The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Little Rock
Baseball Begins Eight-Game Homestand vs. Little Rock
4/20/2021 | Baseball
No. 9 Rebels Host Trojans Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. CT
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#9 OLE MISS (26-10, 9-6 SEC) vs. LITTLE ROCK (16-16, 7-5 SUN BELT) April 20 Oxford, Miss. Oxford-University Stadium Swayze Field (11,477) |
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| Ole Miss Notes • SEC Notes • Little Rock Notes | ||||||||
| Tuesday, April 20 6:30 p.m. CT  |
| PROJECTED STARTERS Ole Miss: RHP Jack Dougherty 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 5 K, 0 BB Little Rock: LHP Chance Vaught 0-0, 9.00 ERA, 2 K, 4 BB |
| Watch • Listen • Live Stats |
GAME INFO
Dates: Apr. 20
First Pitch: 6:30 p.m.
Location: Oxford, Miss.
Venue: Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field
Dimensions: LF-330, CF-390, RF-330 (11,477)
TV: SEC Network+
Play by Play: Richard Cross
Analyst: Keith Kessinger
Radio: Ole Miss Radio Network/TuneIn App
Play by Play: David Kellum
Analyst: Brad Henderson
Series History: Ole Miss leads 18-5
Last Meeting: Mar. 5, 2019 (Oxford)
Results: W, 11-8
• Ole Miss enters the week at 26-10 an SEC road series defeat at No. 3 Mississippi State. Doug Nikhazy's one-hit shutout in Saturday dominant 9-0 highlighted the weekend for the Rebels, but MSU's clutch hits on Friday and Sunday sealed the series.
• Ole Miss slipped to a high ranking of No. 9 in the NCBWA and Collegiate Baseball rankings.
• At the halfway point of the SEC season, the Rebels are in third place in the West at 9-6 in league play.
• Doug Nikhazy was named a National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball and the SEC Pitcher of the Week by the league office after his one-hitter in Game 2 in Starkville
• Ole Miss leads the SEC and ranks fourth nationally with 364 hits on the season, including 17 on Saturday at Dudy Noble Field. The Rebels have tallied 14-plus hits in five of their last seven games.
• The Rebel offense is second in the SEC and seventh nationally in runs scored with 279.
• The Rebel pitching staff is fifth nationally and fourth in the SEC in strikeouts per nine innings at 11.9.
• Taylor Broadway leads the SEC and is three off the national lead with eight saves on the season.
• Gunnar Hoglund is No. 2 in the nation and second in the SEC with 87 strikeouts on the season.
• After his one-hitter, Nikhazy is 2nd in the SEC and 7th nationally with 4.42 hits allowed per nine innings.
• Ole Miss and Little Rock have met 23 times with the Rebels holding an 18-5 advantage all-time.
REBS VS. TROJANS
Ole Miss and Little Rock have met 23 times, with the Rebels holding an 18-5 advantage in the all-time series. Ole Miss won the first meeting in 1978, a 7-5 victory in Oxford. All 23 meetings have taken place in Oxford. The Rebels led from start to finish in an 11-8 victory the last time the two teams met on March 5, 2019. Little Rock mounted a four-run rally in the ninth inning, but a 13-hit day for the Rebel offense, led by a 3-for-5, four-RBI day from Tyler Keenan, was too much to overcome. Ole Miss has won the last six meetings in the series. The last Trojan victory came on April 7, 2010—a 9-6 final.
SATURDAY SHUTOUT IN STARKVILLE
Doug Nikhazy threw a one-hit, complete-game shutout against No. 3 Mississippi State on Saturday in front of a raucous crowd of 13,338 at Dudy Noble Field. The Rebel left-hander tied a career-high with 12 strikeouts and walked just two. He didn't allow a Bulldog to advance past first base, while the Rebel racked up 17 hits in a 9-0 victory. While the offense clicked on Saturday, Ole Miss couldn't get the key hits needed to take the SEC road series. In front of the second-largest weekend crowd in MSU history, the Bulldogs scored three runs in the final four innings of a 5-2 Friday night win and used a five-run sixth inning to close the weekend with a 7-5 victory.
WILD SERIES VS. HOGS
Ole Miss racked up 30 runs over three games against No. 1 Arkansas, but as potent as the Rebels were, the Razorbacks were a razor's edge better as they took the series win with Friday and Sunday victories at Swayze behind 31 runs scored of their own. Ole Miss outhit Arkansas in all three games for a grand total of 46-33 over the weekend.
ONE-RUN MAGIC
Ole Miss is 7-2 on the season in one-run games. Ole Miss has won nine straight 1-0 games. The last time Mike Bianco's squad lost a 1-0 contest was Feb. 24, 2007, against Wright State, a game that was shortened to five innings due to weather. Ole Miss also has 10 come-from-behind wins.
REBEL RECOGNITION
Ole Miss has had eight players earn in-season honors, including two National Players of the Week, a National Hitter of the Month and four SEC weekly awards. Most recently, Doug Nikhazy was named a Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week, as well as the SEC Pitcher of the Week by the league office. Tim Elko earned four honors before suffering an ACL injury, including NCBWA National Hitter of the Month for March. TJ McCants is the first Rebel freshman to win SEC Freshman of the Week, while Peyton Chatagnier was the first to win SEC Player of the Week after opening weekend.
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 hold a high ranking of No. 9 this week.
