The University of Mississippi Athletics
Tuesday, February 21
Oxford, Miss.
4 PM
Ole Miss
vs
Arkansas State
Baseball Set to Host Arkansas State for Midweek Matchup
2/20/2023 | Baseball
Rebel Offense Looks to Stay Hot Against Red Wolves
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#4 OLE MISS (3-0, 0-0 SEC) vs. ARKANSAS STATE (3-0, 0-0 SBC) February 21, 2023 Oxford, Miss. Swayze Field (11,477) |
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| Ole Miss Notes • Arkansas State Notes • SEC Notes | ||||||||
| Tuesday, February 21 4 p.m. CT  |
| PROJECTED STARTERS Ole Miss: RHP JT Quinn 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 K, 1 BB Arkansas State: RHP Michael Finan 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 K, 0 BB |
| Watch • Listen • Live Stats |
LEADING OFF
- Ole Miss opened their 2023 season last weekend with a three-game sweep of the Delaware Blue Hens
- Ole Miss scored 35 total runs in the series against Delaware, their highest total on Opening Weekend since 2008
- Peyton Chatagnier went 5-for-8 (.625) on the weekend with an OPS of 2.042 and a slugging percentage of 1.375. He had five total RBI, scored four runs, and hit two home runs.
- Jacob Gonzalez set a new career-high in RBI on Sunday, driving in seven total runs
- Grayson Saunier made his highly anticipated collegiate debut on Saturday, allowing just one hit over four innings while striking out five batters
- In total, seven Rebel freshmen made their debuts throughout the weekend with Will Furniss and Judd Utermark each hitting home runs in their first at-bats
- Ole Miss leads the SEC and is No. 2 in the nation in strikeouts per nine innings, averaging 15.4 K/9.
- The Rebels have lost just six games since April 29, 2022 and are 22-6 during that stretch
- Ole Miss is now 21-2 in home openers under Mike Bianco
- Friday's home opener saw 11,242 fans pack the stands at Swayze Field, the second-highest Opening Day attendance number in program history
- Tuesday's matchup will be the 114th all-time meeting between the two teams
- The Rebels moved up or stayed level in all of this week's major polls, with their highest ranking coming at No. 4 from D1Baseball
OPEN AND SHUT
After the first weekend of games, Ole Miss leads the SEC in strikeouts per nine innings, averaging 15.4 K/9. The Rebels racked up 41 total strikeouts in just 24 innings of work against Delaware. That number is good enough for second in the nation, trailing only Wake Forest who sits at 15.9 K/9.
OFF AND RUNNING
The Rebel offense came out hot on Opening Weekend, scoring 35 total runs over their first three games. That mark is the highest for an Opening Weekend series since 2008 when they scored 45 runs against Minnesota.
WELCOME TO THE SHOW
In total, seven Rebel freshmen made their debuts over the weekend: Will Furniss, Will Plattner, JT Quinn, Grayson Saunier, Sam Tookoian, Judd Utermark, and Jordan Vera.
Saunier made his collegiate debut on Saturday getting the start for game two. He allowed just one hit over four innings while striking out five batters. Furniss and Utermark each hit a home run in their first career at-bats. Quinn and Tookoian each had scoreless outings in their debuts out of the bullpen. Quinn will make his first career start on Tuesday against Arkansas State.
HOME SWEET HOME
Ole Miss has now won its home opener in 21 of 23 seasons during the Mike Bianco era and has won the opening home series of the season in 20 of Bianco's 23 campaigns. The Rebels have lost a home opening series just once, losing two-of-three to UCF in 2021.
PACK 'EM IN
Friday's home opener saw 11,242 fans pack the stands at Swayze Field, the second-highest Opening Day attendance number in program history. It was also the 18th highest single-game attendance number in the history of Swayze Field.
POLLING ALONG
Ole Miss moved up or stayed level in all of this week's major polls, with their highest ranking coming at No. 4 from D1Baseball. They were also slotted at No. 5 by the NCBWA, No. 6 by Perfect Game, No. 9 by Baseball America, and No. 21 by Collegiate Baseball.
SEC PRESEASON COACHES POLL
West (First Place Votes)
1. LSU (12)
2. Texas A&M (1)
3. Arkansas
4. Ole Miss (1)
5. Alabama
6. Auburn
7. Mississippi State
East (First Place Votes)
1. Tennessee (12)
2. Florida (2)
3. Vanderbilt
4. South Carolina
5. Georgia
6. Kentucky
7. Missouri
SWAYZE CRAZIES
Ole Miss set a new average attendance record at Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field last season, averaging 9,998 fans per home game. That average was the fourth-best in the nation and gave them a season total of 309,949, also fourth in the nation. The Oxford faithful set multiple single-game and three-game series attendance records in 2022 as well. On April 23 against Mississippi State a new single-game program record of 12,503 was set, boosting that three-game series from April 21-23 to the best series attendance in program history at 35,055.
