue its 17-game home stand this weekend as the Rebels play host to the Purdue Boilermakers (1-2) in a three-game non-conference series. The series is set to open Friday night at 6:30 p.m., at Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field.
Game two of the series is scheduled for Saturday at 1:30 p.m., and Sunday's series-finale is slated for a noon start.
Ole Miss split a two-game midweek series with Northwestern State, losing 8-7 on Tuesday before rebounding with a 10-1 victory on Wednesday. Purdue has been off since opening its season last weekend with a three-game series at Florida Atlantic. The Boilermakers salvaged the final game of the series with a 9-3 win last Sunday.
Junior right-hander Mark Holliman (1-0, 6.00 ERA) is scheduled to start for Ole Miss in the series opener, opposite senior right-hander Scott Byrnes (0-0, 0.00 ERA). On Saturday, junior left-hander Stephen Head (1-0, 2.77 ERA) is slated to pitch for the Rebels, while the Purdue is expected to counter with junior southpaw Brent Coudron (0-0, 5.40 ERA). Junior right-hander Anthony Cupps (2-1, 4.15 ERA) is scheduled to start Sunday for Ole Miss, while Purdue will send senior right-hander Mitch Pruemer (1-0, 2.35 ERA) to the mound.
The Rebels enter the weekend hitting having recorded 10 or more hits in six straight games, hitting .358 in that stretch. For the season, Ole Miss is hitting .328, led by sophomore outfielder Mark Wright and freshman DH Jon-Jon Hancock. Wright leads the team with a .450 average and has one home run and six RBI. Hancock is batting .409 with two home runs and five RBI.
Junior outfielder Brian Pettway carries a nine-game hit streak, matching his career long. Pettway is hitting .385 with a team-high three home runs and has eight RBI.
This weekend's series is a continuation of a 14-game road swing by Purdue to open the season. The Boilermakers went 29-28 last season and finished fifth in the Big 10 with a 17-14 conference record.
Purdue returns its top three hitters from a squad that batted .287 a year ago. Sophomore shortstop Mitch Hilligoss led the Boilermakers with a .327 average last season, and went 6-for-13 (.462) last weekend versus Florida Atlantic.
Junior outfielder Neal Gorka was 7-for-11 (.636) and junior first baseman Eric Wolfe went 7-for-13 (.538) to lead Purdue at the plate last weekend.
Friday's probable starter, Byrnes, went 4-5 with a 3.74 ERA in 14 starts last season. He worked four scoreless innings in his start last Friday.
This weekend's series will mark the first-ever meetings between Ole Miss and Purdue. It will also be the Rebels' first games against a Big 10 opponent since sweeping a two-game series from Iowa in 1997 at Swayze Field. All-time, Ole Miss is 32-19 versus Big 10 schools.
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCH-UPS
FRIDAY, 6:30 P.M.
PUR -- Scott Byrnes (Sr., RHP, 0-0, 0.00 ERA)
UM -- Mark Holliman (Jr., RHP, 1-0. 6.00 ERA)
SATURDAY, 1:30 P.M.
PUR -- Brent Coudron (Jr., LHP, 0-0, 5.40 ERA)
UM -- Stephen Head (Jr., LHP, 1-0, 2.77 ERA)
SUNDAY, 12 P.M.
PUR -- Mitch Pruemer (Sr., RHP, 1-0, 2.35 ERA)
UM -- Anthony Cupps (Jr., RHP, 2-1, 4.15 ERA)
