The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Alcorn State
Homestand Continues as No. 3 Baseball Hosts Alcorn State
3/9/2021 | Baseball
Rebels Look to Stay Hot After 5-0 Week
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#3 OLE MISS (10-2, 0-0 SEC) vs. ALCORN STATE (3-0, 3-0 SWAC) Tuesday, Mar. 9 Oxford, Miss. Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field (11,477) |
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| Ole Miss Notes • SEC Notes | ||||||||
| Tuesday, March 9 6:30 p.m. CT  |
| PROJECTED STARTERS Ole Miss: RHP Josh Mallitz 0-0, 3.38 ERA, 3 K, 1 BB Alcorn State: LHP George Osborne III |
| Watch • Listen • Live Stats |
GAME INFO
Date: Mar. 9, 2021
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
Series History: Ole Miss leads 1-0
Last Meeting: Feb. 19, 2020 (Oxford)
Results: 9-8 (10), Ole Miss
LEADING OFF
• Ole Miss enters the week at 10-2 after going 5-0 last week with wins over Memphis and Jackson State, as well as a sweep of Belmont.
• The Rebels moved up in most polls, earning a high ranking of No. 3 (USA Today Coaches, Perfect Game, NCBWA). D1Baseball, Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball all slotted Mike Bianco's squad at No. 4.
• Tim Elko had an incredible week for Ole Miss, going 10-for-17 (.588/.708/1.529) with five home runs, eight runs scored and 13 RBI. He was named National and SEC Player of the Week.
• Ole Miss is No. 6 in the nation and No. 4 in the SEC in strikeouts per 9 IP, averaging 13.2 Ks per game.
• Ole Miss is No. 15 in the nation and No. 4 in the SEC in total runs scored at 94 through 12 games.
• After hitting five home runs last week, Elko is No. 5 in the nation and second in the SEC in homers.
• Gunnar Hoglund leads the SEC and is No. 4 in the nation in strikeouts with 28 on the year.
• Head coach Mike Bianco earned his 500th career home victory when the Rebels beat Belmont 4-3 on Saturday. Kevin Graham's go-ahead home run in the 8th inning spelled the difference in the milestone win.
• Ole Miss hit eight home runs last week and four Rebels hit above .400.
• Ole Miss and Alcorn State have met just once, last season in Oxford, where the Rebels needed 10 innings and a walk-off home run from Anthony Servideo to hold off the Braves in a 9-8 victory.
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.
TIP O' THE CAPTAIN
After a slow start to the 2021 season, senior third baseman Tim Elko returned to form with a vengance last week, earning National and SEC Player of the Week honors. The Rebel captain was 10-for-17, slashing an astonishing .588/.708/1.529 with five home runs, a double, eight runs scored and 13 RBI. He struck out just once while walking five times. Elko homered in the first three games of the week before posting his first career multi-homer game in Sunday's victory.
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 going 5-0 last week, the Rebels moved up to No. 3 in the USA Today Coaches, NCBWA and Perfect Game polls. D1Baseball, Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball slotted the Rebs at No. 4.
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 DIP
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. BRAVES
Ole Miss and Alcorn State have met just once, last season in Oxford, where the Rebels needed 10 innings and a walk-off home run from Anthony Servideo to hold off the Braves in a 9-8 victory. Alcorn State is off to a 3-0 start this season, having swept Mississippi Valley State last weekend by a combined score of 39-5.
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 is fourth in the SEC and No. 6 in the nation in strikeouts per nine innings, averaging 13.2 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 in 11 straight games to start the season.
ZEROES
Seven Rebel pitchers—Jackson Kimbrell, Austin Miller, Tyler Myers, Brandon Johnson, Greer Holston, Mitch Murrell, and Cody Adcock—are sporting 0.00 ERAs for the Rebels early in the season. Drew McDaniel and Taylor Broadway make it nine Rebels with a sub-2.00 ERA, while Josh Mallitz is the 10th Rebel with a sub-4.00 ERA.
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.
RIDING THE BENCH
Justin Bench has been one of Ole Miss' top offensive performers this season. Through 12 games, Bench has driven in 12 runs, including a career-high five Tuesday against Memphis. The Rebel center fielder/utility man is second on the team with a .348 batting average and leads the SEC in hit-by-pitch. 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 against Belmont. Bench has reached base in 10 straight contests and leads the team with five multi-hit games.
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 .371 batting average through 12 games, tying Bench with a team-best 13 runs scored. Dunhurst has been the second-toughest player to strike out in the SEC, having fanned just once in 35 at-bats compared to 10 walks drawn. Dunhurst is currently on an eight-game hitting streak, which he extended Sunday with a walk-off single in the 9th inning against Belmont.
MISSING 1
Peyton Chatagnier returned 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 remains day-to-day this week.
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 12 games in 2021, the Rebels are 16 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.
