The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Louisiana Tech
No. 4 Baseball Travels to Louisiana Tech
3/16/2021 | Baseball
Rebels Take on Bulldogs for Final Tune-Up Before SEC Play
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#4 OLE MISS (13-3, 0-0 SEC) at LOUISIANA TECH (9-5, 0-0 C-USA) Tuesday, Mar. 16 Ruston, La. J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park (3,000) |
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| Ole Miss Notes • SEC Notes | ||||||||
| Tuesday, March 16 6 p.m. CT CUSA.tv |
| PROJECTED STARTERS Ole Miss: RHP Josh Mallitz 0-0, 1.35, 9 K, 2 BB Louisiana Tech: LHP Cade Gibson 0-1, 6.52, 10 K, 3 BB |
| Watch • Listen • Live Stats |
GAME INFO
Date: Mar. 16, 2021
Location: Ruston, La.
Venue: J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park
Dimensions: LF-315, CF-387, RF-325 (3,000)
Live Stream: CUSA.tv
Radio: Ole Miss Radio Network/TuneIn App
Play by Play: David Kellum
Analyst: Brad Henderson
SERIES HISTORY
Series History: Ole Miss leads 27-11
Last Meeting: Feb. 14-16, 2003 (in Oxford)
Results: W, 3-2 | W, 17-5
Last in Ruston: Feb. 23-25, 2001
Results: W, 14-4 | W, 8-7 | L, 7-4
LEADING OFF
• Ole Miss enters the midweek at 13-3 after going 3-1 last week with a midweek win over Alcorn State and wins on Friday and Saturday over ULM to secure the Rebels' second straight series victory.
• Originally scheduled for a two-game midweek set, Ole Miss canceled its Wednesday meeting with Louisiana Tech due to a potential COVID-19 case on the pitching staff and subsequent contact tracing. It is not expected to impact the status of this weekend's SEC-opening series against Auburn at Swayze Field.
• The Rebels remained in the top five nationally, earning a high ranking of No. 4 from Baseball America, D1Baseball, Collegiate Baseball and USA Today/Coaches.
• Kevin Graham led the SEC with a .571 batting average last week, going 8-for-14 in four games with five runs scored, a double and two home runs, including a walk-off homer on Saturday vs. ULM.
• Tim Elko continued his hot streak at the plate, hitting .467 with eight runs scored, three doubles, two home runs and 10 RBI last week, including his first career grand slam. He leads the SEC and is third in the nation in RBI. He's fourth nationally and second in the conference in home runs.
• Gunnar Hoglund leads the nation in strikeouts with 42. Last week vs. ULM, Hoglund struck out 14, two shy of the program record and the most since Drew Pomeranz struck out 15 in 2010.
• Ole Miss is No. 11 in the nation in home runs with 22 on the season.
REBS VS. BULLDOGS
Ole Miss and ULM have met 38 times with the Rebels holding the 27-11 advantage in the all-time series. The two teams last met in 2003 in Oxford for what was expected to be a three-game series to open the season. However, heavy rain forced Friday's contest to be suspended and resumed on Sunday. Sunday's game went on as scheduled as Ole Miss took both ends of the fragmented two-game set. The two teams last met in Ruston in 2001 when Ole Miss took the first two of a three-game series before the Bulldogs fended off the sweep at home.
AND THEN THERE WAS ONE
Originally scheduled for a two-game midweek set, Ole Miss canceled its Wednesday meeting with Louisiana Tech due to a potential COVID-19 case on the pitching staff and subsequent contact tracing. It is not expected to impact the status of this weekend's SEC-opening series against Auburn at Swayze Field.
FIRST NO. 1 RANKING
Baseball America, D1Baseball, Perfect Game and NCBWA made Ole Miss the consensus No. 1 team in the nation after Week 1, the first No. 1 ranking in program history. The Rebels entered the season with a high ranking of No. 4 (Baseball America) but claimed the top spot after sweeping No. 10 TCU, No. 3 Texas Tech and No. 9 Texas at the State Farm College Baseball Showdown at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. Four weeks into the season, Ole Miss is ranked No. 4 by Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball, D1Baseball and USA Today/Coaches Poll.
RECORD-SETTING STREAK
Ole Miss opened the 2020 season with a defeat at home to No. 1 Louisville, led by eventual first round MLB Draft pick Reid Detmers. Starting the next day, Ole Miss went on the greatest tear in program history, reeling off 20 straight victories before finally snapping the spell on Feb. 26, 2021, with a 3-2 loss to UCF. The streak spanned 378 days. The Rebels finished tied for the fifth-most consecutive wins in SEC history (Record: 24 - Texas A&M, 2015) and the longest win streak in the conference since Mizzou won 20 straight in 2017.
UNDEFEATED IN THE MIDWEEK
Ole Miss rolled past Alcorn State, 11-1, topping the Braves in eight innings by way of 10-run rule on Tuesday to improve to 4-0 in midweek games this season. The Rebels will have perhaps their toughest midweek test on the schedule this season as they travel to Ruston to take on Louisiana Tech.
LONE STAR SWEEP
Ole Miss went a perfect 3-0 on opening weekend, securing three top-10 wins along the way in the State Farm College Baseball Showdown. The Rebels opened their season with a 7-3 victory over No. 10 TCU. The Rebels plated four runs in the second inning and never looked back to start the year at 1-0. The following day, Mike Bianco's squad found itself in a dogfight with No. 3 Texas Tech. The Red Raiders took an early 2-0 lead, but the Rebels answered back with five runs in the third, which was just enough in a 5-4 victory. Ole Miss completed the sweep with an emphatic 8-1 win over Texas on Monday. The Rebels' final game in Arlington was tight in the early going, but they poured on four runs in the sixth inning and punctuated the weekend with three runs in the ninth.
