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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebels Hit Road To Face Tennessee In Weekend Series
3/24/2011 | Baseball
March 24, 2011
Ole Miss (16-6, 1-2 SEC) at Tennessee (17-4, 1-2 SEC)
Knoxville, Tenn. • Lindsey Nelson Stadium
March 25-27 • 5:00 PM/2:00 PM/1:00 PM
Radio: Full Ole Miss Baseball Radio Network
Announcers: David Kellum & Keith Kessinger
Television: SportSouth - Saturday/Sunday (DirecTV - 649/650, 650-1 HD; Dish Network - 437; Cable - Find Your Channel Here)
Announcers: Bob Kesling (Play-by-Play) & Rusty Ensor (Analyst)
Internet Stats/Broadcasts: www.OleMissSports.com
THIS WEEK FOR OLE MISS:
After posting a 3-0 shutout of the Samford Bulldogs on Tuesday, the Rebels now take to the road for a swing of eight straight contests away from Swayze Field. That strech starts in SEC play at Knoxville when the Rebels take on Tennessee in a three-game series. Saturday and Sunday's games have been picked up for TV.
NEXT WEEK FOR THE REBELS:
Ole Miss will continue to play on the road next week with a midweek contest at Southern Miss on Wednesday, March 30 at 6:30 p.m. The Rebels will then head south to Baton Rouge for a three-game series at LSU. Friday's game begins at 7:00 p.m., while Saturday's game will be on Cox Sports at 6:30 p.m. Sunday's contest is set for a 1:00 p.m. first pitch.
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCH-UPS:
FRIDAY, 5:00 P.M.
UT - Steven Gruver, Jr., LHP
OM - Matt Crouse, Jr., LHP
NOTING CROUSE: Junior left-hander Matt Crouse enters Friday night's contest against Tennessee looking for his sixth consecutive win this season. Crouse currently holds a streak of 16.2 scoreless innings of work and has allowed only one run in the last 20.2 innings on the mound. He pitched a complete-game shutout of Lipscomb (3/11) before combining for a shutout of Alabama (3/18) last Friday. The southpaw holds 29 strikeouts to two walks this year with a 1.34 ERA and a 5-0 record.
SATURDAY, 2:00 P.M. - SportSouth
UT - Rob Catapano, Sr., LHP
OM - David Goforth, Jr., RHP
NOTING GOFORTH: Goforth enters the weekend slated to make the start on Saturday against the Vols. The junior right-hander holds a 2.87 ERA and has held hitters to a .262 batting average against in his five starts this season. Goforth is still looking for his first win after taking two no decisions and holdis an 0-3 record on the year. He threw 7.0 scoreless innings against Lipscomb in the Saturday game but took no decision.
SUNDAY, 1:00 P.M. - SportSouth
UT - Levi Dean, Jr., RHP
OM - Austin Wright, Jr., LHP
NOTING WRIGHT: Wright holds a 2-2 record coming into the weekend and is slated to make the start on Sunday against the Vols. Wright has posted 26 strikeouts and walked 10 batters this seaosn while hitters are hitting at a .288 clip against the left-hander. Wright picked up wins aginst Houston and Lipscomb this season with his two losses coming against Tulane and Alabama. He took no decision against Wright State.
A LOOK AT TENNESSEE:
The Volunteers of Tennessee enter the weekend series coming off a midweek win at Lipscomb on Wednesday night and dropped the weekend series at Kentucky 2-1. As a team, Tennessee is batting .337 and has stolen 53 bases on the year. Khayyan Norfork leads the team with a .500 batting average , while Matt Duffy is hitting .403 with a team-leading four home runs and 26 RBI. The pitching staff holds a 3.36 ERA and has struck out 159 batters while walking 71. Teams are hitting .251 against the Vols this season. Steven Gruver leads the staff with a 3-1 record and a 2.08 ERA through five starts. He has struck out 37 and walked six this season.
OLE MISS VS. TENNESSEE:
Ole Miss and Tennessee have faced each other 70 times in the history of the two programs with the Rebels holding a 36-33-1 lead in the all-time series. Ole Miss dropped the series to the Vols last year in Oxford 2-1 after winning the Friday game behind the pitching of Drew Pomeranz.
SOME HAVE HIT STREAKS ON THE LINE:
Three Rebels hold hit streaks of more than one game heading into the weekend's series against Tennessee. Matt Smith leads the way with a seven game hit streak, while Tanner Mathis has hit safely in five consecutive games. Taylor Hightower (4), Alex Yarbrough (3) and Matt Tracy (2) are right behind on the list.
OTHERS KEEP REACHING BASE:
While hit streaks are an eye-catching stat, an often overlooked stat is reaching base. Tanner Mathis (11) leads the team in consecutive games reaching base, while Blake Newalu (8) and Matt Smith (7) are right behind him. Taylor Hightower has reached base safely in six straight games played. Matt Snyder held the longest streak this year with 12 games.
CROUSE CONTINUES TO SHUT TEAMS DOWN:
Junior LHP Matt Crouse continues to be a dominant force for the Rebels on the mound. The southpaw holds a 5-0 record to date, but currently holds a streak of 16.2 innings of scoreless baseball, including a complete-game shutout of Lipscomb (3/11). Crouse has allowed only one run in his last 20.2 innings of work, a run from Tulane (3/4) was the last one surrendered by the junior.
