The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Belmont
Belmont Comes to Swayze Field for Weekend Set
3/5/2021 | Baseball
No. 4 Ole Miss Welcomes Bruins for Friday-Sunday Series
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#4 OLE MISS (7-2, 0-0 SEC) vs. BELMONT (3-2, 0-0 OVC) Mar. 5-7 Oxford, Miss. Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field (11,477) |
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| Ole Miss Notes • SEC Notes • Belmont Notes | ||||||||
| Friday, Mar. 5 6:30 p.m.  |
Saturday, Mar. 6 1:30 p.m. |
Sunday, Mar. 7 1:30 p.m. |
| PROJECTED STARTERS Ole Miss: LHP Doug Nikhazy 0-1, 5.62 ERA, 12 K, 5 BB Belmont: RHP Logan Bowen 1-0, 6.00 ERA, 7 K, 3 BB |
PROJECTED STARTERS Ole Miss: RHP Gunnar Hoglund 1-0, 3.65 ERA, 21 K, 3 BB Belmont: RHP Joshua South 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 10 K, 1 BB |
PROJECTED STARTERS Ole Miss: RHP Derek Diamond 1-1, 3.86 ERA, 17 K, 1 BB Belmont: LHP Andy Bean 0-0, 2.25 ERA, 7 K, 2 BB |
| Watch • Listen • Live Stats | Watch • Listen • Live Stats | Watch • Listen • Live Stats |
GAME INFO
Dates: Mar. 5-7
First Pitch: 6:30 p.m. | 1:30 p.m. | 1:30 p.m.
Location: Oxford, Miss.
Venue: Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field
Dimensions: LF-330, CF-390, RF-330 (11,477)
Live Stream: SEC Network+
Play by Play: Richard Cross
Analyst: Keith Kessinger
Radio: Ole Miss Radio Network
Play by Play: David Kellum
Analyst: Brad Henderson
Series History: Ole Miss leads 2-0
Last Meeting: Feb. 27, 2007 (Oxford)
Results: 4-2, Ole Miss
GENERAL GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Full season ticket orders are being filled for all fans that renewed prior to the February 1 deadline. No new season ticket orders are being accepted at this time. Single-game tickets will not be available this weekend, but there will be opportunities over the course of the season and increasing each game.
Season ticket holders will receive an email regarding seat and parking locations. Left field will return to previous operations with fans bringing their own chairs and BBQ areas reopened.
Season ticket holders that are unable to make the Belmont or future series are reminded to transfer their tickets to a friend or utilize the Rebel Ticket Exchange Group on Facebook.
The student ticket number is doubling, and the allotment is also expected to grow over the course of the season. Tickets will continue to go on sale the Monday of each game week at 8 a.m. Portable chairs will be provided in right field, and no tents or personal chairs are allowed.
Fans are required to wear a face covering upon entry into the facility, while in transit around the stadium and may only remove them when at their seat. Other existing safety measures include hand sanitizer stations, touchless transactions, mobile tickets, grab-and-go concessions options, frequent disinfecting the facility and more. In addition, no fan should enter a venue if they display any COVID-19 symptoms.
Complete gameday information will be available at www.OleMissGameday.com/Baseball.
• Ole Miss enters the weekend at 7-2 after sweeping a pair of midweek games against Memphis and Jackson State by a combined score of 28-5.
• The Rebels remained the in the top five nationally of most polls this week, earning a high ranking of No. 4 (D1Baseball, PG, USA Today Coaches Poll) after a tough series defeat at the hands of UCF last weekend.
• Ole Miss ended a 20-game win streak over the weekend, the longest in program history, breaking the record of 17 that stood since 1960. The streak began on Feb. 15, 2020, spanning 378 days.
• Ole Miss leads the SEC and is No. 2 in the nation in strikeouts per 9 IP, averaging 14.0 Ks per game.
• Ole Miss is No. 23 in the nation and third in the SEC in team ERA at 2.62.
• The Rebel bullpen didn't allow a single earned run and struck out 18 in the midweek. Over 36.2 innings pitched this season, the Rebel relievers have a collective 1.47 ERA and .197 opponent batting average.
• Gunnar Hoglund is No. 4 in the nation and leads the SEC in strikeouts with 21.
• Derek Diamond is No. 4 nationally and No. 2 in the SEC in strikeout-to-walk ratio with 17 Ks and one walk.
• Ole Miss and Belmont have met twice with the Rebels taking both meetings. The two squads first met in Oxford in 2005, where the Rebels ran away with an 18-0 victory. The most recent meeting came in 2007 with Ole Miss taking a 4-2 win.
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.
MIDWEEK DOUBLE
After a tough weekend series defeat to UCF, Ole Miss got back on track in the midweek with dominant wins over Memphis and Jackson State by a combined score of 28-5. The Rebel bullpen didn't allow a single earned run over 10 innings of work. The Ole Miss relievers didn't issue a single walk and struck out 18.
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. BRUINS
Ole Miss and Belmont have met twice with the Rebels taking both meetings. The two squads first met in Oxford in 2005, where the Rebels ran away with an 18-0 victory. The most recent meeting came in 2007 with Ole Miss taking a 4-2 win.
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 in fielding percentage. The Rebels have been charged with just three errors this season (two throwing errors) for a .977 fielding percentage.
ZEROES
Nine Rebel pitchers—Jackson Kimbrell, Taylor Broadway, Austin Miller, Tyler Myers, Brandon Johnson, Greer Holston, Wes Burton, Cole Baker and Cody Adcock—are sporting 0.00 ERAs for the Rebels early in the season. Drew McDaniel makes it 10 Rebels with a sub-2.00 ERA, sitting at 1.93 over 9.1 innings of work. Starters Gunnar Hoglund (3.65) and Derek Diamond (3.86) round out a dozen Rebel arms witih a sub-4.00 ERA.
THE 'PEN IS MIGHTIER
The Ole Miss bullpen has been one of its greatest strengths early in the season. The Rebel bullpen didn't allow a single earned run over 10 innings of work in midweek wins over Memphis and Jackson State. The Ole Miss relievers didn't issue a single walk and struck out 18. Over 36.2 innings pitched, the Rebel bullpen has a collective 1.47 ERA and .197 opponent batting average.
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.
RIDING THE BENCH
Justin Bench has been one of Ole Miss' top offensive performers this season. Through nine games, Bench has driven in a team-high 11 runs, including a career-high five Tuesday against Memphis. The Rebel center fielder/utility man is second on the team with a .333 batting average and is 3-for-3 in stolen bases. 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. Bench has been a clutch producer offensively, hitting .556 (5-for-9) with runners in scoring position.
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 catcher leads Ole Miss with a .345 batting average through nine games, tying Bench with a team-best nine runs scored. He's also second on the squad in hits.
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. Chatagnier suffered a pulled hamstring after hitting his third double of the day against Texas and will be out this weekend against Belmont.
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. Through nine games in 2021, the Rebels are 30th 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.
TOOL TIME TIM
Tim Elko was voted captain by his teammtes 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 is heating up, having homered in back-to-back games.
