The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
UT Martin
Baseball Begins Nine-Game Homestand vs. UT Martin
2/26/2019 | Baseball
Rebels and Skyhawks Set for 4 p.m. First Pitch
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#10 OLE MISS (4-2, 0-0 SEC) vs. UT Martin (3-3, 0-0 OVC) February 26, 2019 Oxford, Miss. Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field (11,477) |
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| Ole Miss Notes • UT Martin Notes • SEC Notes | ||||||||
Wednesday, February 20 |
| PROJECTED STARTERS Ole Miss: LHP Jordan Fowler 0-0, 6.75 ERA, 2.2 IP UT Martin: RHP David Hussey 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 4.1 IP |
| Watch • Listen • Live Stats |
LEADING OFF
• Ole Miss enters the midweek after capturing a series win at Tulane.
• It was a big week for junior OF/C Thomas Dillard, who was named SEC Player of the Week and Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week after hitting three home runs and tallying 13 RBI over four games.
• Dillard ranks in the top 10 nationally in OPS, (3rd), slugging percentage (4th), RBI per game (4th), home runs per game (6th), home runs (7th), total bases (7th) and RBI (8th).
• Dillard (.412), Tyler Keenan (.412) and Ryan Olenek (.500) all hit over .400 last week.
• As expected, the Rebel offense has been one of the most powerful groups in the nation thus far, ranking 5th nationally, averaging two HR per game. Ole Miss is also 17th in the nation in slugging pct. and 23rd in scoring.
• Ole Miss sold more than 7,100 season tickets, a program record.
• Ole Miss is the only team in the SEC and one of just three teams (Baylor, Army) with seven or more returning players who started 48 or more games in 2018.
• Four Rebels (Cole Zabowski, Parker Caracci, Chase Cockrell, Tyler Keenan) were named Preseason All-SEC, the most in program history and tied for the most in the conference this season.
• Three Rebels earned Preseason All-America Honors: Parker Caracci (5x), Thomas Dillard, Ryan Olenek
• Ole Miss tied a program record with 48 wins in 2018, and at 48-17, the Rebels posted their best win percentage (.738) in 48 seasons. The 17 defeats were also the fewest in the Mike Bianco era.
• Ole Miss lost just one game against non-SEC competition in the entire 2018 regular season.
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
• OleMissGameday.com
• OleMissGameday.com/baseball/parking
• OleMissTix.com
GENERAL ADMISSION SEATING
General Admission seating is located in left field and overflow into right field. For left field and right field general admission, you are allowed to bring in your own folding chair to sit in. You are only able to enter the stadium with a folding chair through the left or right field gate entrances and are responsible for removing your chair after the game has ended. If all seats are filled in left field or right field, we offer standing room only around the stadium. Please be mindful when standing around the stadium as to not block another person's view.
TUESDAY
• Scout Night with Mississippi Boy and Girl Scouts
• Kids Night - Kids 12 & Under get in FREE!
• $1 Hot Dog Night
FRIDAY
• Schedule magnet giveaway
• Swayze Field poster giveaway
SATURDAY
• Swayze Babies – The first 500 fans will receive a FREE Ole Miss baseball baby bib
• Meet the Rebels autograph poster giveaway
SUNDAY
• Kids Run the Bases pres. by Belles and Beaus
SEE YOU AT SWAYZE
In 2018, Ole Miss was No. 2 in the nation in both total and average attendance for the fourth consecutive season. Swayze Field attracted 8,965 fans per game and a total of 322,742 fans over 36 games.
The season included five of the top 10 most-attended games in program history, including the single-game attendance record of 12,152 in the series-deciding game against LSU on April 28, 2018, which Ole Miss won, 9-8. The Rebels also set the single-game postseason attendance record in the opening game of the NCAA Oxford Regional as Ole Miss topped Saint Louis, 9-2.
Going into 2019, Ole Miss broke its program record for season ticket sales. The previous program-high was 6,275 for the 2017 season. At the start of the 2019 campaign, the season ticket sales figure eclipsed 7,000 for the first time in history.
