The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebels Close Out Regular Season At No. 18 Arkansas
5/18/2011 | Baseball
May 18, 2011
Ole Miss (29-23, 12-15 SEC) at #18 Arkansas (34-17, 13-14 SEC)
Fayetteville, Ark. • Baum Stadium
May 19-21 • 6:35 PM/6:00 PM/2:05 PM
Radio: Full Ole Miss Baseball Radio Network
Announcers: David Kellum & Keith Kessinger
Television: CSS (Friday); CST (Saturday)
Announcers: CSS - Mike Morgan & Brian Jordan; CST - Brock Bowling & Ron Swoboda
Internet Stats/Broadcasts: www.OleMissSports.com
THIS WEEK FOR OLE MISS:
Ole Miss played its final home game of the regular season on Tuesday night, defeating Southeast Missouri State 10-6 in a makeup game for one of the earlier rainouts this season. The Rebels now hit the road to close out the regular season at #18 Arkansas beginning on Thursday at 6:35 p.m. Friday's game is on CSS at 6 p.m. and Saturday is at 2 p.m. on CST.
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCH-UPS:
THURSDAY, 6:35 P.M.
UA - D.J. Baxendale, So., RHP
OM - Matt Crouse, Jr., LHP
NOTING CROUSE: Junior left-hander Matt Crouse makes his 14th start of the season on Thursday night when he takes the mound against the Razorbacks. Crouse holds a 6-4 record on the year with four no decisions and has struck out 58 batters while walking only 17 in a team-leading 83.1 innings of work. Crouse has allowed two earned runs or fewer in nine of his 13 starts this season and has tallied eight quality starts on the season. Opponents are hitting at a .265 clip against the southpaw who took no decision in his last outing against Mississippi State. He has posted a pair of complete games and a pair of shutouts this season.
FRIDAY, 6:00 P.M. - CSS
UA - Randall Fant, So., LHP
OM - David Goforth, Jr., RHP
NOTING Goforth: Junior right-hander David Goforth takes the mound for his 14th start of the season on Friday night against the Razorbacks. The junior has posted a 4-7 record on the year with 60 strikeouts and 26 walks in 77.0 innings of work this year. The right-handed hurler his holding opponents to a .272 batting average and has combined for one shutout this season. Goforth suffered the loss in his last outing against Mississippi State, but has posted three of his wins in his last five starts.
SATURDAY, 2:05 P.M. - CST
UA - TBA
OM - Austin Wright, Jr., LHP
NOTING WRIGHT: Wright takes the mound to close out the regular season and the series for the Rebels on Saturday. The junior left-hander has posted a team-leading 63 strikeouts coming into the weekend after striking out a career-high 10 batters in the series finale against Mississippi State last weekend. The southpaw has allowed only 23 walks in his 66.2 innings of work this year while posting a 5-4 record to date. He has combined for one shutout on the year, a series clinching win at Tennessee in a career-long 8.0 innings of work in the start.
A LOOK AT ARKANSAS:
The Razorbacks of Arkansas enter the weekend with an overall record of 34-17 and are 13-14 in the Southeastern Conference after dropping the series at South Carolina last weekend. As a team, Arkansas is batting at a .271 clip and is led by freshmn Dominic Ficociello who is hitting .363 with four home runs and has a team-leading 47 RBI. Kyle Robinson has a team-best eight home runs for the Razorbacks. The pitching staff holds a 3.25 ERA and is led by Thursday night start D.J. Baxendale. He holds an 8-1 record with a 1.57 ERA with 59 strikeouts and 14 walks with a .230 batting average against.
OLE MISS VS. ARKANSAS:
Ole Miss and Arkansas have faced off 63 times with the Rebels trailing 28-35 in the all-time series after dropping last year's series in Oxford 2-1.
LAST TIME OUT VS. ARKANSAS:
Ole Miss and Arkansas faced each other in Oxford last season with the Rebels dropping the series two games to one. The Rebels fell 11-1 on Friday night before rallying to win 3-2 on Saturday. Arkansas claimed the series with a 7-0 win on Sunday.
SERIES OF SIGNIFICANCE:
The series between the Razorbacks and Rebels in Fayetteville has been one that has had something on the line in recent years. The two teams faced off with the Western Division on the line in 2005 and 2007, while the Rebels were playing for an overall SEC Championship in 2009. This season, both teams are fighting to secure a berth in the SEC Tournament. Ole Miss swept the 2005 series and won the 2007 series (though Arkansas claimed the West with a game two win). In 2009, the Rebels swept again to claim the SEC Championship and move to 8-1 in the last three series played at Baum.
SMITH RETURNS TO THE LINEUP:
Just 12 days after surgery for a broken hand suffered against Arkansas State, senior OF Matt Smith returned to the lineup against SEMO on Tuesday night. Smith went 4-for-4 with three RBI and a run scored to help the Rebels secure the 10-6 win and moved into a tie for first all-time in RBI (183) with former OF Logan Power.
SOME HAVE HIT STREAKS ON THE LINE:
Several players hold hit streaks heading into the contest with Mississippi State, led by sophomore OF Tanner Mathis. Mathis has hit safely in 11 straight games after posting a 23 game hit streak earlier this season. Alex Yarbrough (8), Matt Snyder (5), Will Allen (4) and Matt Smith (3) are other Rebels with hit streaks of more than two games.
OTHERS KEEP REACHING BASE:
While Tanner Mathis saw his 23 game hit streak end at Auburn, the sophomore has reached base in more consecutive games. Mathis currently holds a streak of 41 straight games reaching base. Smith (15), Hamblin (10), Yarbrough (9), Snyder (8), Anderson (6) and Allen (4) all have streaks of more than two games reaching base entering the series.
RAZORBACKS - REBELS PICKED UP BY CSS:
The Rebels and Razorbacks will have a game added to the TV slate this year as CSS will carry the Friday ngiht game of the series (game two) as the Viewer's Choice game. The game time has been moved to 6 p.m. at Baum Stadium. Saturday's series finale has been picked up for TV by CST.
