The University of Mississippi Athletics
Friday, March 8
Oxford, Miss.
6:30 PM
Ole Miss
vs
Morehead State
Baseball Wraps Up Homestand With Series Against Morehead State
3/7/2024 | Baseball
| Friday, March 8 6:30 p.m. CT  |
Saturday, March 9 4 p.m. CT |
Sunday, March 10 1:30 p.m. CT |
| PROJECTED STARTERS Ole Miss: LHP Gunnar Dennis 2-0, 5.27 ERA, 17 K, 8 BB Morehead State: RHP Luke Helton 3-0, 2.95 ERA, 19 K, 3 BB |
PROJECTED STARTERS Ole Miss: LHP Liam Doyle 0-0, 3.60 ERA, 9 K, 2 BB Morehead State: RHP Grant Herron 1-0, 4.91 ERA, 18 K, 10 BB |
PROJECTED STARTERS Ole Miss: RHP Grayson Saunier 2-1, 3.55 ERA, 12 K, 7 BB Morehead State: RHP Callum McGill 1-0, 6.59 ERA, 16 K, 6 BB |
OXFORD, Miss. – Winners of seven of their last eight games, Ole Miss Baseball (9-5) hosts Morehead State (7-5) this weekend for a three-game set.
LEADING OFF
- Ole Miss took down Memphis earlier this week behind a dominate pitching performance from the staff.
- Riley Maddox pitched a career-high five innings while striking out a career-high six batters and earning his first win of the season.
- Brayden Jones, Austin Simmons, and Connor Spencer limited the Tigers to just one hit and one unearned run over the final four innings.
- Ole Miss leads the nation in walks (116), averaging 8.29 walks per game. It also leads the nation in sacrifice flies with 16.
- Jackson Ross leads the SEC, and is second in the nation, in walks with 18, averaging 1.29 per game.
- Ole Miss has scored 12 or more runs in five of its last eight games, outscoring opponents 93-37 during that stretch.
- Rebel pitching has allowed five or fewer earned runs in nine of their last 10 games and issued four or fewer walks in eight of their 13 games this season.
- Ole Miss ranks fourth in the SEC in total strikeouts and seventh in K/9. The bullpen has worked a 3.56 ERA over 14 games.
- The Rebels set a new program record for walks in a single game with 19 free passes on February 25 against High Point.
- Ole Miss will travel to ULM next Tuesday for a road midweek before hosting South Carolina for its first conference series of the season.
SCOUTING REPORT
Brady Ward is in his first season as head coach at Morehead State. Ward spent three seasons as pitching coach and recruiting coordinator. In his first three seasons Ward helped guide the Eagles to three straight 20+ win seasons.
Last season, the Eagles went 36-20 (16-7 OVC) and won their first Ohio Valley Conference regular season title since 1979. Morehead State is currently 7-5.
After an impressive junior season campaign, Colton Becker, shortstop, was named to the preseason Perfect Game All-OVC Team. The senior is batting .435 and has contributed 15 RBI to the books for the Eagles. Ryley Preece, reigning 2023 OVC player of the year, is batting .370 and has earned 15 RBI. The outfielder has also tallied seven home runs this season as well.
This will be the first meeting between Morehead State and Ole Miss since 1999. The Rebels have played Morehead State 19 times and hold a 15-4 lead in the all-time series.
HEATING UP
The Ole Miss pitching staff has been turning things up on the mound lately, posting double-digit strikeout numbers in seven of their last eight games. They have given up five or fewer earned runs in nine of their last 10 games and have allowed four or fewer walks in eight of their 14 total games this season.
The Ole Miss pitching staff ranks fourth in the SEC in total strikeouts with 150 and they are seventh in K/9, averaging 11.2 strikeouts per game. The bullpen has posted a 3.56 ERA over 68.1 innings worked this season.
GETTING THEIR STEPS IN
Ole Miss leads the entire NCAA in walks drawn at the plate with 116 free passes. It is now tied with South Carolina at the top and is one of four SEC teams in the top five in the nation. The Rebels are averaging 8.29 walks per game and have drawn double-digit walks in five of their 14 games this season. Their 116 walks come out to 10,440 total feet or 1.98 miles of free bases.
Over their last eight games, Ole Miss has drawn 88 total walks and drew 31 total in their three-game series against Iowa. In Friday's game against the Hawkeyes, the Rebels drew seven walks in just the eighth inning, including a stretch of five-consecutive. During their series against High Point, the Rebels set a new single-game program record for walks with 19 in game three.
Jackson Ross is tied for second in the NCAA and leads the SEC with 18 total walks himself. He is averaging 1.29 walks per game, also the most in the SEC.
SACRIFICES MUST BE MADE
Ole Miss leads the nation in sacrifice flies as well, tied atop the leaderboard with Samford and Nicholls at 16. They have two or more sacrifice flies in three of their last four games and only six total games this season in which they have not scored via a sacrifice fly.
Ethan Lege is tied for third in the NCAA and leads the SEC in sacrifice flies with four.
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.
WELCOME TO THE SHOW
Eight freshmen made their collegiate debut over the Rebels' opening weekend in Hawaii. Trenton Lyons, Drew Markle and Campbell Smithwick all tallied their first career hits at the plate. Seth Farni and Brayden Randle also saw action as pinch hitters for Ole Miss. On the mound, Patrick Galle, Wes Mendes and Austin Simmons combined for 4.1 innings without surrendering a hit. Mendes struck out four batters in 3.0 innings of work, picking up the save in Saturday's victory over the Rainbow Warriors. Simmons, a standout dual-sport athlete with the Ole Miss football team, pitched a perfect inning, striking out two of the three batters he faced.
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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