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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Baseball Set to Open Season at Home
2/12/2015 | Baseball
Baseball Notes: William & Mary 
QUICK HITS
- After advancing to the College World Series in 2014, Ole Miss enters the 2015 campaign ranked in the top-20 in three different national polls
- Ole Miss is 13-1 in season openers under Head Coach Mike Bianco
- The Rebels have won 10 season-opening weekend series during the Bianco era
- Opening weekend kicks off an eight-game homestand to begin the 2015 season
- Ole Miss ranked fourth in the SEC in attendance in 2014, bringing in an average of 7,975 fans for 34 home games for a total attendance of 271,155
- Despite losing five starters in the field, the Rebels return three while also bringing back two starting pitchers to this season's rotation in Christian Trent and Sam Smith
- All home games this season will be televised on an ESPN channel or SEC Network+
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
FRIDAY, 4 P.M.
William and Mary - Jason Inghram, Sr., LHP
Ole Miss - Christian Trent, LHP
NOTING TRENT:
- Named to 50-player preseason Golden Spikes Award watch list
- Returns to the weekend rotation as the Friday starter after starting 17 games for the Rebels as the regular Saturday starter in 2014
- Posted a 9-0 record in 2014 with a 2.05 ERA and held opponents to a .233 batting average
- His nine wins is tied for the second-most among returning SEC pitchers and his 2.05 ERA is third-best among returning SEC pitchers
- Tallied 13 quality starts as Ole Miss posted a 13-4 record with Trent as a starter
- Started all three games in the NCAA Tournament, with the Rebels picking up wins in all three games despite taking three no-decisions
SATURDAY 1:30 P.M.
William and Mary - Nick Brown, So., RHP
Ole Miss - Sam Smith, Sr., RHP
NOTING SMITH:
- Returns to the weekend rotation as the Saturday starter after starting 18 games for the Rebels as the regular Sunday starter in 2014
- Posted a 5-4 record in 2014 with a 3.61 ERA and held opponents to a .286 batting average.
- Turned in nine quality starts, including a stretch of eight consecutive quality starts from March 2 through April 19
SUNDAY, 1:30 P.M.
William and Mary - Mitchell Aker, Jr., RHP
Ole Miss - Brady Bramlett, Soph., RHP
NOTING BRAMLETT:
- Returns to action after missing the end of the 2013 season and the entire 2014 season due to injury
- Appeared in eight games, making the start in four in 2013, picking up three wins and suffering one loss over the four starts
- Posted a 5-1 record with a 3.00 ERA and held opponents to a .198 batting average
- Sunday will mark his first career weekend start, having previously started four midweek game
REBELS vs. TRIBE
Ole Miss will square off against William & Mary for the first time since the end of the 2013 season. When the Tribe comes to town, the Rebels will be looking for revenge after William & Mary eliminated them from postseason play at the 2013 NCAA Raleigh Regional. The two teams will meet for the third time in history when the 2015 season gets underway Friday night.
SEASON-OPENING SUCCESS
Ole Miss has enjoyed success in season-opening games under head coach Mike Bianco, posting a 13-1 record in games to open the season over the past 14 years. The Rebels' lone loss on opening day came at the hands of ULM to open the 2010 season when Ole Miss fell 6-5 to the Warhawks in Oxford.
CLAIMING THE FIRST SERIES
The Rebels have fared well in season-opening weekends under Bianco with the Rebels claiming series wins in 10 of the 14 seasons. The Rebels did not play a weekend series to open the 2005, 2007 or 2009 seasons. Those years, the Rebels either opened the year with midweek games or played at a weekend tournament with multiple-teams. The Rebels also had a game rained out in the season-opening weekend of 2012 and split the two games played at TCU to start the year. Last season, Ole Miss swept Stetson on the road to begin the 2014 campaign.
ORVIS NAMED PRESEASON FIRST TEAM ALL-SEC
Ole Miss senior first baseman Sikes Orvis was named to the 2015 Southeastern Conference baseball coaches preseason All-SEC First Team, the league announced Thursday morning, Feb. 12. Orvis returns for his fourth season with the Rebels after finishing last year with a .294 batting average, 14 homers, 53 RBI and 40 runs scored in 2014 to capture First Team All-SEC honors. While helping the team to the College World Series, Orvis hit for an average of .305 with six runs scored and nine RBI during the Rebels' NCAA Tournament run.
DIAMOND REBELS TABBED FOR 12 TELEVISION APPEARANCES
The Ole Miss baseball team will be featured 12 times on television in the inaugural season of ESPN's SEC Network's baseball coverage. In addition, 33 additional games, including all home games, will be SEC Network+ events available to stream on SECNetwork.com and WatchESPN.
TRENT RECOGNIZED ON GOLDEN SPIKES AWARD WATCH LIST
Ole Miss left-handed pitcher Christian Trent found his name on the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award preseason watch list, when the annual release was announced Wednesday, Feb. 10. The junior southpaw was one of 50 baseball student-athletes throughout the nation that was selected to the watch list for the award given to baseball's top amateur athlete. Trent had a breakout year in his first season as a Rebel, going 9-0 on the mound with a 2.05 ERA. He struck out 86 batters, while only walking 20 over 110.0 innings of work. In the 2014 College World Series, the Madisonville, La. native helped the Rebels stay alive by working 8.0 scoreless innings in an elimination game versus Texas Tech.
BLACKMAN NAMED PRESEASON SEC FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Freshman infielder Tate Blackman was named D1Baseball's Preseason SEC Freshman of the Year. The Altamonte Springs, Florida, native was selected in the 20th round of the 2014 MLB Draft by the Milwaukee Brewers. Blackman is expected to start at second base on opening day for the Rebels. The 50th-ranked prospect in the country by Perfect Game, Blackman played summer ball for the Orlando Scorpions, the same program that produced fellow teammates Sikes Orvis and J.B. Woodman.
KNIGHTS STEPS UP BEHIND THE PLATE
One of five seniors on this year's team, catcher Austin Knight steps into a starting role behind the plate, having played behind two Johnny Bench Award finalists in Will Allen and Stuart Turner, who won the award in 2013. The Hattiesburg, Mississippi, native has appeared in 74 games, drawing the start in 16 games, over the last three years. As a junior, Knight played in 21 games, starting eight, including two at the College World Series, and hit .303 on the year with 10 doubles.
LUCKY NUMBER SIX
The Rebels were picked to finish sixth in the SEC West as the annual conference preseason poll voted by the league's 14 baseball coaches. While that spot may be disappointing for Ole Miss fans, note that the Rebels were also picked to finish sixth when the SEC preseason poll was released in 2014, a year in which the team made its first trip to the College World Series in 42 seasons.
CLEMENT JOINS STAFF
A new face will be on the Ole Miss baseball coaching staff this season as Mike Clement takes over as the new Rebels' hitting coach. Clement joined the Ole Miss coaching staff over the summer after spending the last two seasons coaching at Kansas State University. In his two years at K-State, he helped vault the Wildcats to success with Kansas State claiming the Big 12 Championship and coming within a game of the College World Series in 2013 and ranking in the top 10 nationally in six offensive categories, including second nationally in batting average.
