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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Baseball Starts SEC Play at No. 1 LSU
3/12/2015 | Baseball
WEEKEND SERIES
Matchup: Ole Miss at No. 1 LSU
Date: March 13-15, 2015
Location: Baton Rouge, La.
Venue: Alex Box Stadium/Skip Bertman Field
Capacity: 10,326
Television: SEC Network
Dave Neal, play-by-play
Kyle Peterson, analyst
Radio: Ole Miss Radio Network
Richard Cross, play-by-play
Keith Kessinger, analyst
Live Audio: OleMissSports.com
Series: LSU leads 168-148
Last Series: April 17-19, 2014
LSU won 2-1
Oxford, Miss.
QUICK HITS
- Ole Miss enters this weekend's SEC opening series after splitting a pair of games at No. 8 Louisville
- The Rebels' first two weekends of SEC play feature teams that are ranked No. 1 nationally in different polls
- Ole Miss is 2-2 against teams top-15 teams this season
- The final two games of the LSU series will be broadcast on SEC Network; Ole Miss Baseball will make at least 12 national television appearances in 2015
- Ole Miss is 22-20 in the opening series of conference action under head coach Mike Bianco
- Bianco returns with the Rebels to his alma mater LSU, where he also was an assistant coach under legendary coach Skip Bertman for five seasons
- The Rebels are in the midst of playing eight-of-nine games against teams ranked in the top-8 nationally
- Ole Miss starting pitcher Brady Bramlett leads the SEC and in strikeouts with 34, a mark that also ranks 15th in the nation
- Third baseman Colby Bortles has reached base in each of the last 14 games
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
FRIDAY, 7:00 P.M. - SEC Network+
LSU - Jared Poche', So., LHP, 4-0, 2.08 ERA
Ole Miss - Christian Trent, Jr., LHP, 3-0, 2.96 ERA
NOTING TRENT:
- Holds a 12-0 career record as a Rebel, the best start to a career by any pitcher in Ole Miss baseball history
- Has made 21 career starts, recording 109 strikeouts over 134.1 innings
- Pitched a season-high seven innings and left the game in line for the win against No. 15 UCF
- Earned a win against Wright State, striking out nine over six innings and surrendering one run on five hits
- Picked up a victory in the season opener, going 5.0 innings and allowing one run on six hits
- Named to the 50-player preseason Golden Spikes Award watch list
SATURDAY, 7:00 P.M. - SEC Network
LSU - Alex Lange, Fr., RHP, 4-0, 1.57 ERA
Ole Miss - Brady Bramlett, So., RHP, 2-1, 2.05 ERA
NOTING Bramlett:
- Leads the SEC and ranks 15th nationally in strikeouts with 34, including a career-high 12 against Stetson in his last outing
- Went six scoreless innings against the Hatters, giving up just three hits and one walk to go along with his 12 strikeouts
- Only Rebel to record 12 strikeouts in one game as well as double digit strikeouts in two or more starts since Drew Pomeranz in 2010
- Sealed the William & Mary series with a victory in the rubber match, going six innings and surrendering just two runs on four hits
- Struck out eight batters in the win over William & Mary without allowing a walk
- Returned to the mound this season after missing the end of the 2013 season and the entire 2014 season due to injury
SUNDAY, 1:30 P.M. - SEC Network
LSU - Jake Godfrey, Fr., RHP, 0-0, 1.69 ERA
Ole Miss - TBA
A LOOK AT LSU
LSU enters the opening weekend of SEC play with a 16-1 record, having won its past 13 games. The Tigers, ranked No. 1 in the country by Baseball America, took down McNeese State 7-0 on Wednesday in their only midweek game. As a team, LSU leads the SEC in the hitting, and its team batting average of .322 is the sixth-best in the country. Seven Tigers are batting over a .300 clip, led by a .395 average from senior catcher Kade Scivicque. Fellow senior Connor Hale is the reigning SEC Player of the Week after leading LSU at the Houston College Classic. On the mound, the LSU pitching staff has the second-best ERA in the conference at 2.00. Two freshmen and a sophomore make up the rotation, while freshman Jesse Stallings lead the nation with seven saves on the year. As regular conference foes, the Rebels and Tigers have met 316 times over the course of history with LSU holding a 168-148 advantage.
GOING THROUGH THE GAUNTLET
Ole Miss has built up a tough non-conference schedule, and things will only get tougher as SEC play begins. The Rebels are currently in a stretch of playing eight-of-nine games against opponents ranked in the nation's top-10 according to multiple polls. Ole Miss split a pair of games with Louisville during the middle of the week; the Cardinals are 11-6 and as high as No. 8 in Perfect Game's rankings. Following the midweek matchup, the Rebels open up the SEC schedule with a trip to LSU, March 13-15, which ranks No. 1 in Baseball America. One weekend later, Ole Miss will welcome the nation's top-ranked team in multiple polls to Swayze Field, hosting No. 1 Florida in a three-game set, March 20-22.
DISHON DOING HIS JOB
Coming off the bench primarily as a pinch runner during the 2014 season, junior Cameron Dishon has comfortably filled his new role as the Diamond Rebels' starting right fielder. Still aggressive on the base path, Dishon is tied for the team lead in steals with seven swipes, while he's third on the team with a batting average of .279, bolstering the bottom of the Ole Miss lineup. The Beaumont, Texas native has also stepped up for his club when called upon to advance the runner; Dishon leads the SEC with five sacrifice hits, a number that also ranks 12th in the nation. In the Rebels' latest series against No. 8 Louisville, Dishon led Ole Miss at the plate, going 4-for-9 with two runs and one RBI. The successful series included the first home run of his career on a solo blast to left field. Dishon was busy in the field during the victory over the Cardinals, catching nine flyballs to account for one-third of Louisville's outs. This season, he has made 36 putouts without an error in right field.
