The University of Mississippi Athletics
Friday, May 12
Oxford, Miss.
3:45 PM
Ole Miss
vs
Auburn
Baseball Hosts No. 23 Auburn for Final Home Series
5/10/2023 | Baseball
Rebels Will Honor Wood and Calarco On Friday for Senior Night
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OLE MISS (25-23, 6-18 SEC) vs. #23 AUBURN (27-19-1, 11-13 SEC) May 11-13, 2023 Oxford, Miss. Swayze Field (11,477) |
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| Ole Miss Notes • Auburn Notes • SEC Notes | ||||||||
| Thursday, May 11 7 p.m. CT  |
Friday, May 12 6:30 p.m. CT  |
Saturday, May 13 2 p.m. CT  |
| PROJECTED STARTERS Ole Miss: LHP Xavier Rivas 5-3, 5.83 ERA, 72 K, 34 BB Auburn: RHP Chase Allsup 0-1, 7.20 ERA, 32 K, 25 BB |
PROJECTED STARTERS Ole Miss: RHP JT Quinn 3-2, 5.86 ERA, 56 K, 29 BB Auburn: LHP Tommy Vail 4-1, 3.68 ERA, 66 K, 35 BB |
PROJECTED STARTERS Ole Miss: TBA 0-0, - ERA, - K, - BB Auburn: RHP Christian Herberholtz 1-3, 4.37 ERA, 41 K, 22 BB |
| Watch • Listen • Live Stats | Watch • Listen • Live Stats | Watch • Listen • Live Stats |
LEADING OFF
- Ole Miss (25-23, 6-18 SEC) will host their final home series of the season this weekend as No. 23 Auburn (27-19-1, 11-13 SEC) comes to Oxford.
- The Tigers and Rebels met four times last season with OIe Miss winning three out of four of the matchups including a 5-1 win in the opening game of the College World Series.
- Ole Miss has won seven of their last eight games against Auburn and has not lost a series in Oxford against the Tigers since 2012.
- Calvin Harris set two new program records and tied a third last Saturday when he hit four home runs and drove in 10 runs in one game. He became the first SEC player to hit home runs in a conference game in the history of the league.
- Harris was named SEC Co-Player of the Week, the NCBWA Dick Houser Trophy National Hitter of the Week, and given the Golden Spikes Performance of the Week Award.
- Jacob Gonzalez was named the Brooks Wallace Award Shortstop of the Week after hitting .471 with nine RBI and two doubles last week.
- Kemp Alderman is currently riding a 43-game on-base streak dating back to February 25, the fourth-longest active streak in Division I. He also has a 13-game hitting streak.
- Peyton Chatagnier is hitting .389 (14-for-36) with 10 runs scored and four home runs in his last 10 games. He has hit three home runs in his last four games.
- The Rebels are ranked second in the SEC in doubles with 92, just two behind league-leader LSU. They are averaging almost two per game.
- Ole Miss has hit three or more home runs in four of their last five games. They hit 13 total in four games last week.
- Ethan Lege is the hardest hitter to strike out in the SEC, having only struck out 15 times in 161 at bats.
- Ole Miss will honor two seniors, Garrett Wood and Anthony Calarco, prior to Friday's game for Senior Night.
CALVIN HARRIS: HOUSEHOLD NAME
Calvin Harris has had a huge week, gaining national attention for his record-breaking performance last Saturday. Harris made history last Saturday against Missouri as he hit four home runs, drove in 10 runs, scored four times, and compiled 16 total bases in Ole Miss' 20-14 win over the Tigers. The junior became the first SEC player to ever hit four home runs in a conference game and just the third SEC player to do it in any game. He is also now just the fourth player in SEC history to have 16+ total bases in a single game.
His four home runs and 16 total bases also set new Ole Miss single-game records in both categories and his 10 RBI tied an Ole Miss single-game record that has stood since 1947. All marks were career-highs for Harris, and he also set a new career-high with four runs scored in the series finale.
