The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Battles UT Martin Wednesday at Swayze Field
4/14/2015 | Baseball
MIDWEEK GAME
Matchup: Ole Miss (18-18) vs. UT Martin (10-23)
Date: April 15, 2015
Location: Oxford, Miss.
Venue: Swayze Field
Capacity: 10,323
Television: SEC Network+
Will Kollmeyer, 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 15-1
Last Game: February 19, 2014
Ole Miss won, 6-0
Oxford, Miss.
QUICK HITS
- Ole Miss went 2-2 last week, including a series victory over No. 1 Vanderbilt on the road
- The Rebels are 6-0 all-time vs. the Skyhawks during the Mike Bianco era
- Wednesday's game wraps up a stretch of Ole Miss playing eight-of-nine games against teams from the state of Tennessee; the Rebels are 4-3 versus teams from the Volunteer State
- Ole Miss is 5-4 against the nation's No. 1 team in 2015, including two series victories (Florida, Vanderbilt)
- Ole Miss has played 14 games against top-15 teams this season, going 7-7 in those contests
- The Rebels have the nation's toughest schedule with past opponents a combined 306-171-1 (.641)
- Senior Scott Weathersby was named SEC Co-Pitcher of the Week after his performance vs. No. 1 Vandy
- Sophomore Colby Bortles has hit the last two Ole Miss grand slams, including the one that tied the game in the ninth against No. 1 Vanderbilt Friday night
- Ole Miss ranks second in the nation in attendance in 2015, bringing in an average of 7,909 fans for a total attendance of 150,269
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
WEDNESDAY, 3:00 P.M.
UT Martin - Jackson Zarubin, R-Jr., RHP, 0-1, 2.45 ERA
Ole Miss - Sam Smith, Sr., RHP, 1-4, 6.82 ERA
NOTING SMITH:
- Has made seven starts this season as well as four relief appearances
- Is the most experienced starting pitcher in the SEC, making 49 career starts on the mound
- Pitched two scoreless innings of relief at No. 1 Vanderbilt
- Threw 4.2 innings out of the bullpen last week vs. Southern Miss
- Gave up one run on three hits in 2.1 innings of relief versus No. 1 Florida
A LOOK AT UT MARTIN
The Rebels lead the all-time series against UT Martin, 15-1, including winning all six games against the Skyhawks during the Mike Bianco era. UT Martin enters Wednesday's game with a 10-23 record. The Skyhawks went 1-3 last week, soaring past Bethel before dropping three games to Morehead State in conference action. UT Martin is led by the duo of senior Taylor Douglas and junior Andrew Castillo. Douglas leads the team in batting average (.338), hits (46), doubles (11), home runs (6) and RBI (26). Castillo paces the Skyhawks with 24 runs scored, and he has also knocked in 22 runs this season. On the mound, redshirt-junior Jackson Zarubin will get the start; the right-hander has a record of 0-1 to go along with an ERA of 2.45 through five appearances in 2015. Last season, Zarubin made a relief appearance against Ole Miss, pitching 1.2 innings before suffering a season-ending injury.
Scott Weathersby NAMED SEC CO-PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Senior Scott Weathersby was named SEC Co-Pitcher of the Week, the conference office announced Monday, April 13. The right-handed reliever earns the accolade for the first time in his career after a brilliant performance against No. 1 Vanderbilt. Weathersby tossed a career-long six innings of relief to pick up the win, striking out a career-high 10 batters to help Ole Miss knock off the top-ranked Commodores in 16 innings. He retired 18 of the 21 batters he faced, giving up just two hits and issuing one walk to keep Vanderbilt off the scoreboard in extra innings. The senior captain pitched out of a bases-loaded jam with nobody out in the bottom of the 11th to keep the Rebels alive, striking out two and forcing a flyout to send the game to the 12th. After Ole Miss got the go-ahead run in the top of the 16th, Weathersby sent the final two batters of the game down on strikes to cap off the come-from-behind victory. As a senior captain, Weathersby led an Ole Miss bullpen that did not allow a run over the weekend in 15.2 innings of work, holding one of the nation's top offensive teams at bay. In his final season as a Rebel, he has posted a 2.11 ERA with two saves, 35 strikeouts and just six walks over 29.1 innings. Weathersby has also limited opponents to a .150 batting average in his 11 appearances.