HISTORIC SEC START
Ole Miss started SEC play at 6-0 for the first time since the 1964 team started 11-0 in league play en route to a College World Series appearance. It's also the first time Ole Miss swept consecutive SEC series since going 6-0 against Alabama and Tennessee in 2013. This was Ole Miss' first SEC road sweep since taking three from No. 17 Kentucky in 2014.
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.
DOUG'S DAY
On Saturday in front of 13,338 at Dudy Noble Field on Super Bulldog Weekend, Doug Nikhazy stole the show. The left-hander out of Windermere Florida, threw a one-hit, complete-game shutout, striking out 12 and walking two, allowing just three total baserunners—none of which advanced past first base. Nikhazy is the first Rebel to throw a one-hitter since Adam Yates one-hit Southeastern Louisiana in a seven-inning game on Feb. 14, 2001. It was the first complete game of Nikhazy's career, and he became the first Rebel to throw a nine-inning complete game since Christian Trent against Auburn on April 5, 2014. Trent also threw an eight-inning complete game in a loss at Missouri on May 1, 2015. Nikhazy tied a career-high with 12 strikeouts and set a new personal best in SEC play.
COME BACK STRONGER
Ole Miss is 4-0 when Doug Nikhazy starts since the junior left-hander returned after missing two weeks with a strained pectoral muscle. In his four starts back on the hill, Nikhazy has allowed just two earned runs on 11 hits and nine walks with 37 strikeouts in 25.2 innings. The junior left-hander has walked three or fewer batters and struck out seven or more batters in all four games since his return.
WELCOME TO THE GUN SHOW
Gunnar Hoglund has made six consecutive starts in series openers, his first in the lead role of the Rebel rotation. Over those six starts, the junior out of Hudson, Florida, has notched a 2.11 ERA with an average of 6.1 innings pitched, 3.8 hits allowed, 1.8 walks allowed and 9.8 strikeouts. After a nine-strikeout performance at Mississippi State, Hoglund reamined No. 2 in the nation with 87 strikeouts on the season. His 14 strikeouts against ULM were two shy of the program record and the most by a Rebel since Drew Pomeranz struck out 15 in 2010. Hoglund has struck out seven or more in eight of his nine starts this season
STRIKES AT SWAYZE
Ole Miss is fourth in the SEC and No. 5 in the nation in strikeouts per nine innings, averaging 12.1 Ks per game. The Rebels have struck out at least 10 batters in 25 of 36 games this season. Ole Miss also ranks No. 13 nationally and fourth in the conference in strikeout-to-walk ratio at 3.35. Ole Miss' 18 strikeouts against Arkansas State were its most since Game 2 against Xavier last season. The Rebels matched that season-best mark in an April 3 win at No. 15 Florida.
BROADWAY IS CLOSED
Taylor Broadway has been a dominant force at the back end of the Rebel bullpen in 2021, leading the SEC and sitting three off of the national lead with eight saves on the season. Ole Miss is 11-3 this season when Broadway pitches, including 10 scoreless outings.
REBS ARE RUNNIN'
Ole Miss has been one of the nation's's top offenses this season, leading the SEC and ranking fourth nationally in hits. The Rebels rank sixth nationally and second in the SEC in runs scored with 279. Ole Miss is second in the SEC in batting average at .302 on the year and ranks in the top five in the SEC in walks, runs per game, on-base percentage and doubles.
ONLY PLAYING THE HITS
Ole Miss has been one of the nation's's top offenses this season, leading the SEC and ranking fourth nationally in hits. The Rebels rank seventh nationally and second in the SEC in runs scored with 279. Ole Miss is second in the SEC in batting average at .299 on the year and ranks in the top five in the SEC in walks, runs per game, on-base percentage and doubles. Ten different Rebels currently have a batting average of .270 or higher, including seven above .300. Eight Rebels have five or more doubles and five have four or more home runs. Ole Miss has 19 multi-hit games this season.
ELKO OUT
The same week he was named the NCBWA Hitter of the Month for March, Rebel slugger Tim Elko suffered a torn ACL while avoiding a diving North Alabama first baseman. Ole Miss will continue to monitor its senior captain in the coming weeks. The Preseason All-American and All-SEC third baseman hit .354 with four doubles and three home runs in 2020. The Rebel captain exploded in Week 3 for five home runs, earning SEC and National Player of the Week honors. Without Elko, the Rebel offense has stepped up collectively. In eight games since his injury, the Rebels have averaged 8.4 runs and 12.4 hits per game.
JUCO ROUT
Cael Baker, Hayden Leatherwood and Ben Van Cleve all joined Ole Miss as junior college transfers and put forth promising performances in the shortened 2020 campaign. After a collective slow start to the season, the trio has found its stride. Leatherwood homered three times over the weekend at No. 3 Mississippi State and Van Cleve led Ole Miss with a .429 batting average against the Bulldogs, while Cael Baker lead the team with a .533 batting average for the week, going 8-for-15 with five runs scored, two doubles, one home run and eight RBI.
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 the team with a .342 batting average and a .473 on-base percentage. Dunhurst leads the SEC with four pickoffs and is second in the conference with nine runners caught stealing.
THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT
True freshmen Jacob Gonzalez and TJ McCants, filling the starting shortstop and center field spots for Ole Miss, have hit their stride as the Rebels have waded deeper into SEC play. Over his last 11 games, McCants is hitting .396 with 18 runs scored, seven RBI, two doubles, two triples and two home runs. In his last eight games, Gonzalez is hitting .413 (19-for-46) with 14 runs scored, 11 RBI, three doubles and a home run.