Four of Ole Miss' top-10 single-game attendance records and three of their top-five series records were set in 2022.
Top-10 Single-Game Attendance Records
1. April 23 vs. Mississippi State – 12,503
3. March 26 vs. Tennessee – 12,134
5. April 22 vs. Mississippi State – 12,078
6. April 9 vs. Alabama – 12,045
Top-5 Series Attendance Records
1. April 21-23 vs. Mississippi State – 35,055
2. March 25-27 vs. Tennessee – 33,438
5. February 18-20 vs. Charleston Southern – 32,888
FUTURE BIG LEAGUERS
Four Rebel upperclassmen were ranked in D1Baseball's 2023 MLB Draft Prospect rankings in the fall with all four coming in the top-100. All four will be eligible for the MLB Draft in July.
Rebels in the Top 2023 MLB Draft Prospect Rankings
- Jacob Gonzalez – No. 3
- Calvin Harris – No. 58
- Kemp Alderman – No. 66
- TJ McCants – No. 94
POSITIONS OF POWER
Ole Miss had 12 total players ranked over all of D1Baseball's Position Power Rankings to open the 2023 season. Three players (Gonzalez, Harris, and Elliott) were ranked in the top-10 at their position.
The Rebels were the only team in the nation to have at least one player ranked at each position and could field an entire starting nine with three outfielders, two starting pitchers, and two relief pitchers all ranked by the publication.
Rebels in the D1Baseball Position Power Rankings
- Jacob Gonzalez – No. 2 ranked shortstop
- Calvin Harris – No. 5 ranked catcher
- Hunter Elliott – No. 7 ranked starting pitcher
- Kemp Alderman – No. 11 ranked outfielder
- Anthony Calarco – No. 14 ranked first baseman
- Ethan Groff – No. 14 ranked outfielder
- Jack Dougherty – No. 15 ranked relief pitcher
- Mason Nichols – No. 20 ranked relief pitcher
- Peyton Chatagnier – No. 27 ranked second baseman
- Ethan Lege – No. 32 ranked third baseman
- Grayson Saunier – No. 57 ranked starting pitcher
- TJ McCants – No. 90 ranked outfielder
YOUNG GUNS
Both Baseball America and Perfect Game ranked Ole Miss' freshman class as the No. 2 class in the country when they set foot on campus in the fall. Four freshmen on the 2023 roster have been ranked on D1Baseball's SEC Impact Freshmen list including Grayson Saunier who was named as the top SEC Impact Freshman of the Year. D1Baseball also placed him on their SEC Pitcher of the Year Watch List.
Rebel Freshmen in the D1Baseball SEC Impact Freshmen Rankings
- Grayson Saunier – No. 1
- Sam Tookoian – No. 28
- Will Furniss – No. 41
- JT Quinn – No. 46
TRANSFER TO THE SIP
Ole Miss brought in seven total transfers during the offseason, two from Division I, one from Division II, and four from the junior college level. Three of those transfers were ranked in the D1Baseball Impact Transfers Rankings.
Rebel Transfers in the D1Baseball Impact Transfers Rankings
- Ethan Groff – No. 11
- Anthony Calarco – No. 39
- Xavier Rivas – No. 50
GOING, GOING, GONZO
Junior Jacob Gonzalez will come into the 2023 season as one of the most decorated athletes during the preseason. Gonzalez was named a Preseason All-American by five different major publications (Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball, D1Baseball, NCBWA, and Perfect Game) while also being the only Rebel represented on the Preseason All-SEC list.
Gonzalez also became the first Rebel since 2008 to be named to the Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List twice in his career, earning the honor in both 2022 and 2023. D1Baseball named him the No. 3 MLB prospect in all of college baseball while MLB Pipeline ranked him No. 5 in their same list.
ON THE HUNT
Hunter Elliott was named a Preseason All-American by four major publications (Collegiate Baseball, D1Baseball, NCBWA, and Perfect Game) after having a breakout season his freshman year. Perfect Game ranked him No. 31 in their Top-100 Sophomores list and D1Baseball ranked him No. 18 in their Top 2024 MLB Draft SEC Prospects list. He was also named to the Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List along with teammate Jacob Gonzalez.