BEATING THE BEST
Ole Miss has brought its A-game when facing the No. 1 team in the country. The Rebels have faced three different No. 1 teams this season for a total of nine games, posting a record of 5-4 against the top-ranked foes. SEC play opened up with Ole Miss facing No. 1 LSU on the road, where the Tigers took the series, 2-1. The following week, the Rebels hosted No. 1 Florida and claimed the series by winning the first two games of the three-game set. Finally, this past weekend, Ole Miss hit the road to face another No. 1 team, Vanderbilt. After rallying in the ninth and winning in 16 innings Friday night, tying the series at one game apiece, the Rebels maintained momentum to emerge victorious in the rubber match on Saturday, 5-4.
EXTRA, EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT
This season, Ole Miss has played in two extra-inning games and has been victorious in both of them. Not only were both contests on the road, but they were also against a pair of No. 1 teams. The Rebels defeated No. 1 LSU, 5-3, on March 14 in a 14-inning thriller. The game, lasting four hours and 15 minutes, only held its ground as the longest Ole Miss game of the season for a few weeks. On Friday night at No. 1 Vanderbilt, April 10, Ole Miss scored four runs in the ninth on a Colby Bortles grand slam to send the game into extra innings before scoring the winning run in the 16th. Along with the duration of five hours and 29 minutes, the 16-inning matchup marked the third-longest game in Ole Miss history, falling one inning short of a pair of 17-inning contests. The two extra-inning victories also marked the first time in program history that the Rebels have played two games in a season that have lasted at least 14 innings.
BRILLIANT BULLPEN
Facing No. 1 Vanderbilt in a tough environment on the road, the Ole Miss bullpen did not allow a run over the entire weekend. Five different Rebel relievers combined to hold the defending national champions scoreless for 15.2 innings through the three-game series. The quintet struck out 18 hitters and allowed just six hits to help Ole Miss claim another series against a No. 1 team. Junior Mitchel Babb started the streak on Thursday night by tossing 1.2 scoreless innings. On Friday, the trio of Jacob Waguespack, Wyatt Short and Scott Weathersby kept Vanderbilt from scoring in 11 consecutive innings as Ole Miss went on to come back and win in the 16th. Short pitched the 10th before Weathersby finished the contest by going a career-long six innings and recording a career-high 10 strikeouts to earn the win. The senior even pitched himself out of a bases-loaded jam with zero outs in the 11th. In the rubber match Saturday, fellow senior Sam Smith went two innings without allowing a run, and Waguespack returned to close out the game in the ninth, notching the first save of his Ole Miss career.
RALLY REBELS
Ole Miss has rallied back in the ninth inning three times this year, including twice against the nation's top-ranked teams. Against No. 1 LSU, March 14, senior Sikes Orvis doubled to send the game into extra innings before knocking in the game-winning run in the top of the 14th. In a midweek game versus Arkansas-Pine Bluff, March 18, Ole Miss trailed by two with their last chance at the dish. However, the Rebels put on the rally caps with three straight hits to pull within one. After Orvis was intentionally walked, freshman Tate Blackman drilled the second pitch he saw into the left-center gap to score classmate Will Golsan before being mobbed by his teammates rounding first.
While those two comebacks were memorable, they were not as big as what happened Friday night against No. 1 Vanderbilt. Trailing by four entering the top of the ninth, the Rebels worked the bases loaded to set the scene for sophomore Colby Bortles, stepping up to the plate as the tying run. The Ole Miss third baseman delivered on a 1-1 count, blasting a grand slam over the left field wall to knot the game at five runs apiece. Ole Miss kept Vanderbilt off the scoreboard and ended up winning, 6-5, in 16 innings. The four-run deficit was the largest Ole Miss ninth-inning comeback since the Rebels rallied from five runs down in 2002, coincidentally against Vanderbilt. In that game, April 7, 2002, Ole Miss trailed 9-1 entering the eighth inning before scoring three and five runs, respectively, over the final two innings of regulation. The Rebels kept the momentum going into the 10th inning, scoring the game-winning run for a 10-9 victory.
BORTLES REACHES BASE
Sophomore Colby Bortles currently has reached base in the past 14 games, the second time this season he has produced a streak in double digits. Earlier this season, Bortles reached base in 15 consecutive games. While he recorded hits in 11 of the past 14 games, including three multi-hit contests, Bortles found other ways to get on base to keep his streak alive. With the streak in jeopardy Friday night, going without a hit into the ninth, Bortles delivered a clutch game-tying grand slam to push the game into extra innings. The home run was the fourth of the year for the sophomore, and it was also his second career grand slam. Bortles has hit the last two grand slams for the Rebels as he hit his first one against Arkansas State, May 13, 2014.
