The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
UAB
UAB Comes to Town for Final Non-Conference Weekend Series
3/7/2019 | Baseball
Rebels and Blazers Open Series at 3 p.m. CT Friday
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#9 OLE MISS (9-3, 0-0 SEC) vs. UAB (9-4, 0-0 C-USA) March 8-10 Oxford, Miss. Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field (11,477) |
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| Ole Miss Notes • UAB Notes • SEC Notes | ||||||||
| Friday, Mar. 8 3 p.m.  |
Saturday, Mar. 9 1:30 p.m. |
Sunday, Mar. 10 1:30 p.m. |
| PROJECTED STARTERS Ole Miss: RHP Will Ethridge 2-0, 0.00 ERA, 7 K, 2 BB UAB: RHP Tanner Graham 2-0, 1.32 ERA, 10 K, 2 BB |
PROJECTED STARTERS Ole Miss: LHP Zack Phillips 0-1, 7.50 ERA, 10 K, 7 BB UAB: RHP Tyler O'Clair 1-0, 2.00 ERA, 6 K, 5 BB |
PROJECTED STARTERS Ole Miss: RHP Gunnar Hoglund 0-0, 4.09 ERA, 7 K, 1 BB UAB: RHP Tanner Rusk 1-0, 2.03 ERA, 16 K, 7 BB |
| Watch • Listen • Live Stats | Watch • Listen • Live Stats | Watch • Listen • Live Stats |
LEADING OFF
• Ole Miss enters the weekend coming off of a midweek split. The Rebels topped Little Rock, 11-8, on Tuesday before falling Wednesday, 3-2, to No. 14 ECU.
• The Rebels were came within one strike of being no-hit Wednesday vs. ECU. However, the Rebels rallied, starting with a base hit by Thomas Dillard to break up the no-no. The Rebels ultimately came one run short of completing the comeback.
• Ryan Olenek made it back-to-back National Player of the Week honors from Collegiate Baseball for the Rebels. Thomas Dillard earned the honor last week.
• Olenek and Dillard have both opened the 2019 season on 10-game hitting streaks. Dillard's streak stands at 14, dating back to last season. Olenek had a hit and a run scored in the first 10 games of the season. He saw his hitting streak come to a close at 11, but he has reached base in all 12 games in 2019.
• The Rebels are 11th nationally with 16 home runs on the season.
• Tyler Keenan is No. 5 in the nation with 22 RBI on the season.
• Thomas Dillard is the only player in the SEC to rank in the top 10 nationally in home runs and total bases.
• Ole Miss is currently 2nd in the nation in average attendance. The Rebels have held that spot for the past four seasons straight.
• The Rebel offense ranks in the top 25 nationally in runs scored, slugging percentage, stolen bases and home runs.
• Austin Miller has a 0.68 ERA, 0.68 WHIP and 0.68 BB/9.
• Ole Miss hasn't allowed a run in the seventh inning this season.
• Ole Miss and UAB will meet for the 24th time Friday. The Rebels hold a 13-10 advantage in the all-time series. Ole Miss won both games the last time these two teams met in Birmingham in 2016 by a combined score of 13-2.
FAN INFO
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.
PROMO SCHEDULE
FRIDAY
• Schedule magnet giveaway
SATURDAY
• Baseball Movie Night
• Movie 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.
This season is the 30th anniversary of Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field, which opened February 19, 1989. Prior to the construction of the current facility, the Rebels played at Old Swayze Field, which stood where The Pavilion at Ole Miss currently stands.
MENTIONABLE 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. 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
2019 Weekly Honors
Thomas Dillard - SEC Player of the Week (Week 2), Golden Spikes Award Performance of the Week (Week 2), NCBWA National Hitter of the Week (Week 2), Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week (Week 2)
Ryan Olenek - Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week (Week 3)
NOTING THE BLAZERS
Ole Miss and UAB will meet for the 24th time Friday. The series dates back to 1981, when the Rebels took the first meeting, 8-3. The Rebels and Blazers played a yearly home-and-home series nearly every season through the 1980s and early 90s. The results have come out at a near split, with Ole Miss holding a slight advantage, 13-10, going into the weekend. Ole Miss and UAB have played two extra-inning games, in 1984 and 1986, with Ole Miss winning both. After a break in the 2000s, the series resumed in 2015, when UAB took both games of a midweek doubleheader in Oxford, 6-1 and 3-1. The Rebels exacted revenge the following year, winning 8-1 and 5-1 in Birmingham.
Both Ryan Olenek and Michael Fitzsimmons were in the starting lineup when the Blazers and Rebels last met. Olenek went 0-for-5 in the two games but scored one run and had one RBI. Fitzsimmons was a combined 1-for-4 in those two meetings.
