The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebels Set To Open SEC Play At No. 20 Kentucky
3/19/2010 | Baseball
#17 Ole Miss (13-4) at #20 Kentucky (14-3)
Lexington, Ky. • Cliff Hagan Stadium
March 19-21 • 5:30 p.m./12:00 p.m./12:00 p.m.
Radio: Locally on 937 WQLJ-FM (Friday) Full Ole Miss Network (Saturday and Sunday)
Announcers: David Kellum and Gary Darby
Live Video/Audio: RebelVision (more info)
Live Stats: OleMissSports.com
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCH-UPS:
FRIDAY, 5:30 P.M.
UK - Logan Darnell, Jr., LHP
OM - Drew Pomeranz, Jr., LHP
NOTING POMERANZ: Pomeranz comes into the opening weekend of Southeastern Conference play slated to take the mound against No. 20 Kentucky on Friday night. The left-hander leads the SEC in strikeouts with 40 - nine more than any other pitcher in the league - and is coming off a 12 strikeout performance against #8 Louisville last weekend. His 1.54 ERA on the year is fifth-best in the SEC as Pomeranz has allowed only five runs - four earned - in his 23.1 innings of work. Pomeranz has also held opposing batters to a .198 average against with only seven walks.
SATURDAY, NOON
UK - Taylor Rogers, Fr., LHP
OM - Aaron Barrett, Sr., RHP
NOTING BARRETT: Barrett enters the weekend with a 4-0 record on the year and leads the Rebels in innings pitche with 25.0 innings on the mound. The four wins is tied for most in the SEC with Florida's Alex Panteliodis. The right-hander is third in the league in strikeouts with 30 on the year, while only walking 11 battters to date. Barrett has given up only five runs this season and is holding opposing batters to a .190 average against. The senior is coming off a career performance against #8 Louisville in which he struck out 9 and worked 6.2 innings in the win over the Cardinals.
SUNDAY, NOON
UK - Alex Meyer, Soph., RHP
OM - Matt Tracy, Jr., LHP
NOTING TRACY: Junior left-hander Matt Tracy enters the weeken slate to make his second weekend start of the year after drawing his first start against eighth-ranked Louisville a week ago. Tracy is 1-1 on the season and has worked 21.1 innings with 19 strikeouts and eight walks in his time on the mound. The junior has given up eight earned runs and allowed 22 hits to date while making five appearances and three starts in 2010.
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 19th (ESPN/USAToday Coaches) and appear in the rankings of all of four of the five major college baseball polls.
REBELS VS. THE SEC:
Ole Miss experienced some success in Southeastern Conference play over the years as Ole Miss is 794-877-11 all time in conference play. The Rebels hold the lead against six teams in the league all-time with series leads over Auburn, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee and Vanderbilt.
A LOOK AT KENTUCKY:
The Wildcats of Kentucky enter the weekend with a 14-3 record on the season and are coming off a pair of mid-week games that saw the Cats lose to Murray State before picking up a win over Wright State. Kentucky is batting .306 on the season and is led at the plate by Keenan Wiley who is batting .390 on the year and holds two home runs with 14 RBI. Andy Burns leads UK in home runs with four and is one of 10 Wildcats to have hit a home run this season. The Wildcats have tallied 20 home runs to date. On the mound, Kentucky holds a team ERA of 3.67 and is led by Logan Darnell, the Friday night starter. Darnell boasts a 2.17 ERA and has posted a 3-0 record in four appearances, including a complete-game shutout of San Diego. The Wildcats have struck out 125 batters and allowed 69 runs scored on 151 hits this season.
HIT STREAKS ON THE LINE:
Ole Miss has several players boasting hit streaks currently, but none longer than junior Tim Ferguson. Ferguson has hit safely in seven straight games and is two games away from tying his season-long of nine he set in opening the season. Ferguson saw his 10 game hit streak (dating back to 2009 - nine games in 2010) snapped in the Saturday game at Tulane. Also holding hit streaks heading into the weekend are Matt Smith (6), Miles Hamblin (5), Tanner Mathis (3), David Phillips (3) and Taylor Hightower (2). Other players on the roster who hit safely in their last game played include Taylor Hashman, Jordan King, Kevin Mort, Matt Tracy and Alex Yarbrough.