MLB REBELS
The 2015 Major League Baseball season is now underway, and six former Rebels earned spots on Opening Day rosters. Chris Coghlan (Chicago Cubs), Zack Cozart (Cincinnati Reds) and Seth Smith (Seattle Mariners) either started or are slated to start on opening day for their respective teams. Lance Lynn (St. Louis Cardinals) and Drew Pomeranz (Oakland Athletics) will begin the season in the starting rotation for their respective teams, while Aaron Barrett will play a key role in the bullpen for the Washington Nationals. To end the first week of the season, the New York Yankees called up Matt Tracy to bump the amount of Rebels in the majors to seven, the most out of any schools in the SEC.
TENNESSEE SWING
The Rebels are currently in a stretch of playing eight-of-nine games against teams from the state of Tennessee. Following a midweek victory over Memphis, Ole Miss hosted the University of Tennessee for three games. Last week's game against Southern Mississippi served as a buffer between another school from the Volunteer State as Ole Miss took two-of-three from No. 1 Vanderbilt on the road over the weekend. Rounding out the Tennessee swing, the Rebels welcome UT Martin to Swayze Field for a non-conference affair, April 15.
SHORT'S STUFF
Sophomore southpaw Wyatt Short has been a shutdown reliever out of the Ole Miss bullpen this season. In 14 appearances, Short has a 3-1 record, five saves, an impressive 0.74 ERA, 27 strikeouts, only 10 walks and just two earned runs over 24.1 innings. His win total and number of saves are team highs out of Rebel relievers as he had held opposing hitters to a low .186 average at the plate. Against Tennessee, the Southaven, Miss. native entered the game with the bases loaded and the tying run at the plate, but he pitched out of the jam, allowing just one of the inherited runners to score. Over his last 19 innings spanning 11 appearances, Short has surrendered just one run. When the game is on the line and the Rebels need to get out of the inning, Short has been the primary guy called upon by head coach Mike Bianco.
WEATHERING THE STORM
One of two captains, senior Scott Weathersby has been a leader to a youthful Ole Miss baseball team. On the mound this season, Weathersby has posted a 2.15 ERA in 11 appearances. Through 29.1innings of work, he has struck out 35 batters, while only walking six. Perhaps the most impressive statistic of all by the Hattiesburg, Miss. native is that he is holding opposing hitters to just a .150 average at the plate. Weathersby's veteran presence on the mound showed against No. 1 Vanderbilt, April 10, as he retired 18 of the 21 batters he faced over a career-long six-inning outing. The senior right-hander struck out a career-high 10 hitters and got out of a bases-loaded jam, all while keeping the nation's top-ranked team off the scoreboard. Behind Weathersby, the Rebels stayed alive in the extra-inning contest before winning in the 16th. Weathersby shut the door to collect the win on the road.
THE GAUNTLET
The Rebels have gone through the gauntlet thus far with a difficult non-conference schedule as well as facing three teams ranked No. 1 in the country. According to NCAA statistics, Ole Miss has had the nation's toughest schedule to this point as the Rebels' opponents are a combined 306-171-1 (.641) this season. Through 36 games, 14 of those contests came against top-15 teams, including nine against No. 1 teams. The Rebels are 7-7 in games against ranked teams, but recently took two-of-three from No. 1 Vanderbilt. Ole Miss went through a stretch of playing 8-of-11 games against teams ranked in the top 10, posting an even 4-4 record in those matchups that included a series victory over then-No. 1 Florida. The brutal schedule has forced a young Ole Miss team grow up fast, and the Rebels could benefit from the pressure as the season rolls along.
ON THE HORIZON
Following the midweek game at home, the Rebels pack up to hit the road once again for SEC play. Ole Miss travels to Auburn to face the Tigers in a three-game set beginning Friday night, April 17, at 6:00 p.m. CT. Game two of the series will follow Saturday after with a first pitch set for 3:00 p.m. CT. The series finale will take place on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. CT. All games will be broadcast on SEC Network+ as well as the airwaves of the Ole Miss Radio Network.