The junior hit .471 (8-for-17) with five home runs, a triple, 13 RBI, and nine runs scored over four games last week earning him the titles of SEC Co-Player of the Week and NCBWA Dick Houser Trophy National Hitter of the Week while also winning the Golden Spikes Performance of the Week Award.
CAN'T BE STOPPED
Kemp Alderman is currently riding a 43-game on-base streak, a 13-game hitting streak, and has 18 hits in his last nine games. He has at least two hits in eight of his last nine games and has drawn a walk in three of his last four. He is ranked third in the SEC in total bases, fourth in hits, fifth in home runs, sixth in RBI, seventh in batting average, and ninth in slugging percentage. The outfielder leads the team in batting average (.377), slugging percentage (.733), hits (72), RBI (59), total bases (140), and home runs (19).
His on-base streak is tied for the fourth-longest active streak in Division I and is the second-longest active streak in the SEC. LSU's Dylan Crews has a streak of 51 games dating back to last season and FGCU's Brian Ellis has a NCAA-record 117 game streak going that dates back to 2021.
YOUNG GUNS
199 innings (48.4 percent) of Ole Miss' innings on the mound this season have been thrown by freshmen. Seven freshmen have pitched at least seven innings and five have pitched 25 or more innings. JT Quinn leads the newcomers with 50.2 innings worked, followed by Grayson Saunier who has pitched 42. Quinn, Saunier, and Jordan Vera have combined to start 26 of the Rebels' 48 games.
In total, 273 innings (66.4 percent) have been pitched by Rebels who were not on the roster in 2022.
CLUTCH UP
Jacob Gonzalez, Kemp Alderman, and Calvin Harris have been the best Rebel hitters with two outs in an inning. Gonzalez is hitting .449 (22-for-49) with two outs in an inning while Alderman is hitting .348 and Harris is hitting .310. Alderman leads the team in two-out RBI with 23 and the three of them have combined for 55 total two-out RBI.
CONTACT HIGH
Ethan Lege continues to be the hardest hitter to strikeout in the SEC. He has struck out just 15 times in his 161 at bats this season. The third baseman has only struck out more than once in a game one time this year (2/24 vs. Maryland) and only has seven strikeouts in SEC play.
APRIL SHOWERS
Kemp Alderman had an exceptional month of April, leading the SEC in total bases with 59. The junior was also ranked second in hits (31), fourth in doubles (7), fifth in home runs (7), sixth in RBI (21), and seventh in both batting average (.397) and slugging percentage (.756).
Jacob Gonzalez and Calvin Harris were both tied for the league-lead in doubles in April with eight apiece.
FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
Grayson Saunier was named SEC Freshman of the Week for week 11 by the conference office. The freshman made two starts against SEC opponents, starting against Mississippi State in the Governor's Cup and against Georgia in the series finale. He allowed just one earned run in both starts and gave up only five hits over 9.2 innings of work. He issued just two walks while striking out 10 hitters and holding opponents to a .147 batting average. Saunier's 10 strikeouts were tied for the most in the SEC during the week.
Against Georgia, the right-hander retired the first 10 batters he faced and 15 of the first 16. His six innings worked against were a career-high and his six strikeouts were the second-highest total in his career. It was also the first time in his career that he had not issued a walk in a start.
COMING HOME
Jacob Gonzalez has been climbing the Ole Miss all-time runs scored leaderboard this season, currently ranked fourth all-time with 184 runs scored in his career. Gonzalez is only 14 runs off the top spot with just two weeks left in the regular season. 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.
THROW 'EM THE CHAIR
Ole Miss pitching struck out 38 batters in their three-game series against No. 1 LSU. 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.
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. 12 prospect in the Oakland Athletics organization, Ryan Rolison is ranked as the No. 26 prospect in the Colorado Rockies organization, and Doug Nikhazy is ranked as the No. 29 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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