The University of Mississippi Athletics
Tuesday, April 4
Memphis, Tenn.
6 PM
Ole Miss
at
Memphis
Baseball Heads North for Midweek Matchup With Memphis
4/3/2023 | Baseball
Rebels and Tigers Playing at Memphis’ Home Park for First Time Since 2008
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OLE MISS (16-11, 1-8 SEC) at MEMPHIS (16-13, 1-2 AAC) April 4, 2023 Memphis, Tenn. FedEx Park Avron Fogelman Field (2,000) |
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| Ole Miss Notes Memphis Notes | ||||||||
| Tuesday, April 4 6 p.m. CT  |
| PROJECTED STARTERS Ole Miss: RHP Grayson Saunier 1-2, 7.77 ERA, 29 K, 16 BB Memphis: RHP Caden Robinson 0-0, 1.59 ERA, 6 K, 2 BB |
| Watch • Listen • Live Stats |
LEADING OFF
- Ole Miss heads to Memphis on Tuesday to take on the Tigers for a midweek matchup.
- Ole Miss and Memphis will be playing at the Tigers' home park, FedExPark, for the first time since 2008. The last 11 games in Memphis between the two teams have been played at Autozone Park, home of the Memphis Redbirds.
- The Rebels have not traveled to Memphis since 2019, with the last three matchups against the Tigers taking place in Oxford.
- Ole Miss has won their last seven games against Memphis after losing twice in 2017.
- The Rebels took one out of three games last weekend against Texas A&M, winning Saturday's matchup 14-7.
- They scored eight of their 14 runs with two outs and drew a season-high 11 walks in the win over the Aggies.
- Mitch Murrell leads the SEC in pitching appearances with 15 total appearances out of the bullpen so far in 2023.
- Kemp Alderman is ranked eighth in the SEC in RBI with 39 RBI in 27 games. He is averaging 1.44 RBI per game. Alderman is also ranked seventh in the SEC in home runs with 11, tying his total from 2022 already.
- Alderman is currently riding a 22-game on-base streak dating back to February 25, the longest streak of the season for Ole Miss. He also owns the longest hitting streak at 12 games (2/25-3/11).
- Ethan Groff is ranked ninth in the SEC in stolen bases with 10. He has only been caught stealing once in 11 tries.
- Ole Miss is ranked fourth in the SEC in fielding percentage (.980) and seventh in batting average (.304).
- The Rebels will host No. 5 Arkansas this weekend for a three-game series starting on Thursday.
CLUTCH GENE
Ole Miss scored eight runs with two outs in Saturday's win over Texas A&M. They scored 11 total runs with two outs in the series, nearly half of their run production on the weekend. The Rebels are hitting .308 with two outs as a team. Jacob Gonzalez is hitting .577 (15-for-26) and has 12 RBI when batting with two outs in an inning. Ethan Groff leads the team with 16 two-out RBI on the season.
WALK BEFORE YOU RUN
The Rebels drew a season-high 11 walks in Saturday's win in what was a return to form for the offense. Seven of the 11 runners that reached base on a walk came around to score.
Ole Miss drew 91 walks over their first 16 games but have only drawn 33 in their first nine SEC conference games, averaging less than four per game.
SECOND TO ONE
Head coach Mike Bianco tied the legendary Skip Bertman for second-most wins by an SEC head coach Saturday night with Ole Miss' 14-7 win over Texas A&M. 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.
OUT OF THE GATE
Ole Miss has scored 117 runs in the first four innings of games. Over half (53.7%) of their run production has occurred in those early innings. They are outscoring opponents 63-23 in the first two innings of play.
GOING PRO
With the MLB and MiLB seasons starting last weekend, 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.
COMING HOME
Jacob Gonzalez has been climbing the Ole Miss all-time runs scored leaderboard this season, currently ranked ninth all-time with 167 runs scored in his career. Gonzalez is only 31 runs off the top spot with about 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.
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.
GOING, GOING, GONZO
Junior Jacob Gonzalez came 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.
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.
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.
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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