The University of Mississippi Athletics
Tuesday, April 25
Pearl, Miss.
6 PM
Ole Miss
vs
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Mississippi State
Rebels and Bulldogs Set to Compete for Governor’s Cup In Pearl
4/24/2023 | Baseball
Ole Miss Looks to Defend Their Governor’s Cup Title
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OLE MISS (21-19, 3-15 SEC) vs. MISSISSIPPI STATE (23-17, 6-12 SEC) April 25, 2023 Pearl, Miss. Trustmark Park (8,480) |
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| Ole Miss Notes Mississippi State Notes | ||||||||
| Tuesday, April 25 6 p.m. CT  |
| PROJECTED STARTERS Ole Miss: RHP Grayson Saunier 2-2, 7.98 ERA, 36 K, 20 BB Mississippi State: RHP Evan Siary 0-1, 5.48 ERA, 22 K, 8 BB |
| Watch • Listen • Live Stats |
LEADING OFF
- Ole Miss and Mississippi State will meet for the fourth time this season Tuesday night as they compete in the annual Governor's Cup game at Trustmark Park.
- Tuesday's matchup comes just nine days after a three-game series between the two teams in which the Rebels were able to take one-out-of-three from the Bulldogs.
- Ole Miss are the reigning champions of the Governor's Cup, winning last season's edition 5-2.
- The Rebels are coming off a three-game series against No. 1 LSU in which they were swept by the Tigers.
- The Rebels scored nine of their 13 runs against LSU via the home run, hitting at least one big fly in each game.
- Ole Miss pitching has posted double-digit strikeouts in four-straight games, their longest streak since the first four games of the season.
- Ole Miss is the second-best fielding team in the SEC and ranked ninth in the nation with a .981 fielding percentage.
- The Rebels are second in the SEC and 43rd in the nation in doubles with 84. They are averaging 2.10 doubles per game.
- Kemp Alderman is currently riding a 35-game on-base streak dating back to February 25, the longest streak of the season for Ole Miss.
- Alderman has hit a career-best 17 home runs so far, fifth-most in the SEC and 11th in the NCAA.
- Ethan Lege is the hardest hitter to strike out in the SEC, having only struck out 12 times in 124 at bats.
- Ole Miss will host Georgia this weekend for a three-game series in Oxford.
THROW 'EM THE CHAIR
Ole Miss pitching struck out 38 batters in their three-game series against No. 1 LSU last weekend. That total was the most strikeouts in a SEC series for Rebel pitching since March 15-17, 2019 when they also struck out 38 against Alabama.
The Rebels have posted double-digit strikeouts in four-straight games, their longest streak since the first four games of the season (2/17-2/21).
CONTACT HIGH
Ethan Lege comes into the week as the hardest hitter to strikeout in the SEC. He has struck out just 12 times in his 124 at bats this season and only six times during SEC play. The third baseman has not struck out since April 8 against Arkansas and has only struck out more than once in a game one time this year (2/24 vs. Maryland).
DOUBLE TROUBLE
The Rebels are ranked second in the SEC in doubles with 84 on the season. They hit seven doubles in each of their last two SEC series and are averaging over two per game. Auburn leads the SEC with 85 doubles.
Jacob Gonzalez is third in the conference and 25th in the nation with 16 total doubles.
KEMP-TANI?
Kemp Alderman is currently riding a 35-game on-base streak and has hit home runs in back-to-back games for the sixth time this season. He is ranked fourth in the SEC in RBI and total bases and fifth in home runs. The outfielder leads the team in batting average (.354), slugging percentage (.747), hits (56), RBI (55), total bases (118), and home runs.
Over the last two weeks, Alderman has also made his first two career pitching appearances, allowing just one hit and striking out four of the nine batters he has faced.
COMING HOME
Jacob Gonzalez has been climbing the Ole Miss all-time runs scored leaderboard this season, currently ranked seventh all-time with 177 runs scored in his career. Gonzalez is only 21 runs off the top spot with just under half of the season still left to play. Former player and current Ole Miss Sports Network color analyst Brad Henderson owns the record, scoring 198 runs over the course of his 203 career games.
Gonzalez owns the second and fifth-highest records for runs scored in a single season with 73 in 2021 and 67 in 2022.
STAY GOLDEN
Jacob Gonzalez was named to the 2023 Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List, becoming the first Rebel since 2014 to make the list. Gonzalez joined former Rebels Chris Ellis, Bobby Wahl, Stuart Turner, and Alex Yarbrough as the only representatives from Ole Miss to make the Midseason Watch List. Ellis was the last to do it during the 2014 season.
Before the 2023 season started, Gonzalez became the first Rebel since 2008 to make the Preseason Watch List twice, having also been named to the list prior to last season. He is also one of just two Rebel position players to make the list during that time with the other being Hayden Dunhurst in 2022.
