The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebels Looking Good Through Five Weeks of Fall Ball
10/22/2018 | Baseball
Youthful Presence Filling Roles Across the Diamond
OXFORD, Miss. – Ole Miss completed its fifth weekend of fall scrimmages over the weekend, before the final of two exhibition games takes place this Saturday when the Rebels welcome Little Rock to Swayze Field.
Through 11 games thus far at Swayze Field, the diamond is beginning to take shape, with an offense chock full of dynamic veterans, and a pitching rotation with an undergone makeover from a year ago. Multiple newcomers have thrown their hat in their mix for the places left vacant by departing alumni and draftees from last year with strong performances and electric arsenals on the mound this fall.
Tasked with the responsibility of crafting an entirely new weekend rotation this year, head coach Mike Bianco has found solace in the early fall results of his young pitching staff. With the departure of Ryan Rolison, Brady Feigl and James McArthur from a year ago, it is no secret around the bullpen that multiple starting jobs are up for grabs.
Junior Will Ethridge, the Rebels' go-to primary reliever from a season ago, has made a strong case for a move to the front end of the rotation. Through five appearances this fall at two innings each, Ethridge leads all pitchers in strikeout-to-walk ratio (7.0), ERA (0.82), and WHIP (0.64), with just five hits allowed over 11 innings pitched.
Freshman Gunnar Hoglund, also vying for a dynamic role in this pitching staff, is not far behind Ethridge on the statistical leaderboard. The freshman has allowed just two runs in 10.2 innings of work and falls just behind the leader Ethridge and fellow newcomer Kaleb Hill (0.90) in the team's lowest ERA (1.67).
Hoglund hasn't been the only newcomer making waves on the mound, however, with a slew of incoming Rebels making a valiant push for significant innings this year. Junior college transfer Zack Phillips leads all pitchers in strikeouts with 16, while freshman Doug Nikhazy, with a sweeping curveball from the left side in his arsenal, is not far behind him with 15 strikeouts under his belt.
Opposing hitters are having a tough time finding their way on base with Nikhazy on the mound, and are hitting just .132 against the freshman out of Windermere, Fla. Hill also boasts the team's second-lowest ERA (1.29), and has lit up the scoreboard with some of the fall's fastest pitches in addition to just two walks and a WHIP below one.
Returning pitchers Houston Roth and Max Cioffi have both delivered strong performances this fall, but have been limited in their innings due to heavy workloads over the summer. Cioffi has shown electric offspeed stuff en route to 12 strikeouts in 7.2 innings of work.
Offensively, the 2018 SEC hitting leaders have found easy sledding at the plate, with a slew of players well over the .300 batting average mark. The Rebels have found productivity from all over, from veterans, newcomers, and even returning players with limited past experience.
Sophomore Carl Gindl hasn't missed a beat since his electric summer with the Baltimore Redbirds, in which he hit .383 en route to earning Championship Series MVP honors. Although he recorded just six at-bats with the Rebels as a freshman, Gindl has been on a tear this fall, and he currently leads all Ole Miss hitters in batting average (.457) and hits (16). Gindl is a speedy outfielder who is making a strong case for the spot left vacant by one of the Rebels' two departing 2018 starters, center fielder Will Golsan.
Not far behind Gindl, the freshman phenom Tyler Keenan is back for his second year, and he has thus far ignored any calls for a sophomore slump.
Keenan is hitting .375 and is leading the team in RBI (13), home runs (5), and extra-base hits (9). The third baseman is blowing away the competition from a power standpoint and is just shy of the thousand-point mark, slugging .969. He also holds a wide lead over every other Rebel hitter with an astonishingly high 1.502 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage).
Keenan's fellow third baseman, Tim Elko, has been delivering at the plate as well, ranking behind only Gindl for the team's second-best batting average (.441). With two equally impressive options at the hot corner, the athletic Elko has been spending time around the outfield this year, and has been a frequent wearer of the "TourDeFense" yellow shirt, awarded each day to the previous day's best defender.
Cole Zabowski has continued his offensive excellence, clocking in at a .342 average through 12 games, while just a position over, at second base, two excellent fall performances have made determining a consistent second baseman very hard for the coaching staff.
Jacob Adams and Anthony Servideo, who split time last year at second base, have made for one of the more interesting position battles. They differ by just about a hundredth of a percentage point in fall batting averages (.323 and .314, respectively), and have been equally as impressive on the defensive side of the ball. Due to both of their highly athletic nature, don't be surprised to see one of them moved around at points throughout the year to ensure both of their impacts are felt on any given day.
Ole Miss also has a couple of interesting standouts that separate the 2018 recruiting class from recent years. Nikhazy and Hoglund, both excelling on the mound, have also brought their talents to the plate, and both could be legitimate two-way threats for the Rebels.
Nikhazy is 4-for-15 at the plate so far, and is reaching base roughly 40 percent of the time. Hoglund, meanwhile, has brought the firepower, and of his four current hits, two of them are home runs, making him one of four Rebels with multiple homers on the fall. The others on the list: Keenan (5), Elko (3) and fellow freshman Knox Loposer, who hit his fourth in Sunday's intrasquad game.
Freshman Josh Hall has also been delivering where he was most expected. The Alabamian who broke the national high school record for most career stolen bases has carried his speedy prowess over to Oxford, and is tied for the team lead, alongside Gindl and Ryan Olenek, with seven bases swiped.
The Rebels will be back in action as they welcome Little Rock to town Saturday at 2 p.m. CT. After one final intrasquad Sunday (time TBA), Ole Miss will wrap up the fall season with the annual Pizza Bowl, set for Friday, Nov. 2 at 6 p.m. CT.
Season tickets are open for renewal and purchase now at OleMissTix.com. 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.
