Baseball Heads to Pearl for Annual Governor’s Cup Matchup

Wednesday, May 1
6:30 p.m. CT

PROJECTED STARTERS
Ole Miss: RHP Grayson Saunier
4-3, 6.54 ERA, 23 K, 11 BB
Mississippi State: LHP Pico Kohn
1-0, 4.50 ERA, 11 K, 5 BB

OXFORD, Miss. – Ole Miss (23-20, 7-14 SEC) and No. 16 Mississippi State (29-15, 12-9 SEC) will play their annual Governor's Cup game on Wednesday May 1 at Trustmark Park. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2 and has been pushed back to 6:30 p.m. CT.

LEADING OFF

Ole Miss took one of three last weekend against No. 18 Alabama at home.
The Rebels took game two behind a 4-for-5 day from Will Furniss and a 3-for-4 day from Luke Hill.
Furniss is now hitting .368 with three home runs and 10 RBI over his last 11 games.
Luke Hill is riding a seven-game hitting streak during which he is hitting .407 with 5 RBI.
Ole Miss is currently No. 3 in Strength of Schedule, having played one of the hardest schedules in the country.
The Rebels are ranked 24^th in the nation in strikeouts per nine, averaging 10.2 punchouts per game.
Ole Miss is 21^st in the NCAA in walks drawn (248), averaging 5.77 per game.
The Rebels lead the SEC in sacrifice flies with 28.
Jackson Ross' 43 walks this season are the second-most in a single-season over the last four seasons, behind only Jacob Gonzalez's 50 in 2022.
Ethan Lege is the fourth-hardest hitter to strike out in the SEC, striking out just 15 times in 153 at bats.
Connor Spencer has six saves this season, second-most in the SEC.

SCOUTING REPORT
Chris Lemonis is in his sixth year as head coach for Mississippi State. In the Lemonis era, the Bulldogs captured their first national championship in 2021. Lemonis is the first Division I head coach to reach the College World Series in his first two full seasons as head coach of a program in the Super Regional era (since 1999).
In the 2023 season, Mississippi State had an overall record of 27-26 and 9-21 in SEC play. As for this season, the Bulldogs are 29-15 overall and 12-9 in conference play. MSU is coming off a 2-1 series win against Vanderbilt and is currently ranked No. 16 according to the DI Baseball Rankings.
In Mississippi State's lineup, Dakota Jordan, outfielder, is making noise, batting .362, earning 55 RBIs and 45 runs. The Canton, Mississippi, native boasts 16 home runs on the books as well. Contributing on the mound for the Bulldogs, is RHP, Khal Stephen. The junior has a 2.77 ERA through 65 innings pitched and has 73 recorded strikeouts for Mississippi State.
The in-state rivals have met 475 times with MSU holding a 256-216 advantage in the series. The foes last squared off earlier in the 2024 season at Swayze Field, where Ole Miss walked away with the 2-1 series win.
1,000 WINS AND COUNTING
Ole Miss head baseball coach Mike Bianco became one of only 21 active NCAA DI coaches with 1,000 career wins on April 20, 2024 as the Rebels defeated Georgia in game two of a doubleheader in Athens. He is also now the 98^th head coach in NCAA history to reach the mark.

On his road to 1,000 wins, Bianco has delivered 18 postseason appearances, including eight Super Regional berths, a pair of trips to the College World Series, and the first national championship in program history. He has racked up 902 victories at Ole Miss and holds a 1,002-605 (.624) overall record for his career. His 902 wins at Ole Miss are the most in Rebel baseball history and rank third all-time among coaches in the SEC.

WALKING TALL
Jackson Ross' 43 walks this season are the second-most in a single-season over the last four seasons. He trails only Jacob Gonzalez's 50 total walks in 2022. Gonzalez led the team in walks each of the last three seasons with 35 in 2023, 50 in 2022, and 38 in 2021.

The program record for walks in a single season was set by Thomas Dillard in 2019 when he had 61.

Ross is second in the SEC, trailing only Texas A&M's Braden Montgomery, and 13^th in the NCAA in walks. He is currently averaging one free pass per game.

CHANGE OF SCENERY
Since moving to second base three weeks ago, Luke Hill has not made an error and has seen his batting average start to rise. In 12 games on the right side, Hill is hitting .319 (15-for-47) with nine runs scored, five RBI, and a home run. The sophomore is currently riding a seven-game hitting streak during which he is hitting .407 (11-for-27).

In 29 games at shortstop, Hill was hitting .250 with five errors and just 15 RBI.

DOYLE RULES
Liam Doyle has struck out eight or more batters in five of his eight starts this season. In each of those five starts, he has only issued one walk and worked through 4+ innings.

Doyle struck out 10 batters in each of his first two SEC starts, becoming the first Rebel since Dylan DeLucia in 2022 to post multiple double-digit strikeout games in a season. He is also the first Rebel since Doug Nikhazy in 2021 to have double-digit strikeouts in consecutive outings.

GUN DAY: RELOADED
Gunnar Dennis has allowed just three earned runs over his last four appearances, working 9.2 innings with 11 strikeouts and five walks. On April 20 against Georgia, he made his first start since March 31, working 4.1 innings and allowing one unearned run on four strikeouts.

In his previous four outings, the left-hander had allowed 20 earned runs and five walks over 9.2 innings of work.

STEALING YOUR HEART
The Rebels have stolen 45 bases so far this season, surpassing their entire season total from both 2023 and 2022. Since setting a new single-season program record in 2019 (93), Ole Miss had not stolen more than 44 bases in a season. They are currently averaging 1.05 stolen bases per game.

Ethan Groff has stolen 14 bases in 2024, having not been caught yet. Luke Hill is 11-for-12 in stolen base attempts.

CAPTAIN CLUTCH
Ethan Lege has been the Rebels' most clutch hitter, hitting .420 (21-for-50) with two outs in an inning. He has 18 two-out RBI, is hitting .297 with runners in scoring position, and is 8-for-13 when hitting with a runner on third base and less than two outs.

GETTING THEIR STEPS IN
Ole Miss has drawn the 21^st-highest number of walks in the nation with 248 free passes in 43 games. The Rebels are averaging 5.77 walks per game and are one of four teams from the SEC in the top-25 (South Carolina, Texas A&M, Georgia, Ole Miss).

During their series against High Point, the Rebels set a new single-game program record for walks with 19 in game three.

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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Players Mentioned

Gunnar Dennis

Liam Doyle

Will Furniss

Jacob Gonzalez

Ethan Groff

Luke Hill

Ethan Lege

Doug Nikhazy

Jackson Ross

Grayson Saunier

Connor Spencer

The University of Mississippi Athletics