SECOND TO ONE
Head coach Mike Bianco passed the legendary Skip Bertman for second-most wins by an SEC head coach on April 4 with Ole Miss' 7-2 win over Memphis. Bianco played for Bertman at LSU from 1988-89 and coached on his staff from 1993-97. Ron Polk is the all-time leader with 1,218 wins at Mississippi State and Georgia.
GOING PRO
With the MLB and MiLB seasons ramping up, three former Rebels found themselves ranked in the Top-30 Prospects Lists for their organizations. Gunnar Hoglund is ranked as the No. 15 prospect in the Oakland Athletics organization, Ryan Rolison is ranked as the No. 28 prospect in the Colorado Rockies organization, and Doug Nikhazy is ranked as the No. 30 prospect in the Cleveland Guardians organization.
Lance Lynn (Chicago White Sox), Nick Fortes (Miami Marlins), Chad Smith (Oakland Athletics), Drew Pomeranz (San Diego Padres), and Ryan Rolison (Colorado Rockies) will all start the 2023 season on the active 40-man MLB roster for their respective clubs.
BASH BROS
During the first two games of Ole Miss' series against Purdue, Kemp Alderman and TJ McCants became the first pair of teammates to combine for six home runs in two-consecutive games since 1998. McCants hit two in Friday's matchup and added one more Saturday while Alderman hit two on Saturday after hitting one the night before. Alderman now leads the team with eight long balls while McCants is in second with six.
The last pair to accomplish the feat were brothers Jason and Josh Huisman (3/15/1998 at Kentucky and 3/17/1998 at NE Louisiana). Jason Huisman hit two home runs in each game while Josh Huisman added one in each.
WHO YA GONNA CALL?
With the game tied 6-6 in the 10th inning, Kemp Alderman hit a solo walk-off home run to give the Rebels the win in game two against Purdue. Alderman's blast was the team's first true walk-off (9+ innings) of the season and the first since he hit a walk-off home run on April 24, 2021 against LSU.
HOMERS ARE CONTAGIOUS
From March 7 to March 11 the Rebels hit three or more home runs in three-consecutive games for the first time since the 2019 Oxford Regional. They hit three in a midweek win over Southern Miss, three in a series opening win over Purdue, and then four in their extra-inning win in game two against the Boilermakers. TJ McCants hit four of the 10 home runs, Kemp Alderman hit three, Peyton Chatagnier hit two, and Anthony Calarco hit one.
MVP, MVP, MVP
Ethan Groff was named MVP of the Cambria College Classic on March 3-5, hitting .500 (7-for-14) with eight RBI, five runs scored, and two stolen bases in Minneapolis. He drove in four runs against No. 18 Maryland and four more against Nebraska. The senior outfielder had at least two hits and scored at least one run in all three games of the tournament.
SAUN-K
Grayson Saunier struck out 11 batters in his third collegiate start against Minnesota on March 4. It was the most by an Ole Miss starter since Dylan DeLucia struck out 12 in the opening game of the Coral Gables Regional against Arizona last season.
SUNDAY DRIVE
Calvin Harris had a career day on February 26 against No. 13 Maryland, posting a career-high eight RBI in what was the first four-hit game and multi-home run game in his time as a Rebel. Harris became the first Rebel to drive in eight runs since Thomas Dillard in 2019 and is one of only three players to drive in eight runs in a game since at least 1997 (Sikes Orvis, 2015).
NUMBER OF THE BEAST
Ole Miss hit six home runs on February 26 in a victory over Maryland, becoming one of just three teams in the Mike Bianco era to accomplish that feat in a single game. The Rebels did it last season against Alabama and in 2019 against UAPB. Before 2019, the Rebels had not put together a six-home run game since March 2, 1999.
OFF AND RUNNING
The Rebel offense came out hot on Opening Weekend, scoring 35 total runs over their first three games. That mark was the highest for an Opening Weekend series since 2008 when they scored 45 runs against Minnesota.
WELCOME TO THE SHOW
11 Rebel freshmen have made their debut in 2023: Will Furniss, Brayden Jones, Cole Ketchum, Mason Morris, Will Plattner, JT Quinn, Grayson Saunier, Tim Simay, Sam Tookoian, Judd Utermark, and Jordan Vera.
Saunier made his collegiate debut on Opening Weekend getting the start for game two against Delaware. He allowed just one hit over four innings while striking out five batters. Quinn made his first career start against Arkansas State while Furniss and Utermark each hit a home run in their first career at-bats. Jones, Ketchum, and Tookoian each posted scoreless outings in their debuts out of the bullpen.
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.
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
PACK 'EM IN
2023's home opener against Delaware 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.
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.
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.
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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