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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebels Set To Take On #20 Florida This Weekend
4/17/2009 | Baseball
#16 Ole Miss (26-10, 9-6 SEC) at #20 Florida (25-12, 9-6 SEC)
Gainesville, Fla. McKeathan Field
April 17-19 5:30 p.m./3:00 p.m./11:30 a.m.
Radio: Full Network coverage on the Ole Miss Radio Network
Announcers: David Kellum (play-by-play) and Gary Darby (color)
Television: None
XM Radio: None
Live Internet Stats/Broadcasts: www.OleMissSports.com
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
FRIDAY, 5:30 P.M.
UF - Jeff Barfield, Jr., RHP
OM - Drew Pomeranz, Soph., LHP
NOTING POMERANZ: Sophomore southpaw Drew Pomeranz will take the mound on Friday night in his eighth appearance of the season - all of them starts as he has anchored the weekend rotation this season. In games started by Pomeranz this season, the Rebels have posted a 6-1 mark despite the sophomore holding a 3-1 record himself. To date, Pomeranz has struck out 34 and walked 17 while allowing 15 earned runs on 34 hits. Opponents are hitting at a .260 clip against the left-hander.
SATURDAY, 3:00 P.M.
UF - Stephen Locke, Sr., LHP
OM - Phillip Irwin, Jr., RHP
NOTING IRWIN: Phillip Irwin is coming off only his second loss of the season and will take the mound for Ole Miss on Saturday. The junior leads the team in innings pitched with 49.2 innings of work and has struck out 34 and allowed only eight walks in that time. He is holding foes to a .266 batting average against and yielded only 19 earned runs in his time on the mound.
SUNDAY, 11:30 A.M.
UF - TBA
OM - Scott Bittle, Sr., RHP
NOTING BITTLE: Scott Bittle makes his fourth start of the season against the Gators this weekend after posting back-to-back wins the last two outings. Bittle pitched a complete-game shutout of Kentucky two weeks ago before picking up the win against South Carolina on Sunday. In that game, Bittle pitched 5.0 scoreless before giving up a solo home run to DeAngelo Mack that snapped a scoreless streak of 21.1 IP for Bittle. The senior is holding hitters to a .159 batting average and leads the team with 49 strikeouts in 32.2 innings of work.
REBELS VS. RANKED FOES IN 2009:
When the Rebels and TCU faced-off on February 28, it was the first ranked foe of the season for Ole Miss. The Rebels by a score 19-13. Ole Miss picked up its first win over a top 25 foe with an 8-7 win over Alabama in the Friday night game and is 3-4 against ranked foes this season.
REBELS IN THE RANKINGS:
For the sixth straight season Ole Miss opened the year ranked in the preseason polls. Currently, the Rebels are ranked as high as 16th (NCBWA) and appear in the top 20 of all five of the major collegiate baseball polls.
LAST TIME OUT VS. FLORIDA:
The last faced Florida in the regular season in 2008 as Ole Miss dropped two games of a three-game series in Oxford last season. The Rebels claimed the Friday night win 5-4 in dramatic fashion with a ninth-inning rally that saw Ole Miss claim victory when Michael Guerrero scored on an error by Florida catcher Buddy Monroe. Florida would go on to rally in the series, claiming a 6-4 win on Saturday and a 10-2 win on Sunday to take the series win.
OLE MISS VS. UF UNDER BIANCO:
The Rebels have experienced success against the Gators under head coach Mike Bianco as Ole Miss leads the series 15-7 in the Bianco era. Of the six series the two teams have played in the last eight seasons, Ole Miss has claimed four of them - posting sweeps in 2001, 2003 and 2004. Ole Miss won the 2005 series 2-1. Florida swept the 2002 series and claimed the 2008 series 2-1 in Oxford.
THE REBELS VS. FLORIDA:
Ole Miss holds the lead in the all-time series against the Gators by two games 39-37. The two teams first played in 1948 with the Rebels claiming the three-game series 2-1 in Oxford.
A LOOK AT THE GATORS:
The Gators enter the weekend series with an overall record of 25-12 and are coming off a pair of mid-week wins over Florida State (10-2) and a win over Stetson (15-4). The Gators are batting .306 as a team and are led at the plate by Preston Tucker with a .357 average, a team-leading eight home runs and 49 RBI. The Gators are 37-for-62 in steals this season. As a pitching staff, Florida holds a team ERA of 3.66 and have struck out 233 batters while walking 105 on the year. Friday night starter Jeff Barfield holds a 2-0 record on the season and a 2.78 ERA. Barfield has struck out 30 batters this season and walked only eight batters while allowing 11 earned runs on 34 hits.