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 minuscule 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. After missing a start at Tulane with a blister on his finger, Ethridge returned in Week 3, throwing three pristine innings before he hit his predetermined pitch count. He allowed just two baserunners, scattering a pair of hits across his outing while striking out 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.
Phillips turned in his best outing as a Rebel in Week 3. He went a career-high 5.0 innings, scattering four hits and two walks, giving up a pair of runs and striking out a career-best five.
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.
Hoglund came through with his best outing in red and blue, allowing just one run and spreading six hits over 5.0 innings against Long Beach State. He struck out three and walked none along the way.
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.
GREEN IS BACK
Senior Connor Green has emerged as a linchpin in the Rebel bullpen in 2019. Green posted a 2.73 ERA in 20 appearnces as a freshman but saw his role diminished the two following seasons, including a switch to a submarine delivery as junior. Now, he's back over the top and better than ever. Green picked up his first two career wins in back-to-back games—Sunday at Tulane and Tuesday against UT Martin.
Green was outstanding once again against Long Beach State. He went 2.0 innings without allowing a baserunner, striking out two to bridge the gap in the Rebels' 7-6 win. He had another strong outing against ECU, throwing one inning and allowing just one hit, striking out two.
BULLPEN BRIGHT SPOTS
While the Rebels continue to work to replace their starting rotation, they've gotten some outstanding performances out of the bullpen. Of their 61 runs allowed, only 17 have come in the final four innings, including zero in the 7th through 12 games.
Ole Miss has five pitchers with an ERA under 3.00, and four of them—Connor Green, Ryan Olenek, Austin Miller and Max Cioffi—have worked exclusively out of the bullpen.
SWAYZE SHOWER SEASON
With 16 home runs on the season, Ole Miss ranks 11th nationally and second in the SEC. The Rebels are averaging 1.33 home runs per game, good for 12th in the nation and second in the SEC.
BASH BROTHERS
Ole Miss is one of two teams in the SEC (South Carolina) with two players ranked in the top 30 in the nation in home runs. Thomas Dillard is 6th in the country and 1st in the SEC with six, while Keenan is 30th nationally and tied for fifth in the SEC with four. Ole Miss is the only team in the SEC and one of three teams in the nation with two players ranked in the top 15 nationally in RBI. Keenan is fifth in the country and second in the SEC with 22, while Dillard is 15th in the nation and tied for fourth in the SEC with 19.
DILLY DILLY!
Thomas Dillard's incredible start to the 2019 season has drawn some major national recognition. He ranks in the top 15 nationally in home runs (6th), home runs per game (8th), total bases (8th), slugging percentage (12th) and RBI (15th). He's the only player in the SEC in the top 10 nationally in both home runs per game and total bases.
Dating back to last season, Dillard is on a 14-game hitting streak, including hits in all 12 games in 2019.
Week 2 Honors
• SEC Player of the Week
• Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week
• NCBWA National Hitter of the Week
• Golden Spikes Award Performance of the Week
OLEY ON FIRE
Ryan Olenek picked up where he left off after hitting .350 and earning All-SEC First Team honors in 2018. In addition to being named a Preseason All-American by Collegiate Baseball, in Week 3 of 2019, Olenek was named a National Player of the Week by the Publication. Last week, Oley went .529 at the plate with four doubles and five runs scored. He also pitched against UT Martin. In his second career appearance and first of the season, he tossed a flawless ninth inning, retiring the Skyhawks in order with two strikeouts to seal the 12-6 win.
The senior out of Winter Park, Florida, is hitting at a .447 clip through seven games with 15 runs scored. Olenek had a hit and a run scored in each of the first 10 games of the season.
He also attracts baseballs at an alarming rate. He has been hit by six pitches this season, ranking 17th in the country and first in the SEC. He has been hit by 29 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 is No. 5 in the nation and No. 2 in the SEC in RBI with 22 on the year. He's also in the top 50 in the nation in home runs (30th) and sacrifice flies (37th).
ANT MAN
Sophomore Anthony Servideo has been a spark plug for the Rebels this season, playing second base, right field and shortstop. He has hit .346 along the way with nine runs scored and eight RBI. He's also been electric on the basepaths, with a team-high six stolen bases at a perfect 6-for-6 rate. He has also drawn a team-best 10 walks. Servideo ranks in the top 50 nationally in on-base percentage (45th) and stolen bases per game (47th) His .541 on-base percentage leads all Rebels.
CATCHER U
Junior Cooper Johnson is off to an excellent start to 2019 and looks poised to be the next in a line of prolific catchers to play for head coach Mike Bianco. Johnson is hitting .300 with three doubles, six runs scored, a home run and four RBI. He also has just one passed ball through 10 games and has erased two would-be base stealers.