BIANCO RETURNS TO BATON ROUGE
This weekend, Ole Miss Head Coach Mike Bianco will return to a familiar place in Baton Rouge, his alma mater LSU. Bianco played two seasons (1988-89) for Skip Bertman and was the starting catcher and team captain for the Tigers' 1989 team that finished third at the College World Series. Four years later, Bianco returned to his alma mater to serve as an assistant coach under Bertman. In five seasons at LSU from 1993-1997, the Tigers advanced to the College World Series four times and claimed three national championships. LSU also won three Southeastern Conference crowns and two SEC Tournament titles in that five-year span. After the Tigers' 1997 College World Series title run, Bianco was named the head coach at McNeese State in July of that year. Three years later, Bianco returned to the SEC by taking the job at Ole Miss, where he has led the program to new heights, including the Rebels' run to the College World Series last season.
SMITH AND STOKES SHUT DOWN CARDINALS
Closing out the midweek series, the Ole Miss baseball team soared past the No. 8 Louisville Cardinals, 8-3, Wednesday afternoon, March 11. The Rebels scored multiple runs in three different innings and added solid pitching from Sam Smith and Will Stokes to pick up the victory. Due to starting a midweek game, Smith lasted four innings on a pitch count to earn the win. He allowed just two runs (one unearned) on four hits and zero walks, while striking out three. Entering out of the bullpen, Stokes was nearly perfect through the final five innings of play, surrendering just two hits and one run in the bottom of the ninth after retiring the first 13 Cardinals he faced, to complete his second save of the season. Entering the game with just three strikeouts on the season, Stokes punched out four batters in the relief appearance against Louisville.
BUILDING MOMENTUM TOWARDS SEC PLAY
Under the guidance of Head Coach Mike Bianco, Ole Miss has been able to use the final non-conference weekend series as a building block towards SEC action. The Rebels are 12-3 in the last non-conference weekend series of the season during the Bianco era. In those series, Ole Miss has posted a 36-9 record, including nine three-game sweeps. The Diamond Rebels continued that trend over the weekend, taking two out of three from the Stetson Hatters that included a doubleheader sweep. Ole Miss has won five of the past six games in the final series before the beginning of conference action after splitting the midweek series with No. 8 Louisville.
PURSUIT OF PERFECTION
After going 9-0 last season in his first season as a Rebel, junior starting pitcher Christian Trent wanted to keep his perfect record intact to start the 2015 season. Pitching out of multiple jams along with help from his offense, the southpaw picked up the 10th victory of his Ole Miss career in a 9-4 victory over William & Mary. Trent lasted five innings, allowing just one run on six hits and recording six strikeouts as well. He followed that up with a nearly identical performance versus Wright State, giving up on run on five hits over six innings. He added nine strikeouts on the night to improve to 2-0 this year. In his last outing, the right-handed went 6.1 innings against Stetson to earn his third win of the season. As a Rebel, Trent now boasts a career record of 12-0 in 21 starts with 109 strikeouts over 134.1 innings of work.
THE 12 K'S OF BRAMLETT
Sophomore right hander Brady Bramlett struck out a career-high 12 batters to cap off a doubleheader sweep of Stetson on Saturday, March 7. The 12 punchouts were the most in a game by an Ole Miss pitcher since Drew Pomeranz struck out 15 in a win over Georgia on April 9, 2010. It was his second double-digit strikeout game of the season, becoming the first Rebel to record multiple double-digit strikeout games, also since Pomeranz in 2010. Bramlett worked six scoreless innings to earn the win, scattering three hits with one walk, to go along with the 12 strikeouts. He faced four over the minimum and struck out three batters in each of the first, second and sixth innings, including a perfect first inning to start his outing. For the season, Bramlett leads the SEC in strikeouts with 34, including 13 looking which is also the best in the conference.
A START FOR THE RECORD BOOKS
It's hard to put into words the kind of start to a career that Christian Trent has had at Ole Miss. In 21 starts over the past two seasons, the junior southpaw has posted an 12-0 record with a 2.21 ERA over 134.1 innings. With 12 straight victories, Trent is believed to have the best start to a career out of any pitcher is Ole Miss Baseball history. Diving deep into the archives, Buddy Wittichen started off his historic career with 10 consecutive wins before falling to Florida in the 1956 SEC Championship series. Wittichen finished his career with seven more victories and boasts the best winning percentage in program history with a career record of 17-1 (.941).
LET'S PLAY TWO
Through the first four weeks of the season, although not originally scheduled, Ole Miss has played a doubleheader during each weekend. The Rebels are 5-3 in on doubleheader days, winning the second tests all four times. Over the weekend, Ole Miss swept Stetson in a Saturday afternoon doubleheader, breaking out the bats for 22 hits and 15 runs combined between the two games. Playing so many doubleheaders is not familiar territory for the Rebels; the last time Ole Miss played at least four doubleheaders in one full season occurred in 2008 when the Rebels played four twinbills throughout the year. Ole Miss is now scheduled to play five in 2015 with a planned midweek doubleheader set up against UAB, March 24, at Swayze Field.
HOMESTAND ON THE HORIZON
Following five straight games on the road, the Rebels return to Swayze Field for a six-game homestand versus two non-conference opponents and a SEC opponent. Ole Miss will host Arkansas Pine-Bluff in a midweek contest, March 18, before hosting Florida in the first home SEC series of the 2015 campaign, March 20-22. The Rebels will wrap up the homestand by facing UAB in a midweek doubleheader, March 24.