The Rebels were second in the nation in opening-day attendance in 2019 (8,832), behind only LSU.
SEC CHAMPS
Ole Miss opens the 2018 season as the reigning SEC Tournament Champion. The Rebels fell in their first game of the conference tournament to Auburn but reeled off five straight wins against top competition to capture the crown. The run culminated with a 9-1 drubbing of LSU in the title game. The Rebels won their third SEC Tournament title and their ninth overall conference crown. Ole Miss also secured a share of the SEC Western Division title in 2018, the 15th West championship won by the Rebels.
REBELS IN THE RANKINGS
Ole Miss opens the 2018 season as a top-10 team in three of the six major polls (D1Baseball, Perfect Game, USA Today). The Rebels are 11th according to Collegiate Baseball and NCBWA and are 13th in Baseball America's preseason poll.
RECORD-BREAKING REBELS
Ole Miss tied a program record with 48 wins in 2018, and at 48-17, the Rebels posted their best win percentage (.738) in 48 seasons. The 17 defeats were also the fewest in the Mike Bianco era.
PRESEASON HONORS
Ole Miss earned four preseason All-SEC honors, the most in Rebel baseball history and tied for the most in the conference this season. First baseman Cole Zabowski landed on the first team, while Parker Caracci, Chase Cockrell and Tyler Keenan earned second team honors. Six of the Rebels' starting nine offensive players carry either 2019 preseason or 2018 postseason honors into the start of the season.
Preseason All-American
Parker Caracci - 1st Team (Perfect Game); 2nd Team (D1Baseball, NCBWA, Collegiate Baseball); 3rd Team (Baseball America)
Thomas Dillard - 2nd Team (D1Baseball)
Ryan Olenek - 3rd Team (Collegiate Baseball)
Preseason All-SEC
1B Cole Zabowski - First Team
RHP Parker Caracci - Second Team
IF/OF/DH Chase Cockrell - Second Team
3B Tyler Keenan - Second Team
SEC SPEED
Ole Miss is No. 31 in the nation and No. 3 in the SEC, averaging 2.17 stolen bases per game.
STARTING OFF
Ole Miss must replace its entire weekend starting rotation as Ryan Rolison, Brady Feigl and James McArthur were all selected in the 2018 MLB Draft and have moved on to the professional ranks.
GOOD WILL PITCHING
Will Ethridge earned the Friday night role after posting the team's best ERA over the offseason. The junior out of Lilburn, Georgia, posted a miniscule 0.60 ERA in the fall with 18 strikeouts compared to four walks (4.50 K/BB). He kept it going in the spring, holding opposing hitters to two runs over 11 innings for a 1.67 ERA.
Ethridge was outstanding in his 2019 debut, going 5.2 scoreless innings with just four hits allowed, striking out five and walking two.
TO THE LEFTY
It was a hot competition for the No. 2 and 3 weekend starter roles behind Ethridge, and junior college transfer Zack Phillips seized the Saturday night spot. Phillips, a lefty out of Texarkana, Arkansas, was strong in the fall, striking out 16 over 12.2 innings, but he came back even better after the winter break. The Grayson CC transfer allowed just two runs in 10 innings of work this spring for a 2.20 ERA. He silenced the powerful Rebel lineup, throwing five scoreless innings in his final intrasquad outing of the spring.
FAB FRESHMAN
The final starting role was taken by highly touted freshman Gunnar Hoglund. Hoglund was drafted in the first round of the 2018 MLB Draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates but elected to come to Oxford.
The rookie out of Hudson, Florida, has lived up to his billing thus far. His fall ERA was second only to Ethridge at 1.23 over 14.2 innings of work. He was outstanding in the spring as well, posting a 6.0 strikeout-to-walk ratio, going 8.2 innings without issuing a free pass. Before his final start of the spring, he allowed just two earned runs.
CLOSING TIME
Parker Caracci had a breakout 2018 season that ended in All-America honors and a selection in the 37th round of the MLB Draft by the Toronto Blue Jays. However, Caracci elected to return for his redshirt-junior campaign, and he has worked his way back to top form going into the season.
