The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Memphis
Baseball Hosts Memphis, Jackson State in Midweek
3/2/2021 | Baseball
No. 4 Rebels Set for Two-Game Midweek at Swayze Field
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#4 OLE MISS (5-2, 0-0 SEC) vs. MEMPHIS (4-0, 0-0 AAC) March 2 Oxford, Miss. Swayze Field (11,477) |
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| Ole Miss Notes • SEC Notes | ||||||||
| Tuesday, March 2 4 p.m. CT SEC Network+ |
| PROJECTED STARTERS Ole Miss: RHP Drew McDaniel 1-0, 1.69 ERA, 9 K, 2 BB Memphis: RHP Carson Stinnett 2-0, 0.00 ERA, 3 K, 2 BB |
| Watch • Listen • Live Stats |
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#4 OLE MISS (5-2, 0-0 SEC) vs. JACKSON STATE (3-4, 0-0 SWAC) March 3 Oxford, Miss. Swayze Field (11,477) |
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| Ole Miss Notes • SEC Notes | ||||||||
| Wednesday, March 3 6:30 p.m. CT SEC Network+ |
| PROJECTED STARTERS Ole Miss: TBA Jackson State: TBA |
| Watch • Listen • Live Stats |
GAME INFO
Dates: March 1-2
First Pitch: 4 p.m. CT | 6:30 p.m. CT
Location: Oxford, Miss.
Venue: Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field
Dimensions: LF-330, CF-390, RF-330 (11,477)
TV: SEC Network+
Play by Play: Will Kollmeyer (Tue.)
Play by Play: Richard Cross (Wed.)
Analyst: Keith Kessinger
Radio: Ole Miss Radio Network
Play by Play: Richard Cross (Tue.)
Play by Play: David Kellum (Wed.)
Analyst: Brad Henderson
Memphis Series History: Ole Miss leads 97-55
Last Meeting: Mar. 3, 2020 (Oxford)
Results: 8-1, Ole Miss
Jackson State Series History: Ole Miss leads 7-0
Last Meeting: Mar. 28, 2012 (Oxford)
Results: 12-0, Ole Miss
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. After the series defeat to UCF, Ole Miss lost its top spot, garnering a high ranking of No. 4 for the week.
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.
ROUT AT HOME
Ole Miss routed Arkansas State 12-1 in its home opener Wednesday at Swayze Field. Drew McDaniel, Jackson Kimbrell, Cody Adcock, Wes Burton and Tyler Myers combined to allow just one run on three hits and two walks, striking out 18. Kevin Graham led the way offensively, going 3-for-4 with three runs scored and two RBI. Cael Baker went yard in his return to the lineup, while John Rhys Plumlee punctuated the win with his first career home run in the eighth inning.
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.
REBS VS. MEMPHIS
Ole Miss and UCF have met 152 times with Ole Miss holding a 97-55 advantage in the all-time series. The two squads met last season on Mar. 3 before the campaign was cut short. The Rebels prevailed, 8-1, in Oxford for their fifth consecutive win in the series. Ole Miss has won nine of the last 12 meetings.
REBS VS. JACKSON STATE
Ole Miss and Jackson State have met seven times, all victories for the Rebels. The two teams last met on March 27, 2012, with Ole Miss taking a 12-0 victory in Oxford
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.
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 leads the SEC and is No. 2 in the nation in strikeouts per nine innings, averaging an astonishing 14.0 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 the 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 every game this season.
CLEAN GAME
Ole Miss is second in the SEC and is 19th nationally in fielding percentage. The Rebels have been charged with just two errors this season (both throwing errors) for a .987 fielding percentage.
NEW DEALERS
Brandon Johnson, Josh Mallitz and Luke Baker each made their Rebel debuts on the mound over the weekend. Johnson showed off his mid-90s velocity over 2.0 innings of scoreless work with just one hit allowed, striking out three along the way. Mallitz closed out the Rebels' Monday night victory over Texas, tossing one flawless inning with two strikeouts. Baker was brought into a tough situation in the ninth inning against Texas Tech and yielded a base hit to the Red Raiders' three-hole hitter. Cody Adcock made his debut in the midweek, striking out all three batters he faced.
THE 'PEN IS MIGHTIER
The Ole Miss bullpen was near-perfect over opening. The Rebel relievers allowed just one run over 14 innings of work, good for a collective 0.64 ERA. That trend continued in the midweek against Arkansas State, where the bullpen added 4.2 more scoreless innings, giving the 'pen a 0.48 ERA over 18.2 innings heading into the UCF series. The Rebel relievers allowed seven runs, five earned, against the Knights and sit at a 1.73 ERA over 26 innings.
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.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Peyton Chatagnier returns 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 enters 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.
STAR AT SHORT
Jacob Gonzalez showed on opening weekend that the Rebels have found the next in a long line of star shortstops. In his debut weekend, the freshman out of Glendora, California, hit .364 with a triple, a home run, three runs scored and four RBI. He was also phenomenal in the field, including a spectacular play up the middle against Texas that landed at No. 5 in the SportsCenter Top 10 plays.
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.
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.
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.
CATCHER U
Hayden Dunhurst is already proving to be every bit the star the Rebels hoped he would be behind the dish. Dunhurst hit just under .270 as a freshman with five home runs and allowed the second-fewest stolen bases in the SEC last season. Dunhurst is No. 8 in the D1Baseball catcher rankings and was selected to the Preseason All-SEC Second Team.
