The University of Mississippi Athletics
Tuesday, March 12
Monroe, La.
4 PM
Ole Miss
at
ULM
Baseball Makes Quick Trip South for Midweek at ULM
3/11/2024 | Baseball
| Tuesday, March 12 4 p.m. CT  |
| PROJECTED STARTERS Ole Miss: RHP Riley Maddox 1-1, 5.27 ERA, 13 K, 6 BB ULM: RHP Joey Cirelli 0-0, 7.11 ERA, 6 K, 4 BB |
OXFORD, Miss. – Ole Miss Baseball (12-5) takes their six-game winning streak on the road this week, traveling to Monroe, Louisiana for a midweek matchup against ULM (11-5).
LEADING OFF
- Ole Miss swept a three-game series against Morehead State last weekend, outscoring the Eagles 29-9.
- The Rebels are currently riding a six-game winning streak and have won 10 of their last 11 games.
- Ethan Lege hit .600 (9-for-15) with 10 RBI, six runs scored, three home runs, and an OPS of 1.847 over four games last week.
- Lege has at least one RBI in 10 of his last 11 games, has reached base in 12-straight games, and is on a five-game hitting streak.
- Ole Miss is second in the NCAA in walks drawn (137), averaging 8.06 per game. They are one of four SEC teams at the top of the category.
- Jackson Ross leads the SEC, and is second in the nation, in walks with 22, averaging 1.29 per game. He has reached base in 15-straight games.
- Ross is also second in the SEC and 22nd in the nation in on-base percentage at .570. The Rebels are top-25 in the NCAA with a .436 on-base percentage.
- Rebel pitching has posted double-digit strikeout numbers in nine of their last 11 games, striking out 50 batters last week alone.
- Ole Miss is eighth in the NCAA in total strikeouts and 13th in K/9, averaging 11.5 strikeouts per game.
- The pitching staff has allowed three or fewer earned runs in five of their last six games and has issued four or fewer walks in each of the last six games.
- Ole Miss will host No. 20 South Carolina this weekend for the first SEC weekend series of the season.
SCOUTING REPORT
Head coach Mike Federico enters his seventh season as the head coach of the ULM Warhawks. During the 2023 season, ULM finished 17-37. However, the Warhawks have started out their 2024 season on a tear as they enter Tuesday's matchup 11-5 and on a five game winning streak.
ULM currently holds a .314 batting average, ranking third in the Sun Belt Conference. The Warhawks have brought in 140 runs, 164 hits and 121 RBIs so far this season. Freshman outfield Easton Winfield leads for ULM with a .446 batting average, posting an impressive 25 hits, six home runs and 23 runs. Winfield ranks No. 25 in the nation and third in the conference in runs per game with 1.53.
On the mound, Joey Cirelli is projected to earn his first start of the season for Tuesday's game. Cirelli has pitched 6.1 innings and struck out six batters, holding opposing batters to a .280 batting average.
SWINGS AND MISSES
The Ole Miss pitching staff has been turning things up on the mound lately, posting double-digit strikeout numbers in nine of their last 11 games. Their 185 total strikeouts is the eighth-highest mark in the nation and they rank 13th in the nation in K/9, averaging 11.5 strikeouts per nine innings.
Connor Spencer boasts the highest strikeout average, converting nine of the 10 outs he has collected this season by way of the strikeout. Liam Doyle's eight punchouts in 3.1 innings last Saturday has pushed his total to 17 in 8.1 innings of work. Mason Nichols has struckout 14 batters in his 8.1 innings of work.
STAFF OUTING
Ole Miss has allowed three or less earned runs in five of its last six games and issued four or less walks in each of its last six. They have only allowed more than one home run in a game once this season and have played four-straight without allowing a long ball.
GETTING THEIR STEPS IN
Ole Miss has drawn the second-highest amount of walks in the nation with 137 free passes in 17 games. They trail only South Carolina, who comes travels to Oxford this weekend. The Rebels are averaging 8.06 walks per game and are one of four teams from the SEC at the top of the national leaderboard (South Carolina, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, and Georgia). Their 137 walks come out to 12,330 total feet or 2.34 miles of free bases.
Jackson Ross is tied for second in the NCAA and leads the SEC with 22 total walks himself. He is averaging 1.29 walks per game, also the most in the SEC. Luke Hill ranks fifth in the SEC with 16 walks.
During their series against High Point, the Rebels set a new single-game program record for walks with 19 in game three.
SACRIFICES MUST BE MADE
Ole Miss is tied with Florida State for second place in the NCAA in sacrifice flies with 17. Ethan Lege and Treyson Hughes lead the SEC with four apiece.
BOMB SQUAD
The Rebels hit 10 home runs in their three-game series against High Point, doing something that has only been done once before in the Mike Bianco Era. The last time an Ole Miss team hit 10 or more home runs in a three-game series was in 2020 against Princeton just before the season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to 2020, the feat had not been accomplished since 1998.
POWER CYCLE
In their 25-2 win over High Point, the Rebels accomplished the incredibly rare feat of completing the home run cycle in just the first inning. Ethan Groff led off the inning with a solo home run followed by a grand slam by Will Furniss. With one out in the inning, Reagan Burford hit a two-RBI home run and then Jackson Ross completed the cycle with a two-out, three-RBI shot five batters later.
RUNNING AWAY WITH IT
Ole Miss scored 25 runs against High Point in the series finale, falling just three runs short of the single-game record set in 1989. Their 25 runs were the most scored in one game since March 20, 2019 against Arkansas-Pine Bluff (W, 25-0). It was just the sixth time in the last six seasons that the Rebels have broken the 20-run mark in a game.
They scored 11 runs in just the first inning of play, the most in a single inning since April 26, 2018 against LSU. In total, 15 hitters came to the plate, seven had hits in the inning, five drew walks, and five drove in runs.
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Rebels by following Ole Miss baseball on X 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 X at @CoachMikeBianco.
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