.png&width=32&height=32&type=webp)
The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Baseball Hosts Alabama This Weekend
4/23/2015 | Baseball
WEEKEND SERIES
Matchup: Ole Miss (21-21, 8-10 SEC) vs. Alabama (22-18, 8-10 SEC)
Date: April 24-26, 2015
Location: Oxford, Miss.
Venue: Oxford-University Stadium
Capacity: 10,323
Television: Friday-SEC Network+/Saturday-SEC Network/Sunday-ESPN
Richard Cross (Fri.)/Clay Matvick (Sat./Sun.), play-by-play
David Delluci (Fri.)/Jay Powell (Sat./Sun.), analyst
Radio: Ole Miss Radio Network
David Kellum, play-by-play
Keith Kessinger, analyst
Live Audio: OleMissSports.com
Series: Alabama leads 194-145-2
Last Meeting: March 28-30, 2014
Alabama won 3-0
Tuscaloosa, Ala.
QUICK HITS
- Ole Miss enters the weekend after splitting a pair of midweek games
- The Rebels thumped Central Arkansas, 18-4, before falling to Memphis, 10-5
- In the win over UCA, every Rebel in the starting lineup recorded at least 1 hit, 1 RBI and 1 run; this marked the first time in program history that Ole Miss has accomplished this feat
- The Rebels are currently 27th in RPI with the nation's second-toughest schedule
- Connor Cloyd and Will Golsan have both recorded multiple hits in four of the last five games
- Junior Cameron Dishon leads the SEC with eight sacrifice bunts
- Sophomore Colby Bortles has reached base in 19 of the last 20 games
- Ole Miss ranks second in the nation in attendance in 2015, averaging 7,806 fans per game for a total attendance of 171,740
- The Rebels swept Alabama in a three-game series the last time these two SEC foes faced off at Swayze Field, April 12-14, 2013
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
FRIDAY, 6:30 P.M.
Alabama - Taylor Guilbeau, Sr., LHP, 2-3, 3.29 ERA
Ole Miss - Christian Trent, Jr., LHP, 5-4, 4.09 ERA
NOTING TRENT:
- Earned the win against Tennessee, lasting six innings and striking out five
- Pitched 6.1 innings and allowed one run on three hits to defeat No. 1 Florida, going 4.1 innings without giving up a hit
- Has made 27 career starts, recording 131 strikeouts over 171.1 innings for a record of 14-4
- Won his first 12 games as a Rebel, the best start to a career by any pitcher in Ole Miss baseball history
- Named to the 50-player preseason Golden Spikes Award watch list
SATURDAY, 7:00 P.M.
Alabama - Jake Walters, Fr., RHP, 4-1, 1.38 ERA
Ole Miss - Brady Bramlett, So., RHP, 4-2, 2.47 ERA
NOTING BRAMLETT:
- Holding opponents to just a .223 average at the plate
- Pitched a career-high seven innings, without allowing an earned run, at No. 1 LSU
- Went six scoreless innings against Stetson, 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
- Returned to the mound this season after missing the end of the 2013 season and the entire 2014 season due to injury
SUNDAY, 12:00 P.M.
Alabama - Geoffrey Bramblett, So, RHP, 5-2, 4.22 ERA
Ole Miss - Will Stokes, Fr., RHP, 1-4, 6.38 ERA
NOTING STOKES:
- Earned his first career win, lasting six innings against No. 1 Vanderbilt
- Has made his first five career starts over the last five SEC series finales
- Appeared out of the bullpen nine times, but has filled in as the third starter in the rotation
- Second on the team with three saves this season, including two against a pair of top-10 teams
- Got the Rebels out of a jam and saved the 14-inning game against No. 1 LSU
A LOOK AT ALABAMA
The Crimson Tide will arrive in Oxford with a 22-18 record after sweeping Mississippi Valley State in a Tuesday doubleheader. Despite dropping two out of three at Missouri last weekend, Alabama is 7-3 over its last 10 games. The Crimson Tide is 7-11 in SEC play, winning the series over Georgia and Mississippi State. Sophomore Casey Hughston and junior Mikey White lead Alabama at the plate with averages of .363 and .353, respectively. The duo was selected to the Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List, and White was named to the Brooks Wallace Award Watch List, an honor given to the nation's best shortstop. On the mound, Alabama will go with the rotation of Taylor Guilbeau, Jake Walters and Geoffrey Bramblett against the Rebels this weekend. Walters, a freshman, is 4-1 with a 1.38 ERA, while Bramblett has the most wins on the team with five in 10 starts.
A RARE FEAT
In an 18-4 victory over Central Arkansas on Tuesday, April 21, every Rebel in the starting lineup tallied at least one hit, one run and one RBI in the contest; the feat was accomplished by the fifth inning, marking the first time in Ole Miss history, according to the archives. The Rebels nearly saw it happen in a 28-0 drubbing of Illinois College in 1989. The only statistic missing in that game was a RBI from the Ole Miss starting leadoff hitter. Current Ole Miss baseball radio analyst and former All-SEC selection Keith Kessinger went 3-for-3 with three runs, two doubles and one RBI in that contest. Kessinger knocked in the game's first run as the Rebels crossed the plate 27 more times throughout the game. This season, St. Mary's recorded the rare feat in a 17-1 win over Northwestern, March 25.
OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION
Ole Miss collected a combined 33 hits in its two midweek matchups this week. Scoring 14 runs in the first two innings, Ole Miss busted out the bats in a convincing 18-4 victory over Central Arkansas. The 18 runs were a season high for the Rebels. Leadoff hitter Connor Cloyd paced the Ole Miss bats with four hits, three runs and three RBI, all personal bests on a career-high night. Hitting right behind Cloyd in the two-hole, sophomore J.B. Woodman recorded a career-best four hits and four runs. Woodman also blasted a two-run homer, his fifth of the season. Batting third, freshman Will Golsan tied a career high with his fourth three-hit night of 2015. Along with a pinch-hit single by Kyle Watson, the one through three hitters in the lineup ended the night a combined 12-for-17.
