The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Little Rock
Baseball Returns Home to Host Little Rock
5/12/2021 | Baseball
Rebels and Trojans Set for 4 p.m. CT Start Wednesday
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#14 OLE MISS (33-14, 14-9 SEC) vs. LITTLE ROCK (19-23) 9-9 SUN BELT) May 12, 2021 Oxford, Miss. Oxford-University Stadium Swayze Field (11,477) |
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| Ole Miss Notes • SEC Notes • Little Rock Notes | ||||||||
| Wednesday, May 12 4 p.m. CT  |
| PROJECTED STARTERS Ole Miss: RHP Josh Mallitz 4-1, 6.85 ERA, 28 K, 8 BB Little Rock: RHP Luke Wallner 0-1, 3.15 ERA, 16 K, 4 BB |
| Watch • Listen • Live Stats |
LEADING OFF
• Ole Miss enters the week at 33-14 after a series defeat at Texas A&M. The Rebels won Game 2 decisively, 12-7, but dropped Game 1 and 3, each by just one run.
• Ole Miss holds a high ranking of No. 14 in the USA Today Coaches Poll and Collegiate Baseball rankings.
• Ole Miss is second nationally and leads the SEC with 490 hits on the season.
• Ole Miss is sixth in the nation and leads the SEC with 364 runs scored this season.
• The Rebel offense is 16th in the nation and leads the SEC in batting average at .304, including a league-best .305 in conference play. Eight Rebels are hitting over .300 on the season.
• The Ole Miss offense leads the SEC in hits, runs scored, on-base percentage and batting average. The Rebels are also top-five in the league in slugging percentage, doubles, walks, hit by pitch, sacrifice flies and runs per game.
• The Rebel pitching staff is fourth nationally and third in the SEC in strikeouts per nine innings at 11.6. Ole Miss is second in the league and eighth in the country in strikeout-to-walk ratio at 3.39.
• Ole Miss leads the nation in attendance at 219,718 (7,087 per game) and holds 18 out of college baseball's top 26 most-attended on-campus games this season, including six games with 10,000-plus fans. In total, 24 of the 29 largest crowds in college baseball this season have watched the Rebels play.
• The Rebels will be without one of college baseball's best pitchers for the remainder of the season. Gunnar Hoglund, who ranks in the top 10 nationally in strikeouts, will undergo UCL surgery on May 18.
• Ole Miss eyes its second victory of the season over Little Rock. The Rebels topped the Trojans, 11-6, on April 20.
MR. 900
Mike Bianco reached 900 career wins and 800 at Ole Miss with a Saturday win at Texas A&M. The longtime Rebel head coach won exactly 100 games in three seasons at McNeese State before taking the reins in Oxford. He is one of 16 active head coaches with 900 career victories and one of just two in the SEC alongside LSU's Paul Mainieri and Arkansas' Dave Van Horn. The SEC's winningest active coach joined Ron Polk and Skip Bertman as the only coaches in conference history with 800 wins.
REBS VS. TROJANS
Ole Miss and Little Rock have met 24 times, with the Rebels holding an 19-5 advantage in the all-time series. Ole Miss won the first meeting in 1978, a 7-5 victory in Oxford. All 24 meetings have taken place in Oxford. The Rebels led from start to finish in an 11-6 victory the last time the two teams met earlier this season on April 20. Ole Miss scored six runs in the first two innings and never looked back as multi-hit days from Kevin Graham, Peyton Chatagnier and John Rhys Plumlee allowed the Rebels to hold off any Little Rock comeback attempt. The last Trojan victory in the series came on April 7, 2010—a 9-6 final.
INJURY BUG BITES
The injury bug has bit Ole Miss hard in 2021, most recently with the loss of ace right-hander Gunnar Hoglund, who is out for the season with a torn UCL. He will have surgery on Tuesday, May 18. The Rebels are also without one of their top relief arms, Max Cioffi, who also underwent UCL surgery. Ole Miss' team captain and top hitter Tim Elko missed 33 days with a torn ACL but has since returned in a pinch-hitting capacity. Other notable injuries this season include co-ace Doug Nikhazy, starting second baseman Peyton Chatagnier and starting first baseman Cael Baker, who have since returned to the lineup.
MIDWEEK WINNERS
Ole Miss is 10-1 on the season in midweek games, including a 10-0 mark at home. The Rebels are 19-4 against all non-conference foes in 2021.
MAIN ATTRACTION
Ole Miss leads the nation in attendance at 219,718 (7,087 per game) and holds 12 out of college baseball's top 18 most-attended on-campus games this season, including six games with 10,000-plus fans. In total, 18 of the 25 largest crowds in college baseball this season have watched the Rebels play.
EARLY TO SHINE
Ole Miss is 19-5 when it scores first this season. The Rebels are 16-5 when they score in the first inning.
KEEP IT CLEAN
Ole Miss is 26-8 this season when making one error or fewer.
CLOSE CONTESTS
Ten of the Rebels' 14 losses have come by four runs or fewer, including five one-run losses.
