The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
UT Martin
No. 11 Baseball Hosts UT Martin for Final Regular Season Home Game
5/18/2021 | Baseball
Rebels Eye 12-1 Record in Midweeks vs Skyhawks at 6:30 p.m. CT Tuesday
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#11 OLE MISS (36-15, 16-11 SEC) vs. UT MARTIN (17-27, 9-15 OVC) May 18, 2021 Oxford, Miss. Oxford-University Stadium Swayze Field (11,477) |
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| Ole Miss Notes • SEC Notes | ||||||||
| Tuesday, May 18 6:30 p.m. CT  |
| PROJECTED STARTERS Ole Miss: RHP Josh Mallitz 4-1, 6.66 ERA, 34 K, 8 BB UT Martin: LHP Boston Smith 0-0, 13.50 ERA, 1 K, 0 BB |
| Watch • Listen • Live Stats |
LEADING OFF
• Ole Miss enters the week at 36-15 after a series win over No. 2 Vanderbilt. Doug Nikhazy outdueled Kumar Rocker in a 3-1 Friday night win. The Rebels then used a 10-run third inning on Sunday to claim the series in a 13-10 victory.
• Ole Miss holds a high ranking of No. 11 (Baseball America) in this week's national rankings.
• The Rebels improved to 14-7 on the season against ranked teams, including 10-5 against teams in the top 10. Ole Miss is No. 12 in the RPI, 9th in strength of schedule and holds the fifth-most Q1 wins in the country at 15-10.
• Jacob Gonzalez earned his second SEC Freshman of the Week nod on Monday after slashing .517/.667/1.214 for the week with four walks, six runs scored, three home runs and seven RBI, including his first career multi-HR game.
• Ole Miss is second nationally and leads the SEC with 527 hits on the season.
• Ole Miss is fifth in the nation and leads the SEC with 391 runs scored this season.
• The Rebel offense is 19th in the nation and leads the SEC in batting average at .302, including a league-best .297 in conference play. Seven 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.
• Ole Miss has reached double-figure hits 29 times in 51 games. The Rebels have scored in double figures 16 times.
• The Rebel pitching staff is second nationally and second in the SEC in strikeouts per nine innings at 11.8. Ole Miss is second in the league and sixth in the country in strikeout-to-walk ratio at 3.50.
• Ole Miss leads the nation in attendance at 246,167 (7,210 per game). Swayze Field has hosted 14 out of college baseball's top 20 most-attended on-campus games this season, including seven games with 10,000-plus fans. Each of the 14 largest crowds in college baseball this season have watched the Rebels play.
REBS VS. SKYHAWKS
Ole Miss and UT Martin have met 19 times with the Rebels holding an 18-1 advantage all-time. The Rebels and Skyhawks first met in Oxford on March 24, 1992—a 5-0 Rebel win. Ole Miss won the first eight meetings in the series before UT Martin secured its lone win on March 28, 2000 in Oxford. The Rebels have won 10 consecutive meetings since. Eighteen of the 19 meetings have taken place in Oxford, with the other taking place in Jackson on April 18, 2000. In the last meeting, on Feb. 26, 2019, the Rebels followed a three-hit day from Ryan Olenek, who also closed out the victory with a scoreless ninth inning. Current Rebs Taylor Broadway and Max Cioffi each turned in scoreless innings out of the bullpen, while Tim Elko notched a 2-for-4 day at the plate with a double and a run scored.
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 have also been without one of their top relief arms, Max Cioffi, who also underwent UCL surgery after making just two appearances this season. 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. Outfielder and two-sport star Jerrion Ealy is out for the season after undergoing shoulder surgery before the start of the 2021 campaign. Other notable injuries include co-ace Doug Nikhazy, starting second baseman Peyton Chatagnier and starting first baseman Cael Baker, who have all since returned to the lineup.
CLOSE CONTESTS
Ten of the Rebels' 15 losses have come by four runs or fewer, including five one-run losses.
KEEP IT CLEAN
Ole Miss is 28-9 this season when making one error or fewer.
EARLY TO SHINE
Ole Miss is 21-5 when it scores first this season. The Rebels are 16-5 when they score in the first inning.
SENIOR WINNERS
Last weekend, Ole Miss honored its senior class and recognized the four seniors on roster who have exhausted their eligibility: Taylor Broadway, Greer Holston, Austin Miller and Tyler Myers. Through its entire time on campus, this senior class has racked up 173 wins, including 16 during the shortened 2020 campaign. The two wins over the weekend against Vanderbilt made it the winningest class in program history, surpassing the classes of 2007 and 2008, which each won 171. Holston is the lone senior roster who has been along for the entire ride from 2017-2021.