The following night against Memphis, three Rebels recorded three-hit games as Ole Miss reached the double digit mark in hits for the fifth time in the past seven games. Sophomore Colby Bortles had another big night at the dish, going 3-for-4 with two doubles, two RBI and one run. Bortles' three hits tied his career high total for a single game. Cloyd kept swinging his hot bat with his third consecutive multi-hit ballgame in a 3-for-5 performance, increasing his batting average to .414 this season. Senior Austin Knight notched a career-high three hits as well for the Rebels.
APRIL SLUGGERS
Colby Bortles and Connor Cloyd have success at the plate throughout the month of April. Thus far, Cloyd has hit at an impressive .455 clip, recording all seven multi-hit games in his Ole Miss career during this month. With his production at the dish, the Maple Valley, Wash. native has secured his spot in the everyday lineup. Cloyd is hitting .414 this season and has recorded multi-hit games in four of the past five contests; this week, he is 7-for-10 at the plate with four runs. Meanwhile, Bortles had added the power in the Ole Miss order during April, hitting .327 with five doubles, three home runs and 19 RBI. Two of Bortles' home runs have been grand slams in wins over No. 1 Vanderbilt and UT Martin. The Ole Miss third baseman has recorded hits in 11-of-13 games this month, helping increase his season batting average to .288. The 19 RBI during the month has also propelled Bortles to the team lead with 34 through 42 games.
SOPHOMORE MAINSTAYS
Only two Rebels have started all 42 games this season, and they both happen to be sophomores. Errol Robinson has started every game as the Rebels' shortstop, while J.B. Woodman has been penciled in the Ole Miss outfield, splitting time between center field and right field. Robinson and Woodman have made phenomenal plays with their gloves, but the duo also produces at the plate. Woodman has 43 hits to lead the Rebels, and Robinson is second with 40; Woodman has scored a team-high 31 times, while Robinson's 22runs are third on the Ole Miss ballclub. In the 7-2 win over Auburn, Woodman and Robinson led Ole Miss at the plate as each Rebel recorded three hits in the contest. Woodman nearly left the year in the first with a triple off the green monster in left field, later scoring for the game's first run. One inning later, Robinson belted a ground-rule double to set up a two-RBI opportunity that gave Ole Miss an early three-run advantage.
KNIGHT'S DAY
Senior Austin Knight knocked in a career-high four runs in the Rebels' 7-2 victory over Auburn in game one of a doubleheader. With two runners in scoring position, Knight knocked in his teammates by finding an outfield gap in the second inning. His double rolled all the way to the wall to clear the bases, increasing the Rebels' lead, 3-0. Later in the seventh inning, the bases were loaded for Knight. The senior catcher lined a ball off the diving third baseman's glove that squirted into left field and scored a pair of Rebels. The two-run single increased his RBI total to four on the game and gave Ole Miss a little breathing room with a four-run cushion late in the game.
LET'S PLAY TWO
Although having just one doubleheader scheduled prior to the start of the 2015 campaign, Ole Miss has played in six other twinbills this year. Following the pair of games against Auburn on Saturday, the seventh doubleheader of the season, the Rebels are 7-7 on doubleheader days. Playing so many doubleheaders is not familiar territory for the Rebels; the last time Ole Miss played at least seven doubleheaders in one full season occurred in 1993 when the Rebels played eight twinbills throughout the year due to them being regularly scheduled by the SEC. Once the conference stopped scheduling doubleheaders, the most Ole Miss had played up until this year were four in each of the following seasons: 2008, 2006, and 1996.
BRILLIANT BULLPEN
The Ole Miss bullpen threw 25.1 consecutive innings without allowing a run before the streak ended at Auburn on Saturday. In the five-straight games, the Rebels' bullpen kept opponents off the scoreboard, while also holding Southern Miss scoreless in the final 2.1 innings of that contest to total the streak over a six-game stretch. Facing No. 1 Vanderbilt in a tough environment on the road, 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, 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.
SHORT'S STUFF
Sophomore southpaw Wyatt Short has been a shutdown reliever out of the Ole Miss bullpen this season. In 15 appearances, Short has a 3-1 record, six saves, an impressive 0.67 ERA, 30 strikeouts, only 11 walks and just two earned runs over 27.0 innings. His win total and number of saves are team highs out of Rebel relievers as he had held opposing hitters to a .206 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. He also pitched the final 2.2 innings to earn the save in game one of a doubleheader at Auburn. Over his last 21.2 innings spanning 12 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 2.27 ERA in 11 appearances. Through 31.2 innings of work, he has struck out 38 batters, while only walking seven. Perhaps the most impressive statistic of all by the Hattiesburg, Miss. native is that he is holding opposing hitters to just a .165 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 performance earned the senior SEC Co-Pitcher of the Week honors, and he built off the accolade in his next appearance, earning the win at Auburn.
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 second-toughest schedule to this point as the Rebels' opponents are a combined 403-255-1 (.612) this season. Through 42 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 and 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
Ole Miss will play four games against SEC foes next week. First, the Rebels will travel to Pearl, Miss. to battle rival Mississippi State in the annual matchup for the Governor's Cup on Tuesday, April 28. First pitch from Trustmark Park is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT. After the midweek matchup, Ole Miss will head to Columbia, Mo. to face Missouri in the Rebels' final SEC road series of the season.
