The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
ULM
No. 2 Baseball Caps Homestand with Midweek Double Dip
2/28/2022 | Baseball
Ole Miss to Take On ULM Tuesday and Wednesday at Swayze
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#2 OLE MISS (6-0, 0-0 SEC) vs. ULM (1-4, 0-0 Sun Belt) March 1-2 Oxford, Miss. Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field (11,477) |
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| Ole Miss Notes • ULM Notes • SEC Notes | ||||||||
| Tuesday, March 1 6:30 p.m. CT  |
Wednesday, Mar. 2 4 p.m. CT |
| PROJECTED STARTERS Ole Miss: LHP Hunter Elliott 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 4 K, 1 BB ULM: RHP Henry Shuffler 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0 K, 0 BB |
PROJECTED STARTERS Ole Miss: RHP Jack Washburn 0-0, 2.25 ERA, 5 K, 5 BB ULM: RHP Cole Cressend 0-0, 22.50 ERA, 2 K, 4 BB |
| Watch • Listen • Live Stats | Watch • Listen • Live Stats |
LEADING OFF
• Ole Miss improved to 6-0 over the weekend, earning a pair of wins over VCU, the favorite to win the Atlantic-10 Conference.
• The Rebels are one of 17 undefeated teams remaining in the nation, one of four in the SEC and the only in the SEC West.
• Sunday's walk-off win over the Rams was the fourth in six games for Ole Miss in which fewer than nine innings were played.
• Despite only playing 42 offensive frames so far this season, Ole Miss has racked up 71 runs, good for 1.69 per inning.
• Of the 42 innings so far this season, Ole Miss has scored in 28 of them, including multiple runs 20 times.
• Ole Miss has failed to score double digit runs just once in 2022.
• Ole Miss has won each of the last 10 meetings with ULM, including six-straight wins in Oxford.
• The Rebels and Warhawks last played in 2020, with Ole Miss winning both games, 6-3 and 18-7.
• The apair of midweek matchups will conclude an eight-game homestand to begin the season. The Rebels will make their first road trip of the season Friday through Sunday at UCF.
• Ole Miss ranks third in the nation in total attendance at 59,676 and fourth in average attendance at 9,946.
• The Rebels either climbed or held serve in all six major polls, coming in as high as No. 2 in the nation.
MAKING QUICK WORK
Through six games, Ole Miss has only played the regulation nine innings twice, winning three games via run-rule and picking up another victory in a rain-shortened game. The four games are the most decided before nine innings have been completed since five such games in 2015. That season, the Rebels did not play their fourth shortened game until March 24 and didn't play the fifth until May 12.
CROOKED NUMBERS
The Rebel offense has been all over its opponents this season, scoring 71 runs in just 42 innings of play, good for an average of 1.69 runs per inning. Ole Miss has scored early and often, plating at least one run in 28 of the 42 innings, including multiple runs 20 times.
WE LOVE FREE BASES
Through six games, Ole Miss has shown patience at the plate and has made it pay off. The Rebels have received 42 free passes via walks and HBPs, with 26 of those runners coming around to score.
SAC DADDY
Peyton Chatagnier leads the nation with four sacrifice flies on the season, one ahead of teammate Reagan Burford. Chatagnier plated Burford three times in Friday's win over VCU, as many sac flies as any player in the nation has recorded for the entire season.
IN THE POLLS
Ole Miss either moved up or held serve in all six major polls, climbing as high as number two by D1baseball, the NCBWA and USA Today. The Rebels' biggest move came in the Collegiate Baseball Top-30, moving up 11 spots to No. 11.
LUCKY NUMBER 7
Kevin Graham had himself a day in the Rebels' 15-5 win over Arkansas State. Despite the game only lasting five innings, Graham was able to rack up seven RBIs on the afternoon, coming up a triple short of the cycle. The seven runs driven in were the most by a Rebel since Thomas Dillard had an eight-RBI day at Tulane on Feb. 23, 2019. Graham leads the Rebels with 12 RBIs on the year, ranking 26th in the nation.
IT TAKES A VILLAGE
Despite only playing two nine-inning games this season, Ole Miss ranks 19th in the nation with 71 runs scored, with everyone contributing to the effort. The Rebels boast seven players with at least seven runs scored, with no player coming across the plate more than eight times. Additionaly, every player that has recorded at least six at-bats has scored at least four times.
WHO'S NUMBER ONE?