QUITE THE CAREER
Jacob Gonzalez comes into his junior season as the SEC active career leader in runs scored with 140 over two seasons of play. He is ranked third in home runs (30), sixth in RBI (107), eighth in hits (159), ninth in on-base percentage (.424), and 12th in batting average (.315).
Despite having pitched only one season in his career so far, Hunter Elliott will start 2023 ranked third in SEC active career ERA with a 2.70. He is just one strikeout shy of being in the top-15 for active career strikeouts.
MISSISSIPPI MADE
Of the 39 players on Ole Miss' roster in 2023, 12 of them hail from the state of Mississippi. The next closest state if Florida with five followed by Tennessee and California with three. In all, 17 states are represented on the Rebels' roster.
TOUGH CROWD
Ole Miss will be playing against 10 opponents this season who participated in the 2022 NCAA Baseball Tournament. Just three of those opponents are of the non-conference variety, with seven of their 10 conference opponents having made it to the big dance last year. Ole Miss was directly responsible for eliminating two of those opponents (Southern Miss and Arkansas) from postseason play in 2022.
STUDENT BECOMES THE TEACHER
With 14 more victories, head coach Mike Bianco will pass the legendary Skip Bertman for second-most wins by an SEC head coach. Bianco currently has 857 wins as the head coach of the Rebels, trailing just behind Bertman's 870 wins as the head coach of LSU from 1984-2001. Bianco played for Bertman at LSU from 1988-89 and coached on his staff from 1993-97.
THE ROAD TO 1,000
Head coach Mike Bianco comes into the 2023 season needing 46 wins to reach 1,000 for his career. He has 954 career wins, 854 as head coach of the Rebels and 100 from his time at McNeese State.
COMING HOME
Jacob Gonzalez will begin his junior season with a chance at becoming the Ole Miss all-time career runs scored leader by the end of the year. Gonzalez has scored 140 runs in his career as a Rebel, averaging 70 runs per season. He needs just 59 runs scored to pass Brad Henderson for the top spot. Henderson scored 198 runs over the course of 203 career games.
MAGIC ON THE MOUND
The Rebels posted a 2.00 ERA at the 2022 College World Series on their way to the first national championship in program history, the lowest ERA by a National Champion since UCLA in 2013 (0.80 ERA). Ole Miss' ERA throughout the entire postseason was also 2.00, shutting Southern Miss out in both games of the Hattiesburg Super Regional and allowing just 10 earned runs at the Coral Gables Regional.
REBELS ON THE BIG STAGE
The 2022 National Champions will appear on national television nine times throughout the 2023 season. Ole Miss will appear on SEC Network six times, ESPNU twice, and ESPN2 once during their 2023 campaign. Their national television debut will also be their first SEC matchup of the year as they take on Vanderbilt at 6:00 p.m. in Nashville on ESPNU. The Rebels will be on ESPN2 on April 29 when they host LSU for game two of a three-game set.
National TV Games
March 16 at Vanderbilt (6:00 p.m. CT) – ESPNU
March 18 at Vanderbilt (11:00 a.m. CT) – SEC Network
April 1 at Texas A&M (7:00 p.m. CT) – SEC Network
April 8 vs. Arkansas (2:00 p.m. CT) – SEC Network
April 15 at Mississippi State (3:00 p.m. CT) – SEC Network
April 22 vs. LSU (2:00 p.m. CT) – ESPN2
May 4 at Missouri (6:00 p.m. CT) – SEC Network
May 11 vs. Auburn (7:00 p.m. CT) – ESPNU
May 13 vs. Auburn (2:00 p.m. CT) – SEC Network
ON DRAFT
The Rebels had seven players selected in last year's 2022 MLB Draft, their most in a draft since 2019. Derek Diamond, Hayden Dunhurst, and Dylan DeLucia were all selected in the sixth round of the draft. Diamond was picked by the Pittsburgh Pirates, Dunhurst was picked by the Kansas City Royals, and DeLucia was picked by the Cleveland Guardians.
Brandon Johnson was selected in the ninth round by the Kansas City Royals, Tim Elko was selected in the 10th round by the Chicago White Sox, Kevin Graham was selected in the 14th round by the Arizona Diamondbacks, and Justin Bench was taken in the 17th round by the San Francisco Giants.
UNDER THE LIGHTS
Amongst the wealth of new changes to Oxford-University Stadium this season, the most noticeable will be the brand new, state-of-the-art LED lights that now illuminate the stadium. There are over 150 new lights added and they all have the ability to flash on-and-off to the beat of music and sounds and can also cycle through a variety of different colors, enhancing the game day experience.
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.
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