The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Alcorn State
No. 2 Baseball Returns Home for Pair of Midweeks
3/7/2022 | Baseball
Rebels to Face Memphis Tuesday, Alcorn State Wednesday
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No. 2 OLE MISS (10-1, 0-0 SEC) vs. MEMPHIS (6-4, 0-0 AMERICAN) March 8 Oxford, Miss. Swayze Field (11,477) |
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| Ole Miss Notes • SEC Notes • Memphis Notes | ||||||||
| Tuesday, March 8 6:30 p.m. CT  |
| PROJECTED STARTERS Ole Miss: RHP Jack Washburn 1-0, 1.00 ERA, 9 BB, 12 K Memphis: RHP Landon Gartman 1-0, 2.70 ERA, 2 BB, 15 K |
| Watch • Listen • Live Stats |
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No. 2 OLE MISS (10-1, 0-0 SEC) vs. ALCORN STATE (0-7, 0-3 SWAC) March 9 Oxford, Miss. Swayze Field (11,477) |
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| Ole Miss Notes • SEC Notes | ||||||||
| Wednesday, March 9 6:30 p.m. CT |
| PROJECTED STARTERS Ole Miss: TBA Alcorn State: RHP Andrew Meadows 0-2, 15.26 ERA, 10 BB, 6 K |
| Watch • Listen • Live Stats |
• Following the first road trip of the year, Ole Miss returns home for a pair of midweek matchups in Oxford, battling Memphis on Tuesday and Alcorn State on Wednesday.
• It is the 23rd straight season that Ole Miss and Memphis will matchup dating back to 1999. Before that, the Rebels and Tigers hadn't played since 1989.
• Ole Miss has won each of the last six meetings with the Tigers.
• Prior to 2020, Ole Miss and Alcorn State had never faced off. This season marks the third-straight season the two teams have played.
• The Rebels are coming off of a 2-1 series win at UCF over the weekend, winning the series opener and the rubber game on Sunday.
• Ole Miss won in a comeback on Friday behind back-to-back-to-back home runs by Peyton Chatagnier, Jacob Gonzalez and Tim Elko. The Rebs cranked out five big flies in the game, with Chatagnier posting multiple home runs for the second time in his career.
• Calvin Harris ranks fourth in the nation with a .542 batting average, ranking second in the SEC. Harris' .621 on-base percentage is also second best in the conference, ranking eighth in college baseball.
• Ole Miss ranks second in the nation in total attendance at 78,582 and third in average attendance at 9,823.
• The Rebels are ranked in the top-10 in all six major polls, including coming in at No. 2 by D1Baseball and the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association.
EXTRA STRENGTH RELIEF
The Ole Miss bullpen was nothing short of lights out last week, posting a 0.44 ERA over 20 2/3 innings. One of those relievers was newcomer Dylan DeLucia, who threw four shutout innings in the Sunday win over UCF to cut his ERA in more than half from 13.50 to 5.40.
OFF AND RUNNING
Despite dropping its first game of the season on Saturday to UCF, Ole Miss' 10-1 start to the season is tied for the Rebels' best through 11 games since 2004. That year, Ole Miss started the season with 11 straight wins before dropping the 12th.
INJURY UPDATE
A scan on Monday revealed a small fracture to the scaphoid bone to Kevin Graham's wrist, caused in Saturday's game against UCF. Graham will undergo surgery to place a pin in the wrist on Wednesday and is expected to be unavailable for approximately four weeks.
AIN'T IT GRAND?
Kevin Graham and Tim Elko each hammered a grand slam in the 11-1 Wednesday night win over ULM, with Graham going yard in the fifth and Elko following up with a towering shot to dead center in the sixth. It marked the first game with multiple grand slams in a game for Ole Miss since 1998 against the Memphis Tigers. One of the two players to hit a grand slam that day? Current Ole Miss assistant coach Carl Lafferty.
CROOKED NUMBERS
The Rebel offense has been all over its opponents this season, scoring 109 runs in 83 innings of play, good for an average of 1.31 runs per inning. Ole Miss has scored early and often, plating multiple runs in 32 of those 83 frames.
WE LOVE FREE BASES
Through eight games, Ole Miss has shown patience at the plate and has made it pay off. The Rebels have received 73 free passes via walks and HBPs, with 37 of those runners coming around to score.
SAC DADDIES
Peyton Chatagnier leads the nation with five sacrifice flies this season, recording three in one game alone against VCU. All three of those runs were scored by Reagan Burford, who is one of seven players that trails Chatagnier with four sac flies to rank second in the nation.
NEW LEFTY IN TOWN
Tupelo native Hunter Elliott was nothing short of electric in his first career start against ULM. Each of the freshman's first seven outs came on strikeouts, ultimately finishing with nine Ks on the night to earn the first win of his career.
IN THE POLLS
Ole Miss is ranked in the top-10 in all six major polls this week after moving up to No. 10 in the Collegiate Baseball Poll. The Rebels' highest ranking is No. 2 by both D1Baseball and the NCBWA.
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.
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.
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 host 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 hosting bids since 2014, being joined by Florida State, Florida, LSU, Louisville, TCU, Vanderbilt and Texas Tech.
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
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.
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.
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
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
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.
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Rebels by following Ole Miss baseball on Twitter at @OleMissBSB, on Facebook at Facebook.com/OleMissBaseball, on Instagram at Instagram.com/officialolemissbsb and on TikTok at @olemissbsb. Also, follow head coach Mike Bianco on Twitter at @CoachMikeBianco.