WEST AND HIGHLY FAVORED
Ole Miss was picked to win the SEC Western Division by the conference coaches, garnering seven of the division's 14 first-place votes. This marked the first time since 2008 that the Rebels were picked to win the SEC West. Ole Miss was projected to finish sixth in the division last season.
WELCOME TO THE GUN SHOW
Gunnar Hoglund made his first Friday night start last week vs. ULM and did not disappoint, racking up 14 strikeouts to move to No. 1 in the nation with 42 Ks on the season. The 14 strikeouts were two shy of the program record and the most by a Rebel since Drew Pomeranz struck out 15 in 2010.
GOLDEN ARMS
Doug Nikhazy and Gunnar Hoglund are expected to form one of college baseball's best one-two punches at the top of the rotation. Both are Preseason All-Americans and both were named to the Golden Spikes Award Watch List. They are also one of just three duos in the nation to represent the same team in the top 25 of the D1Baseball starting pitcher power rankings.
RETURN FIRE
Gunnar Hoglund had one of the best seasons in the Southeastern Conference last season, and he returns as one of the top pitchers in the conference on paper. Among returning SEC pitchers, Hoglund ranks first in strikeouts and strikeout-to-walk ratio, second in walks per nine innings, third in strikeouts per nine innings and fourth in ERA.
THE STAFF IS BACK
Ole Miss returns all but 6.2 of its innings pitched last season. The Rebels return essentially their entire pitching staff outside of Benji Gilbert, who posted a 9.45 ERA in 6.2 innings last season.
STRIKES AT SWAYZE
Ole Miss is third in the SEC and No. 5 in the nation in strikeouts per nine innings, averaging 12.8 Ks per game. The Rebels struck out 16 Texas Tech batters on Feb. 21, their most against a ranked team since fanning 16 against No. 23 UNCW in 2017. The Rebels struck out 42 batters over opening weekend in Texas. Ole Miss' 18 strikeouts against Arkansas State were its most since Game 2 against Xavier last season. The Rebels have struck out at least 10 batters in 13 of 16 games this season. Ole Miss also ranks 26th or better in the nation in WHIP, ERA, hits allowed per nine innings, and strikeout-to-walk ratio.
HEAT SHEET
Derek Diamond and Gunnar Hoglund both made D1Baseball's Heat Sheet after hitting 97 and 96 MPH on the radar gun, respectively. Both Rebel starters saw significant upticks in velocity from 2020 to 2021.
TOOL TIME TIM
Tim Elko was voted captain by his teammates for the second straight season. He was also selected to the NCBWA Preseason All-American teams, as well as to the Preseason All-SEC Second Team by the league coaches. Coming off a strong shortened 2020 season where he hit .354 with four doubles and three home runs, Elko shined over the summer in the Northwoods League, earning Rawlings Big Stick Award honors as the best hitting first baseman in the league, in addition to an All-Star nod. Baseball America tabbed Elko as a breakout candidate for 2021. After a slow start, the Rebel captain exploded for five home runs as part of a 10-for-17 week, earning SEC and National Player of the Week honors a week ago. Through 16 games, Elko is third nationally and leads the SEC in RBI. He's fourth in the country and second in the conference in home runs.
CHAT IS BACK
Peyton Chatagnier returns in 2021 as the Rebels' starting second baseman after hitting .311 with four doubles and four home runs last year. He also scored the ninth-most runs in the nation as a freshman and entered the season as the No. 5 second baseman in the D1Baseball positional power rankings. The sophomore out of Cypress, Texas, hit .455 with a nation-leading four doubles on opening weekend to earn SEC Co-Player of the Week honors. Chatagnier suffered a pulled hamstring after hitting his third double of the day against Texas and missed 10 games. In his return to the lineup vs. ULM, Chatagnier went 5-for-12 (.417) with a double and three runs scored.
RIDING THE BENCH
Justin Bench has been one of Ole Miss' top offensive performers this season. Through 16 games, Bench has driven in 13 runs, including a career-high five against Memphis. The Rebel center fielder/utility man is sixth on the team with a .306 batting average. He is second in the SEC and fifth nationally with eight HBPs on the season. He's also one of two Rebels, along with Jake Gonzalez, to have hit for the cycle over the course of the young season, already chalking up a double, a triple and a home run. The junior out of Redington Beach, Florida, hit his second home run of the season Sunday vs. Belmont.
CATCHER U
After a sensational freshman season, catcher Hayden Dunhurst has shown early in 2021 that he's ready to further etch his name among the long line of phenomenal catchers in Oxford. The Preseason All-SEC is fourth on the team with a .313 batting average through 16 games. Dunhurst has been one of toughest players to strike out in the SEC, having fanned just five times in 48 at-bats compared to 14 walks drawn. He also boasts the team's longest hitting streak of the season at 10 games.
SWAYZE SHOWER SEASON
Ole Miss led all of college baseball with 37 home runs a year ago and returns all but 12 of those home runs on the 2021 roster. Through 16 games in 2021, the Rebels are 11 nationally in home runs.
NEW LEFT SIDE
While much of the Rebel roster returns, Ole Miss will have to replace the left side of its infield as third baseman Tyler Keenan and shortstop Anthony Servideo were both taken in the 2020 MLB Draft. Keenan hit .403 last year with five doubles, seven home runs and 33 RBI—the second most in the nation last year—and went to the Seattle Mariners in the fourth round. Servideo hit .390 and ranked second nationally with 24 runs scored and hit five home runs of his own before being selected in the third round by the Baltimore Orioles. Senior captain Tim Elko is likely to replace Keenan at third, while freshman Jacob Gonzalez will get the nod at shortstop.