Caracci pitched for the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team over the summer, posting a perfect 0.00 ERA with two saves and an opposing batting average of .094 in 9.2 innings of work.
Heading into the season, Caracci is a first-team All-American according to Perfect Game, in addition to four other All-America nods. He's also All-SEC Second Team and is on the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Award Watch List.
BULLPEN BRIGHT SPOTS
As it looks to replace the bulk of its pitching staff from 2018, Ole Miss found some critical innings from returners and newcomers alike to win the series at Tulane last week.
On Sunday in New Orleans, starter Gunnar Hoglund allowed just one earned run, while a combination of Hoglund, Austin Miller, Connor Green, Kaleb Hill, Tyler Myers and Doug Nikhazy held the Green Wave scoreless over the final seven innings to secure a come-from-behind victory. Green, a senior, earned his first career win, while Nikhazy earned his first career save with a 1-2-3 ninth inning.
Nikhazy, Green, Miller and Hill all posted spotless 0.00 ERAs over the week, while Myers was outstanding as well at 2.25, giving up just one earned run and striking out five over 4.0 innings of work.
LETHAL LINEUP
Ole Miss is off to a torrid start at the plate. The Rebels rank in the top five in the SEC in eight major offensive categories. (See chart in notes).
RAKING REBELS
As seen in the chart on page 10 of Ole Miss' game notes, Rebel hitters own 22 spots in the top 50 nationally in a litany of offensive categories.
EXPERIENCE PAYS OFF
Ole Miss is the only team in the SEC and is one of just three teams in the nation (Baylor, Army) with seven returning players with 48 or more starts each in 2018.
In total, the Rebels return a combined 2,744 career at-bats. That group brings back a combined .307 batting average from 2018 with 438 hits, 299 runs scored, 90 doubles, 55 home runs and 263 RBI.
SWAYZE SHOWER SEASON
Ole Miss ranks No. 5 in the country and No. 5 in the SEC, averaging two home runs per game.
Five Rebels return after hitting eight or more home runs in 2018—Thomas Dillard (13), Cole Zabowski (10), Tyler Keenan (9), Chase Cockrell (9) and Grae Kessinger (8).
DILLY, DILLY!
Thomas Dillard has started 2019 as hot as any player in college baseball. Last week, the junior out of Oxford went 7-for-17 (.412), hitting for the cycle with a double, a triple and three home runs, including a two-homer game Saturday at Tulane. Dillard scored four runs and drove in 13 over the week, amassing 19 total bases along the way and a 1.118 slugging percentage.
The outstanding week earned Dillard SEC Player of the Week honors, as well as National Player of the Week nods from Collegiate Baseball and College Sports Madness.
Dillard ranks in the top 10 nationally in OPS, (3rd), slugging percentage (4th), RBI per game (4th), home runs per game (6th), home runs (7th), total bases (7th) and RBI (8th).
OLEY ON FIRE
Ryan Olenek picked up where he left off after hitting .350 and earning All-SEC First Team honors in 2018. He hit an even .500 last week, going 8-for-16 with seven runs scored and three RBI.
Olenek his hitting at a .435 clip through six games with 10 runs scored. He ranks in the top 50 nationally in runs scored per game (23rd) and total runs scored (39th).
He also attracts baseballs at an alarming rate. He has been hit by four pitches this season, ranking 21st in the country and third in the SEC. He has been hit by 27 pitches over his career.
OK, TK
Tyler Keenan had a tremendous rookie campaign, earning Freshman All-American honors, as well as an All-SEC Second Team nod going into 2019—and he has shown no signs of a sophomore slump.
Keenan hit .412 last week, going 7-for-17 with two home runs and nine RBI. He's fourth on the team with a .320 batting average on the season with three home runs and 11 RBI, which are second only to Dillard.
The sophomore out of Clayton, North Carolina, is ranks in the top 50 nationally in home runs per game (21st), home runs (24th), RBI per game (25th) and RBI (37th).
