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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebels Kick Off Auburn Series On ESPNU Thursday Night
4/20/2011 | Baseball
April 20, 2011
Ole Miss (23-15, 8-7 SEC) at Auburn (20-16, 7-8 SEC)
Auburn, Ala. • Plainsman Park
April 21-23 • 6:30 PM/6:00 PM/Noon
Radio: Full Ole Miss Baseball Radio Network
Announcers: David Kellum & Keith Kessinger
Television: ESPNU - Thursday; CSS - Sunday
Announcers: Dave Neal & Kyle Peterson - ESPNU; Matt Stewart & Joe Beckwith - CSS
Internet Stats/Broadcasts: www.OleMissSports.com
THIS WEEK FOR OLE MISS:
Ole Miss played a single midweek game on the road, returning to Trustmark Park to face Mississippi State in the annual Governor's Cup game on Tuesday. Ole Miss will then continue on the road with a three-game series at Auburn that will be played Thursday - Saturday. Thursday night's game is at 6:30 p.m. on ESPNU, while Friday's game is at 6:00 p.m. and Sunday is at noon on CSS.
NEXT WEEK FOR THE REBELS:
Ole Miss will play a single midweek game at home next week, facing Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Ole MIss will then go back on the road with a three-game series at #5 Florida that will be over the next weekend. Friday and Saturday's games are set for 6 p.m. with Sunday's game set for a noon start.
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCH-UPS:
THURSDAY, 6:30 P.M. - ESPNU
AU - Derek Varnadore, Jr., RHP
OM - Matt Crouse, Jr., LHP
NOTING CROUSE: Junior left-hander Matt Crouse enters the Thursday night contest at Auburn with a 6-2 record on the year and leads the team with 61.1 innings of work. The southpaw is coming off a solid outing against Kentucky, turning in a quality start despite taking no decision in the contest as he left with the game tied at one. The only run allowed was on a solo home run in the third inning. To date, Crouse has struck out 42 and walked only nine while allowing 19 earned runs on the year. He has pitched a pair of complete games, including a complete-game shutout of Lipscomb and a win at Tennessee.
FRIDAY, 6:00 P.M.
AU - TBA
OM - David Goforth, Jr., RHP
NOTING GOFORTH: Goforth enters the weekend contest with Auburn coming off his second win of the season in his last outing against Kentucky. The right-hander has worked 55.2 innings on the season and has struck out 39 batters while walking 20 on the year. He is holding hitters to a .273 batting average against this year and has combined for one shutout on the season in a start against Lipscomb when he worked 7.0 scoreless innings. It will be the 10th start of the season for Goforth who moved into the role of Saturday starter this season after serving as the Sunday starter for the Rebels last season.
SATURDAY, NOON - CSS
AU - Cory Luckie, Jr., LHP
OM - Austin Wright, Jr., LHP
NOTING WRIGHT: Wright comes into the weekend at Auburn slated to start the Saturday game - his 10th start of the season in the Sunday role. Wright took no decision last weekend in a start against the Wildcats as Ole Miss posted its first series sweep in conference play this year. Wright has struck out 47 batters on the year and walked 16 in 49.2 innings of work. Batters are hitting at a .283 clip against the big left-hander who has combined for one shutout this year in conference play, a series clinching win at Tennessee that saw him work 8.0 scoreless.
A LOOK AT AUBURN:
The Tigers of Auburn enter the weekend with an overall record of 20-16 and a 7-8 mark in SEC play. Auburn is coming off a loss to South Alabam on Tuesday, but a series win over LSU on the road this past weekend. As a team, the Tigers are batting at a .300 clip with Casey McElroy leading the way at a .360 clip with six home runs and 36 RBI. Thursday night starter Derek Varnadore holds a 4-1 record with a 3.75 ERA as he has struck out 50 and walked 11 in a team-leading 50.1 innings of work in 2011. As a staff, Auburn holds a 4.96 ERA with 269 strikeouts and 130 walks on the season.
OLE MISS VS. AUBURN:
Ole Miss and Auburn have faced off 149 times in the history of the two programs and have split the season series 74-74-1.
LAST TIME OUT VS. AUBURN:
Ole Miss and Auburn faced each other four times last season with the Tigers sweeping the series in Oxford before Ole Miss won in the SEC Tournament.
SOME HAVE HIT STREAKS ON THE LINE:
Several players hold hit streaks heading into the contest with Southern Miss, led by sophomore outfielder and lead-off hitter Tanner Mathis. Mathis has hit safely in 21 straight games. The 21-game hit streak from Mathis is the longest of the season, and is tied for third all-time at Ole Miss. Matt Tracy (6), Blake Newalu (3) and Alex Yarbrough (3) also have active hit streaks of more than two games coming into the weekend series.
OTHERS KEEP REACHING BASE:
While Tanner Mathis has hit safely in 21 consecutive games, the sophomore has reached base in more consecutive games. Mathis currently holds a streak of 27 straight games reaching base. Matt Smith had reached in 14 consecutive games before failing to reach base in Friday night's game against Georgia. Blake Newalu (7) and Matt Smith (7) hold the second longest active streaks for reaching base safely, with Matt Tracy working on another streak at six consecutive games reached.
SCHEDULE CHANGE FOR THE REBELS:
Ole Miss has a schedule change for later in the season when the Rebels take to the road to face Arkansas State. Originally slated for a 6:30 p.m. game on May 10, the Rebels will now travel to face Arkansas State on May 4. Game time is still set for a 6:30 p.m. start on the new date.