RESUME VS. RANKED FOES
Ole Miss is 14-7 on the season against ranked opponents, including 10-5 against teams then-ranked in the top 10. The Rebels are are 5-5 against teams ranked in the top three. Ole Miss is No. 12 in the RPI and has played the nation's ninth-toughest schedule. The Rebels are 15-10 against quadrant one opponents, tied for the fifth-most Q1 wins in the country.
MAIN ATTRACTION
Ole Miss leads the nation in attendance at 246,167 (7,210 per game) and holds 14 out of college baseball's top 20 most-attended on-campus games this season, including seven games with 10,000-plus fans. Each of the 14 largest crowds in college baseball this season have watched the Rebels play.
MIDWEEK WINNERS
Ole Miss is 11-1 on the season in midweek games, including a 10-0 mark at home. The Rebels are 20-4 against all non-conference foes in 2021. The program record in midweek games is 13-1, most recently in 2018. The Rebels went 24-2 in non-conference competition during the 2018 regular season.
DOUG DAY
On Saturday, April 17, 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.
In one of college baseball's marquee pitching matchups this season, Nikhazy outdueled Kumar Rocker on Friday, May 15, at Swayze Field. Nikhazy allowed just one run—a solo home run, scattering five hits and two walks across 7.0 innings while striking out 10 Vanderbilt batters in a 3-1 Rebel victory.
Ole Miss is 7-1 when Doug Nikhazy starts in SEC play. Nikhazy has allowed 11 earned runs (1.89 ERA) on 34 hits and 17 walks (0.97 WHIP) with 72 strikeouts (4.24 K/BB Ratio) in 52.1 innings. The junior left-hander has walked three or fewer batters and struck out seven-plus in seven of eight SEC starts, including five 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. Dr. James Andrews will perform the procedure on Tuesday, May 18. The junior out of Hudson, Florida, 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. Hoglund was third in the SEC and fifth nationally with 96 strikeouts 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. The projected first round MLB Draft pick struck out seven or more in eight of his nine full starts this season.
STRIKES AT SWAYZE
Ole Miss is second in the nation and second in the SEC in strikeouts per nine innings, averaging 11.8 Ks per game. The Rebels have struck out at least 10 batters in 35 of 51 games this season, including 16 in SEC play. Ole Miss also ranks No. 6 nationally and 2nd in the conference in strikeout-to-walk ratio at 3.50.
19K MAGIC
Ole Miss' 19 strikeouts against Little Rock (5/12/21) were two shy the program record of 21 and the most since the Rebels fanned 19 on Feb. 21, 2017 against Arkansas State. The Rebels' SEC-play season-high of 18 came in an April 3 win at then-No. 15 Florida.
LEADERS OF THE PACK
Ole Miss is 25-4 this season when the Rebel pitching staff holds the opponent to five runs or fewer
REBS ARE RUNNIN'
Ole Miss ranks fifth nationally and leads the SEC in runs scored with 391. 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 8-plus or more 25 times this season, including 16 games in double figures.
GREATEST HITS
Ole Miss leads the SEC and ranks second nationally in hits wiith 527. Ole Miss also leads the SEC and ranks 19th nationally in team batting average at .302 on the year, including a league-best .297 mark in SEC play. Seven different Rebels have a batting average of .300 or higher. Ole Miss has 29 double-figure 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 20 games since his injury, the Rebels have hit .333 as a team, averaging eight runs scored on 12 hits per game. All nine Rebel starters have hit .285 or better.
CONSISTENT KG
Kevin Graham has reached base safely in 44 consecutive games and in 49 of 51 games this season. His is the sixth-longest streak in college baseball this season and the second-longest in the SEC. It is the6 fourth-longest active streak in the country. Graham is No. 6 in the SEC and 27th nationally with 68 hits.
CALIFORNIA LOVE
Jacob Gonzalez was named SEC Freshman of the Week for the second time this season on Monday. Gonzalez hit .571 last week with three home runs, including his first career multi-homer game to lead the Rebels to a series-clinching victory on Sunday.
The freshman out of Glendora, California, ranks third in the SEC (16th nationally) in hits with 70 and second in the conference (12th nationally) in runs scored with 55.
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. Dunhurst leads the SEC with a combined 17 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 and fifth overall with a .367 batting average in conference play. The freshman out of Cantonment, Florida, was on a streak of 26 consecutive games reaching base and 11 straight games with a hit before going 0-for-4 with a sacrifice fly on Tuesday against Little Rock. McCants has hits in 26 of the last 30 games, including 13 multi-hit performances. The Rebel center fielder is also eighth in the conference with a .434 on-base percentage in league play.
LEATHERWOOD MEANS MORE
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 sixth in the conference and second on the team with a .367 bating average in league play. He's also sixth in the SEC with a .658 slugging pct. and 15th with a .407 on-base pct. in conference games.
MORE HITS, MORE WINS
Ole Miss has out-hit its opponent in 34 of 51 games this season. The Rebels are 28-6 in those games.