Despite being picked to tie for second in the SEC West, Ole Miss was also projected as SEC Champions with the most first place votes in the 2022 SEC Preseason Poll, voted on by the league's head coaches. Ole Miss is seeking its first regular season conference title since 2009.
SEC PRESEASON COACHES POLL
East (Championship Votes)
1. Vanderbilt (2)
2. Florida (2)
3. Georgia
4. Tennessee
5. South Carolina
6. Kentucky
7. Missouri
West (Championship Votes)
1. Arkansas (3)
2. Ole Miss (4)
2. Mississippi State (2)
4. LSU (1)
5. Alabama
6. Texas A&M
7. Auburn
SWAYZE PACKED
The Ole Miss faithful came out in droves on opening weekend, packing the stands at Swayze and bringing the energy right from the first pitch. Friday's crowd of 11,146 was the nation's largest on opening day and the second biggest opening day crowd in school-history. The following day, 11,621 strong entered the gates, the eighth largest crowd ever at Swayze Field. All in all, the weekend total came in at 32,888 the second-highest in the nation and third highest series total ever at Ole Miss.
THE BOYS ARE BACK!
Ole Miss returns nearly the entirety of its potent offense from the 2021 season with eight of nine positional starters returning to the Rebel lineup, Ole Miss is poised once again to put up gawdy numbers on the scoreboard.
Percentage Return from 2021
• Games Started - 88.6%
• Runs - 88.5%
• Hits - 91.8%
• Doubles - 91.7%
• Triples - 100%
• Home Runs - 90.6%
• RBIs - 91.3%
• Walks - 85.1%
STARS AND STRIPES
Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco has been tapped as the manager for the 2022 USA Collegiate National Team for this upcoming summer, marking the Rebel skipper's managerial debut for the Red, White and Blue. It will be the second time donning a Team USA uniform for Bianco, who served as the pitching coach for the Collegiate National Team in 2013. Under Bianco's guidance, the USA posted a 1.87 ERA, a 20-3 record and 222 strikeouts. The remaining 2022 Collegiate National Team staff, as well as more information about the 2022 Collegiate National Team schedule, will be announced at a later date.
SWAYZE CRAZIES
Ole Miss led the nation in attendance in 2021 with 303,859 fans entering the gates at Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field across 40 games. The Rebels' average attendance of 7,596 also ranked first in college baseball, with Ole Miss ranking as one of just three schools to average more than 4,000 fans per game. During the season, Ole Miss welcomed four of the top-10 single game crowds and two of the top-three series crowds ever seen in Oxford, setting the record in the three-game set against Arkansas.
Top-10 Single-Game Crowds
4. April 10 vs. Arkansas - 11,857
5. April 23 vs. LSU - 11,788
7. April 24 vs. LSU - 11,653
8. April 10 vs. Arkansas - 11,524
Top-3 Series Crowds
1. April 10-11 vs. Arkansas - 33,423
3. April 22-24 vs. LSU - 32,476
WELCOME TO THE SHOW
12 players have made their Ole Miss debut this season, including position players Hudson Sapp, Reagan Burford, John Kramer, Banks Tolley and Tywone Malone as well as pitchers Matt Parenteau, Hunter Elliott, John Gaddis, Riley Maddox, Dylan DeLucia, Mason Nichols and Jack Washburn.
THAT'S GOLD, JERRY
Ole Miss' Hayden Dunhurst and Jacob Gonzalez were two of 55 players named to the 2022 Golden Spikes Award Preseason watch list, announced by USA Baseball. The Rebels are one of just eight teams with multiple players on the list, joining LSU, Arizona State, Arkansas, California, Florida, Texas and Vanderbilt.
CONSISTENCY IS KEY
Ole Miss is one of five programs to make at least 10 NCAA Regional appearances since 2004, joining Florida State, Florida, LSU and North Carolina. The Rebels are also one of eight programs to earn at least five regional bids since 2014, being joined by Florida State, Florida, LSU, Louisville, TCU, Vanderbilt and Texas Tech.
SHOW STOPPER
Senior right-handed reliever Brandon Johnson is one of 66 players tabbed to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Watch List. Johnson is one of nine SEC players and one of four from the SEC West named to the watch list.
RESPECT FROM THEIR PEERS
Ole Miss landed a league-high five players on the Preseason All-SEC team, having a player recognized at four of five infield positions.
