The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Auburn
SEC West Showdown Against Auburn Up Next for Baseball
5/2/2024 | Baseball
| Friday, May 3 6 p.m. CT  |
Saturday, May 4 7 p.m. CT  |
Sunday, May 5 3 p.m. CT |
| PROJECTED STARTERS Ole Miss: RHP Riley Maddox 2-6, 6.42 ERA, 32 K, 17 BB Auburn: RHP Dylan Watts 0-2, 5.13 ERA, 29 K, 3 BB |
PROJECTED STARTERS Ole Miss: LHP Liam Doyle 2-2, 5.90 ERA, 65 K, 17 BB Auburn: LHP Tanner Bauman 2-2, 4.72 ERA, 32 K, 12 BB |
PROJECTED STARTERS Ole Miss: RHP Mason Nichols 4-0, 3.14 ERA, 33 K, 15 BB Auburn: LHP Carson Myers 2-3, 4.22 ERA, 30 K, 20 BB |
OXFORD, Miss. – Ole Miss (23-21, 7-14 SEC) heads to Alabama this weekend for a three-game set against Auburn (21-22, 3-18 SEC) at Plainsman Park.
LEADING OFF
- Ole Miss fell to No. 16 Mississippi State in the Governor's Cup game Wednesday night 5-1.
- Furniss is now hitting .333 with three home runs and 10 RBI over his last 12 games.
- Luke Hill is hitting .367 with 5 RBI over his last eight games.
- Ole Miss is currently No. 3 in Strength of Schedule, having played one of the hardest schedules in the country.
- The Rebels are ranked 28th in the nation in strikeouts per nine, averaging 10.1 punchouts per game.
- Ole Miss is 22nd in the NCAA in walks drawn (253), averaging 5.77 per game.
- The Rebels lead the SEC in sacrifice flies with 28.
- Jackson Ross' 45 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
Butch Thompson is in his ninth season as head coach for the Auburn Tigers. Before taking over the reins for the Tigers, Thompson spent three seasons as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Auburn from 2006-08 and returned to the Plains after seven seasons at Mississippi State as both associate head coach and pitching coach.
Auburn concluded the 2023 season with an overall record of 34-23-1 (17-13 SEC). The Tigers made a run at the 2023 SEC Championship securing a win over Mizzou but fell to Vanderbilt and Alabama which ended their time in Hoover. Auburn went on to host a Regional but fell to Pennsylvania and Southern Mississippi which ended their postseason run.
Contributing to the Tigers' batting lineup is Cooper McMurray who has a .329 batting average and 49 RBIs. The redshirt junior leads Auburn in home runs as well with 12. John Armstron adds to the Tiger defense on the mound with a 3.54 ERA, through 28.0 innings pitched. The RHP adds 36 strikeouts to the books as well.
Ole Miss and Auburn have met 191 times with the Rebels leading 98-92 in the series. The Tigers closed the gap with a sweep in Oxford last season.
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 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' 45 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 leads the SEC and is ninth in the NCAA in walks. He is currently averaging 1.02 free passes 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 four earned runs over his last five appearances, working 10.2 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 46 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 is ranked 22nd in the NCAA in walks with 253 free passes in 44 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.
