The University of Mississippi Athletics

Keenan

Baseball Completes Second Week of Fall Practice

10/1/2018 | Baseball

Bats Heat Up During Weekend Intrasquads

OXFORD, Miss. – The Ole Miss baseball team continues to see improvements in newcomers and veterans alike through two weeks of intrasquad scrimmages at Swayze Field. Incoming pitchers, vying for a position in the weekend rotation that leaves three vacancies from a season ago, continued to show success on the mound, while familiar names throughout the lineup made a significant impact on the field over the weekend.

Five home runs from the red team lifted them to a 10-5 victory over the blue squad on Saturday, while an impressive pitching performance on both sides Friday led to a 6-6 tie between the two teams.

Freshman Gunnar Hoglund made perhaps the most strides of anybody over the pair of games. After earning the start for the red team on Friday, going two-and-a-third innings with just one run allowed and three strikeouts, the 2018 first-round MLB Draft pick turned around on Saturday and got the job done on offense as well. Hoglund hit two home runs in game two, drove in four runs, and recorded two runs of his own. Through two weekends, Hoglund is hitting .429 at the plate, and tossing a 1.93 ERA on the mound, proving his worth as a truly dynamic two-way player.

Fellow newcomers Doug Nikhazy and Zack Phillips also made a splash on the mound over the course of both games, going a combined 6.0 innings with just one run allowed each. Phillips racked up an impressive five strikeouts, topping all pitchers, while Nikhazy struck out four opposing batters. The two new Rebels allowed a combined three hits, good for just one hit every other inning.

Freshman Knox Loposer also turned heads over the weekend. Following Friday's game, Loposer, a catcher, was awarded the Tour De Defense shirt, given to the day's best defender, but it was his performance at the plate the following day that truly merited recognition. Loposer matched his teammate Hoglund's total with a pair of his own homers, each flying over the left field bullpen. He led his squad with three hits, two of them home runs, with his two RBI and runs coming on his two solo shots.

Loposer and Hoglund weren't the only ones with multiple long balls over the weekend, however, with last year's power players checking in with two home runs of their own. Tyler Keenan went yard twice in Friday's game, going 2-for-3 with four RBI in the first game, while fellow third baseman Tim Elko was the only player to record a home run in both games.

Phillips and Hoglund led their respective teams on Friday, both exiting the game after the third having allowed just one run apiece. They were followed by a pair of familiar faces—Connor Green on the blue side, and Austin Miller in red. Four runs were scored by the red team against Green, but Miller managed to hold the blue team to two runs on five hits.

Pierce Smith and Max Cioffi finished the game off for their respective sides, with Cioffi's blue team depending on him to hold the score to a tie. While Smith allowed one run on one hit, Cioffi stifled the red team to no runs on just one hit, to close the game at a 6-6 tie.

At the plate in Friday's scrimmage, just three Rebels had multi-hit days—Keenan, Anthony Servideo, and Carl Gindl. Servideo smacked two singles across the diamond, completing the base path each time to account for his two runs, while Gindl has managed to extend on his excellent summer into the fall. Gindl currently shares the title for the best batting average among players with at least 10 at bats with Elko, with both clocking in at .462, or six hits in 13 opportunities.

If Friday was the pitching staff's time to shine, it was the Rebel bats who got the job done the following day. A combined 25 hits were recorded between the two teams in ten innings of baseball Saturday morning. Loposer and Hoglund led the charge with for the victorious red team, accounting for six of their team's ten runs, but there were game-changing performances all across the diamond Saturday.

Thomas Dillard was another strong bat in the red team's lineup Saturday, going 2-for-5 with a single and a triple. The red team also picked up a boost from Jacob Adams and Chase Cockrell, who each recorded an RBI to put the game out of reach of the blue team.

Although the blue team put up five runs, they still accounted for 13 hits, with a slew of Rebels recording multi-hit games. Servideo, Elko, Hunter Nabors, Cole Zabowski, and Josh Hall each contributed to their effort with at least two hits. Hall, a freshman, led his squad with a 3-for-4 day at the plate, one run, and three stolen bases. The speedy freshman, who broke a longstanding national record with the most stolen bases in American high school history, is currently tied with Ryan Olenek for the most bases swiped through two weekends with five.

On the mound, Will Ethridge was the strong performer for his red team. The junior set the tone early, allowing just one run over three innings, while his teammates at the plate put four runs on the board through the same three innings. Ethridge currently leads all Rebel pitchers in both strikeout percentage (37 percent of batters faced) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (7:1).

His counterpart, junior transfer Tyler Myers, had tougher sledding against the relentless lineup of the red team, allowing four runs on six hits. Fellow newcomers Nikhazy and Jacob Steinberg, however, relieved Myers with a valiant effort, recording just four runs allowed over five innings, while Parker Caracci closed out the game for the blue team with his first appearance of the fall.

The Rebels will continue fall work with practices at Swayze Field during the week, and intrasquads on the weekend. The remaining fall schedule, including tentative start times, can be seen below. Stay tuned to Rebel baseball on social media for schedule updates.

For all Ole Miss Baseball news and information, visit the official athletics site OleMissSports.com. For more social media updates, follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissBSB, on Facebook at Ole Miss Baseball and on Instagram at olemissbsb.

Ole Miss Baseball - 2018 Fall Schedule
Sun., Oct. 7 - Intrasquad (5:30 p.m.) 
Fri., Oct. 12 - Intrasquad (2:30 p.m.)
Sat., Oct. 13 - vs. Delta State (TBA)
Fri., Oct. 19 - Intrasquad (2:30 p.m.)
Sun., Oct. 21 - Intrasquad (1 p.m.)
Fri., Oct. 26 - Intrasquad (2:30 p.m.)
Sat., Oct. 27 - vs. Little Rock (2 p.m.)
Fri., Nov. 2 - Pizza Bowl (6 p.m.)
The Season: Ole Miss Baseball - Omaha Challenge (2025)
Thursday, December 18
Baseball's New Faces - Daniel Pacella & Tristan Bissetta
Thursday, October 16
New Faces: Freshmen Pitchers
Friday, September 19
PRESSER | Mike Bianco & Luke Hill - Oxford Regional Final vs. Murray State (06-02-25)
Monday, June 02