Ole Miss Preseason All-SEC Selections
• Jacob Gonzalez - Shortstop - First Team
• Hayden Dunhurst - Catcher - Second Team
• Tim Elko - First Base - Second Team
• Peyton Chatagnier - Second Team
• Kevin Graham - Second Team
STARS IN THE MAKING
Ole Miss has six players ranked in D1Baseball's Top 2022 MLB Draft College Prospect Rankings. All six Rebels are ranked inside the top-150, tied for the most in the top-150 in the nation. Additionally, a pair of Rebs find themself in the top-100 for the 2023 rankings.
Rebels in the Top 2022 MLB Draft Prospect Rankings
• Hayden Dunhurst - No. 27
• TJ McCants* - No. 49
• Derek Diamond - No. 63
• Jack Washburn - No. 101
• Kevin Graham - No. 124
• Drew McDaniel - No. 133
Rebels in the Top 2023 MLB Draft Prospect Rankings
• Jacob Gonzalez - No. 2
• Jack Dougherty - No. 55
* - Draft eligible sophomore
STUDS AROUND THE DIAMOND
When D1Baseball released its top-50 position power rankings this offseason, Ole Miss was well represented, landing at least one player at every single position. The Rebels' full rankings can be found below:
Rebels in the Top-50 Position Rankings
• Jacob Gonzalez - No. 2 shortstop
• Hayden Dunhurst - No. 4 catcher
• Tim Elko - No. 5 first baseman
• Peyton Chatagnier - No. 13 second baseman
• Justin Bench - No. 25 third baseman
• Kevin Graham - No. 16 outfielder
• TJ McCants - No. 32 outfielder
• Derek Diamond - No. 40 starting pitcher
• Brandon Johnson - No. 41 relief pitcher
• Jack Dougherty - No. 62 relief pitcher
• Jack Washburn - No. 75 starting pitcher
• John Gaddis - No. 76 starting pitcher
• Drew McDaniel - No. 115 starting pitcher
YOU'RE GONZO GO FAR, KID
Bursting onto the scene last season with one of the greatest true freshmen seasons ever in a Rebel uniform, shortstop Jacob Gonzalez quickly established himself as one of the nation's elite young talents. In addition to being named D1Baseball's National Freshman of the Year, the California native joined Stephen head as the only Rebs ever to be named an All-American as a freshman, earning the honor from both D1Baseball and the NCBWA. Starting all 67 games at short, Gonzalez led all true freshmen in hits and runs scored. Poised for another big season, the sophomore has reeled in a myriad of preseason honors for 2022.
Gonzalez' Preseason Honor Round Up
• Preseason All-America (Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball, D1Baseball, NCBWA, Perfect Game)
• First Team Preseason All-SEC
• D1Baseball No. 2 '23 College Draft Prospect
• D1Baseball No. 3 '23 College Draft SEC Prospect
• D1Baseball No. 2 ranked shortstop
MISSISSIPPI MADE
Of the 41 players on the Ole Miss roster, 11 hail from the state of Mississippi. The 11 local products are tied for the most for the Rebels since 2017.
JUCO PRODUCTS
Ole Miss has nine junior college products on the 2022 roster, five of which are new additions. Four of the five JUCO players come from schools within the Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference.
COME TO THE SIP
With a pair of electric arms departing for the Major League Baseball Draft in Gunnar Hoglund and Doug Nikhazy, Ole Miss utilized the transfer portal to bring in some talent on the mound in Division I transfers John Gaddis and Jack Washburn. Both bring quality experience to the Rebel roster, with Gaddis pitching four seasons at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Washburn moving to Oxford after two seasons at Oregon State.
The Gaddis File
• 2021 All-Southland Second Team
• 13 appearances with 10 starts in 2021
• Won five games with a team-low 2.25 ERA
• 72 strikeouts in 64.0 innings of work
• 7.0 or more innings in 6-of-last-7 starts
The Washburn File
• Son of former MLB star Jarrod Washburn
• 21 appearances with five starts in 2021
• 3.12 ERA with 43 strikeouts in 34.2 innings
HELLO FROM THE OTHER SIDE
Spending the 2021 season with just two left-handed pitchers on the roster, Ole Miss has bolstered the roster with three new lefties in transfer John Gaddis and true freshmen Hunter Elliott and Luke Ellis. Relief arm Jackson Kimbrell also returns to the Rebel roster.