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. 14 this week in the USA Today/Coaches Poll and the Collegiate Baseball rankings.
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 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. Nikhazy turned around and struck out 11 last week against LSU.
Ole Miss is 6-1 when Doug Nikhazy starts since the junior left-hander returned after missing two weeks with a strained pectoral muscle. In his seven starts back on the hill, Nikhazy has allowed 10 earned runs (1.99 ERA) on 29 hits and 15 walks (0.97 WHIP) with 62 strikeouts (4.13 K/BB Ratio) in 45.1 innings. The junior left-hander has walked three or fewer batters and struck out five or more batters in all seven games since his return, including four starts with nine or more strikeouts.
HOGLUND OUT
One week after being named SEC Pitcher of the Week, Gunnar Hoglund's season came to an abrupt end as an MRI revealed a torn UCL, which will require surgery for the junior out of Hudson, Florida. Dr. James Andrews will perform the procedure on Tuesday, May 18. Hoglund missed the first start of his Rebel career on April 23 due to arm stiffness but returned to throw a near-flawless six innings against South Carolina. Hoglund needed just 73 pitches to go 6.0 scorless with just one hit allowed. He walked none and struck out nine along the way.
The junior out of Hudson, Florida, was third in the SEC and fifth nationally with 96 when his season came to a close. 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 third in the SEC and No. 4 in the nation in strikeouts per nine innings, averaging 11.6 Ks per game. The Rebels have struck out at least 10 batters in 31 of 47 games this
season, including 13 in SEC play. Ole Miss also ranks No. 8 nationally and second in the conference in strikeout-to-walk ratio at 3.39. Ole Miss' 18 strikeouts against Arkansas State were its most since Game 2 against Xavier last season. The Rebels matched that mark in an April 3 win at No. 15 Florida.
LEADERS OF THE PACK
Ole Miss is 23-4 this season when the Rebel pitching staff holds the opponent to five runs or fewer.
REBS ARE RUNNIN'
Ole Miss ranks sixth nationally and leads the SEC in runs scored with 364. The Rebels also rank in the top five in the SEC in hits, batting average, walks, hit by pitch, runs per game, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, sacrifice flies and doubles. Ole Miss has scored eight runs or more 23 times this season, including 15 games in double figures.
GREATEST HITS
Ole Miss leads the SEC and ranks second nationally in hits. Ole Miss also leads the SEC and ranks 16th nationally in batting average at .304 on the year, including a league-best .305 mark in SEC play. Eight different Rebels have a batting average of .300 or higher. As a team, Ole Miss has 27 multi-hit games this season.
ELKO'S TRIUMPHANT RETURN
Just 33 days after he tore his ACL, Tim Elko hit a three-run home run at Texas A&M. The senior out of Lutz, Florida, sustained the injury on Apr. 5 while avoiding a diving North Alabama first baseman. The NCBWA Hitter of the Month for March made his return to action on May 1 against South Carolina, popping up to a standing ovation at Swayze Field. Four days later, Elko crushed a three-run opposite-field home run at Texas A&M. While Elko was sidelined, and while he remains limited to a pinch-hitting role, the Rebel offense has stepped up collectively. In 19 games since his injury, the Rebels have hit .330 as a team, averaging eight runs scored on 11.8 hits per game. All nine Rebel starters have hit .280 or better.
CONSISTENT KG
Kevin Graham has reached base safely in 40 consecutive games and in 45 of 47 games this season. His is the sixth-longest streak in college baseball this season and the second-longest in the SEC. It is the third-longest active streak in the country.
CATCHER U
After a sensational freshman season, catcher Hayden Dunhurst has cemented himself as the next in a long line of phenomenal catchers in Oxford. The Preseason All-SEC catcher is eighth in the SEC with a .446 on-base percentage. Defensively, Dunhurst leads the SEC with a combined 15 runners caught stealing or picked off.
TJ McCANS
TJ McCants has continued to show he's one of the top freshmen in the nation. He is third among SEC freshmen with a .360 batting average in conference play. For the season, McCants leads Ole Miss with a .346 average. The freshman out of Cantonment, Florida, has reached base in 26 consecutive games and is on an 11-game hitting streak, the longest hitting streak by a Rebel this season. McCants has hits in 22 of the last 26 games, including 11 multi-hit performances. McCants is also seventh in the conference with a .436 on-base percentage in league play.
CALIFORNIA LOVE
Jacob Gonzalez earned some love from the league office last Monday, earning his first SEC Freshman of the Week honor. Gonzalez hit .600 (6-for-10) in three games against South Carolina. He scored five runs and drove in five, notching a double and a home run. The freshman out of Glendora, California, is fourth in the SEC in runs scored.
SEC SUCCESS
After a slow start to the season, Hayden Leatherwood has been one of the best hitters in SEC play. The senior out of Collierville, Tennessee, is fourth in the conference and leads Ole Miss with a .386 bating average in league play. He's also fifth in the SEC with a .700 slugging percentage and 14th with a .421 on-base percentage in conference games.
