.png&width=48&height=48&type=webp)
The University of Mississippi Athletics
Friday's Baseball Game Postponed, Doubleheader Set For Saturday
3/5/2015 | Baseball
OXFORD, Miss. - Friday's baseball game between Ole Miss and Stetson has been postponed due to inclement weather. The Rebels and Hatters will now play a doubleheader on Saturday, March 7, beginning at 12 p.m. CT.
Both games are still scheduled for 9 innings. Hotty Toddy foam fingers will be given out to the first 1,000 fans at Swayze for the start of the doubleheader. Also, all Ole Miss faculty and staff will be admitted free for both games.
Single-game tickets for Friday's game will be valid for the full doubleheader on Saturday. Single-game tickets for Friday's game can be redeemed at the ticket office for a doubleheader ticket. Only Saturday tickets will be valid for season ticket holders and Diamond Club ticket holders.
Both games will still be broadcast on SEC Network+ as well as the Ole Miss Radio Network. The second contest will follow approximately 35 minutes after the conclusion of the first game.
WEEKEND SERIES
Date: March 7-8, 2015
Location: Oxford, Miss.
Venue: Oxford-University Stadium
Capacity: 10,323
Television: SEC Network+
Richard Cross, play-by-play
David Dellucci, analyst
Radio: Ole Miss Radio Network
David Kellum, play-by-play
Keith Kessinger, analyst
Live Audio: OleMissSports.com
Series: Ole Miss leads 4-0
Last Meeting: Feb. 14-16, 2014
Ole Miss won 3-0
DeLand, Fla.
QUICK HITS
- Ole Miss returns home for the first time in 13 days after playing four-straight road contests.
- The three games this weekend are the only home games over a current 12-game stretch.
- Ole Miss leads the all-time series, 4-0, including a three-game sweep over the Hatters to kick off the 2014 season.
- Ole Miss faculty and staff are admitted in free for game one on Saturday.
- The first 1,000 fans in attendance Saturday will receive a free Hotty Toddy foam finger.
- This series is the final non-conference weekend series for the Rebels as SEC play begins next weekend at LSU.
- The Rebels are 34-8 in games of the final non-conference weekend series during the Mike Bianco era.
- Ole Miss ranks fourth in the nation in attendance in 2015, bringing in an average of 7,231 fans for a total attendance of 50,619.
- All home games this season will be televised on an ESPN channel or SEC Network+.
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
SATURDAY, 12:00 P.M.
Stetson - Adam Schaly, Jr., LHP, 2-1, 4.15 ERA
Ole Miss - Christian Trent, Jr., LHP, 2-0, 2.50 ERA
NOTING TRENT:
- Holds a 11-0 career record as a Rebel, believed to have the best start to a career by any pitcher in Ole Miss baseball history
- 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, 3:30 P.M.
Stetson - Brooks Wilson, Fr., RHP, 4-0, 2.76 ERA
Ole Miss - Brady Bramlett, So., RHP, 1-1, 2.81 ERA
NOTING Bramlett:
- Tied for fifth in the SEC in strikeouts with 22, including a career-high 11 against Wright State in his last outing
- Became the first Rebel to record double digit strikeouts in one game since Bobby Wahl in 2012
- 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.
Stetson - Ben Onyshko, Fr., LHP, 0-0, 3.24 ERA
Ole Miss - Sam Smith, Sr., RHP, 0-1, 6.00 ERA
NOTING Smith:
- Is the most experienced starting pitcher in the SEC, making 39 career starts on the mound
- Had his best outing of the year against No. 15 UCF, allowing two runs on four hits over 5.1 innings
- After pitching on Saturday to start the season, returned to his comfort zone as the Sunday starter, where he made 18 appearances during the 2014 season
- Posted a 5-4 record in 2014 with a 3.61 ERA and held opponents to a .286 batting average.
LET'S PLAY TWO
Saturday's games will be the fourth doubleheader Ole Miss has participated in over the same amount of weekends in 2015. Through the first three weeks of the season, although not originally scheduled, Ole Miss has played a doubleheader during each weekend. The outcomes have been the same for each doubleheader with the Rebels falling in game one before bouncing back to take game two and earn the split. Playing so many doubleheaders is not familiar territory for the Rebels; the last time Ole Miss played at least three 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.
A LOOK AT STETSON
The Hatters are 7-6 on the 2015 campaign, coming off a midweek loss to the University of Michigan. Prior to the setback to the Wolverines, Stetson had won five of its past six games. The series against the Rebels will be the first weekend series on the road for Stetson after playing at home during the first three weekends of the season. Leading Stetson at the plate is senior Garrett Russini. After being named Second Team All-Atlantic Sun last year, Russini is back for his final season and hitting a team-best .383. Fellow classmate Josh Powers has bounced back from injury to boast a Hatter-high 12 RBI, while University of Tennessee transfer Vance Vizcaino is batting .373 with 11 RBI and nine runs. On the mound, Saturday starter Brooks Wilson has been the ace of the staff, making seven appearances. Wilson earned his spot in the rotation by going 4-0 with a team-low 2.76 ERA thus far in 2015.
REBELS vs. HATTERS
Ole Miss and Stetson have met on the diamond just four times over the course of history, and the Rebels had the upper hand in every game. The two programs first met at the 2003 Crowne Plaza/Rice Invitational in Houston, Texas, where Ole Miss won the first ever matchup, 5-2. After an 11-year layoff, the Rebels and Hatters kicked off the 2014 season against one another in DeLand, Fla. Ole Miss swept Stetson to start its run to the College World Series, outscoring the home team 26-3 over the three-game span. The Rebels took the season opener, 7-0, before cruising to victory in the final two games of the series, 11-1 and 8-2, respectively. This weekend's game will mark the first time the two will play each other in Oxford.
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 a season-long seven innings against No. 15 UCF. As a Rebel, Trent now boasts a career record of 11-0 in 20 starts with 104 strikeouts over 128 innings of work.
REBELS DAZZLE IN DEBUT
Although Ole Miss did not claim the in-state battle against Southern Miss on Wednesday, a few Rebels were bright spots in debut performances. Finishing the game on the mound, a pair of Rebel arms made their Ole Miss debuts and did not disappoint. Junior college transfer Mitchel Babb pitched a scoreless seventh inning, while freshman John Wesley Ray retired the side in the eighth. Although it wasn't his first career game in an Ole Miss uniform, another Rebel made his first career start as Will Golsan got the nod at second base. The freshman started two double plays to get Ole Miss out of jams, and he also recorded one of the Rebels' five hits throughout the night.
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 11-3 in the last non-conference weekend series of the season during the Bianco era. In those series, Ole Miss has posted a 34-8 record, including nine three-game sweeps. The Diamond Rebels have won 12-straight games in these types of series, with the last loss coming March 14, 2010 against Louisville. When Stetson comes to town this weekend, Ole Miss will look to continue its success in final non-conference series and gain momentum towards SEC play next weekend.
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 20 starts over the past two seasons, the junior southpaw has posted an 11-0 record with a 2.11 ERA over 128.0 innings. With 11 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).
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
The comfort of home won't last long for the Rebels as they hit the road for five games next week. Ole Miss will kick off the road trip with a trip north to face Louisville in a pair of midweek matchups. Both games are scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. Following the two games against the Cardinals, Ole Miss begins SEC play with a weekend series at LSU. The final two conference battles versus the Tigers will be nationally-televised on the SEC Network.
