The University of Mississippi Athletics
Tuesday, May 14
Hattiesburg, Miss.
6 PM
Ole Miss
at
Southern Miss
Baseball Heads to Hattiesburg for Final Midweek Contest
5/13/2024 | Baseball
| Tuesday, May 14 6 p.m. CT  |
| PROJECTED STARTERS Ole Miss: RHP Grayson Saunier 4-3, 5.62 ERA, 30 K, 15 BB Southern Miss: LHP Kros Sivley 3-5, 3.96 ERA, 41 K, 8 BB |
OXFORD, Miss. – Hot off back-to-back series wins, Ole Miss (27-24, 11-16 SEC) heads south to Hattiesburg to take on No. 25 Southern Miss (34-17, 18-9 SBC) for its final midweek contest of the season.
LEADING OFF
- Ole Miss is coming off a series win over No. 2 Texas A&M last weekend, winning on both Friday and Saturday to clinch the series.
- Starting pitching was key in the series win with all three Rebel starters combining for 19 strikeouts and just four earned runs over 17 innings of work.
- Riley Maddox and Liam Doyle put together back-to-back quality starts, giving up two or less earned runs while each working six innings. Mason Nichols was one inning shy of what would have been three quality starts on the weekend.
- Freshman Wes Mendes made two outings against the Aggies, striking out eight over four innings and earning the win on Friday night.
- Overall, Rebel pitching limited one of the top offenses in the country to just 10 earned runs on the weekend, six of them coming on Sunday.
- Ole Miss has now won four SEC series and back-to-back SEC series in a season for the first time since 2022.
- Ole Miss pitching set a new single-game program record for strikeouts Wednesday night against Murray State, punching out 24 Racers.
- Andrew Fischer became the first Rebel to hit a home run in four consecutive games on Wednesday since Logan Power did so in 2007.
- Luke Hill is hitting .397 (23-58), with 12 runs scored, eight RBI, seven walks, and an OPS of .971 over his last 15 games.
- Jackson Ross leads the SEC and is sixth in the NCAA in walks with 52. His 52 walks the most by a Rebel in a single season since 2019 when Thomas Dillard set the program record with 61.
- Ole Miss is currently No. 2 in Strength of Schedule, having played one of the hardest schedules in the country.
- The Rebels are ranked 21st in the nation in strikeouts per nine, averaging 10.2 punchouts per game.
- Ole Miss is also 21st in the NCAA in walks drawn (284), averaging 5.57 per game.
GET US STARTED
In Ole Miss' series win over No. 2 Texas A&M, the starting pitching set the tone for the Rebels, keeping one of the best offenses in the country down. Riley Maddox, Liam Doyle, and Mason Nichols combined for 19 strikeouts and allowed just four earned runs on 13 hits over 17 innings of work. The three posted a 2.12 ERA over their three outings.
Maddox laid the ground in game one with his third quality start of the season, working six innings and allowing just two earned runs while striking out seven batters. Doyle earned the win in game two with a quality start of his own, working six innings and allowing just one earned run while also striking out seven.
Nichols worked five innings on Sunday, allowing just one earned run on three hits while striking out a career-high five batters.
CLIMBING THE HILL
Luke Hill has caught fire at the plate over the last month, hitting .397 (23-58) over his last 15 games. He has also scored 12 runs, driven in eight runs, drawn seven walks, and posted an OPS of .971 during that stretch. The sophomore has five multi-hit games and has scored at least once in five of eight games in the month of May.
GONE FISCHING
Andrew Fischer became the first Rebel since 2007 to hit a home run in four straight games last Wednesday night against Murray State. The last Rebel to accomplish the feat was Logan Power in 2007 (March 24 vs Alabama, March 25 vs Alabama, March 27 vs Southern Miss, and March 30 at Auburn).
Fischer has 19 total home runs on the season, matching Kemp Alderman's team-leading total from 2023. The sophomore has moved into the top-40 in the NCAA and is eighth in the SEC in total home runs.
Fischer's 19 home runs have him tied with Alderman for the third-most home runs in a single season in program history. The program record is 24 set by Tim Elko in 2022.
Ole Miss Single-Season Home Run Record
- Tim Elko, 2022 24
- Jason Huisman, 1998 21
- Brian Pettway, 2005 21
- Kemp Alderman, 2023 19
- Andrew Fischer, 2024 19
- Michael Rosamond, 1999 18
- Stephen Head, 2005 18
- David Dellucci, 1995 17
- Cody Overbeck, 2008 17
WALKING TALL
Jackson Ross' 52 walks this season are the most free passes by a Rebel since 2019 when Thomas Dillard set the program record with 61. Ross leads the SEC and is sixth in the NCAA in walks. He is currently averaging 1.02 free passes per game and has covered 4,680 feet in just walks.
Ole Miss Single-Season Walks Record
- Thomas Dillard, 2019 61
- Pat Ball, 1977 59
- Jordan Henry, 2009 56
- Burney Hutchinson, 2001 53
- Jackson Ross, 2024 52
- Jacob Gonzalez, 2022 50
- Thomas Dillard, 2018 49
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 98th 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 906 victories at Ole Miss and holds a 1,006-608 (.624) overall record for his career. His 906 wins at Ole Miss are the most in Rebel baseball history and rank third all-time among coaches in the SEC.
DOYLE RULES
Liam Doyle has struck out seven or more batters in six of his 10 starts this season. In each of those six starts, he has issued one or less walks 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.
STEALING YOUR HEART
The Rebels have stolen 49 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 15 bases in 2024, having not been caught yet. Luke Hill is 12-for-15 in stolen base attempts.
GETTING THEIR STEPS IN
Ole Miss is ranked 21st in the NCAA in walks with 284 free passes in 51 games. The Rebels are averaging 5.57 walks per game and are one of five teams from the SEC in the top-25 (South Carolina, Texas A&M, Georgia, Ole Miss, Mississippi State).
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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