The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Texas A&M
Baseball Set to Host No. 2 Texas A&M for Final Home Series
5/9/2024 | Baseball
| Friday, May 10 7:30 p.m. CT  |
Saturday, May 11 4 p.m. CT  |
Sunday, May 12 5 p.m. CT |
| PROJECTED STARTERS Ole Miss: RHP Riley Maddox 3-6, 5.98 ERA, 35 K, 19 BB Texas A&M: LHP Ryan Prager 8-1, 2.67 ERA, 85 K, 11 BB |
PROJECTED STARTERS Ole Miss: LHP Liam Doyle 2-2, 5.82 ERA, 70 K, 20 BB Texas A&M: LHP Justin Lamkin 2-1, 4.74 ERA, 62 K, 16 BB |
PROJECTED STARTERS Ole Miss: RHP Mason Nichols 4-0, 3.77 ERA, 36 K, 16 BB Texas A&M: TBA 0-0, - ERA, - K, - BB |
OXFORD, Miss. – Ole Miss (25-23, 9-15 SEC) will play their final three regular season games at Swayze Field this weekend as No. 2 Texas A&M (41-8, 16-8 SEC) comes to town. The Rebels will honor six seniors on Saturday night and their senior Diamond Girls on Friday night.
LEADING OFF
- Ole Miss is coming off a 12-9, 15-inning loss to Murray State on Wednesday night.
- Ole Miss pitching set a new single-game program record for strikeouts in the loss, punching out 24 Racers.
- Andrew Fischer hit a home run Wednesday for his fourth long ball in his last four games. He became the first Rebel to accomplish that feat since Logan Power in 2007.
- Fischer is now hitting .365 (19-52) with 19 RBI, 13 runs scored, and six home runs over his last 13 games.
- Luke Hill is hitting .396 (19-48) with nine runs scored and five walks over his last 12 games.
- Last weekend the Rebels won their third SEC series win of the season, taking two of three games from Auburn on the road.
- The series win was Ole Miss' first road series win since May 14-16, 2022 when they swept LSU in Baton Rouge.
- Fischer hit a home run, drove in three or more runs, and scored at least one run in each game of the series.
- The sophomore drove in nearly half of the Rebels' runs over the weekend, plating 11 of the 25 runs they scored. His 11 RBI were the most in the SEC and his 18 total bases were the second-most in the league.
- Jackson Ross leads the SEC and is fourth 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 24th in the nation in strikeouts per nine, averaging 10.1 punchouts per game.
- Ole Miss is 17th in the NCAA in walks drawn (277), averaging 5.70 per game.
- Seniors Reagan Burford, Bo Gatlin, Ethan Groff, Ethan Lege, Mitch Murrell, and Jackson Ross will all be honored before Saturday's game.
SCOUTING REPORT
Jim Schlossnagle is in his third year as head coach at Texas A&M. Prior to taking over for the Aggies, Schlossnagle spent time at TCU and UNLV. Schlossnagle has found success in his first two seasons at Texas A&M, putting together an 82-47 overall record for the Aggies.
In 2023, the Aggies ended the year with a 38-27 overall record. The Aggies made a run in the SEC tournament playing six games, but ultimately fell to Vanderbilt, to end their time in Hoover. The Aggies turned around to play in the Stanford Regional and beat Cal State Fullerton in the first round, moved on to play Stanford but fell in the three-game series which inevitably ended their postseason run.
The Aggies are currently ranked No.2 in the country and boast a 41-8 overall record, and a 16-8 SEC record. The Aggies are coming off a midweek 16-3 win against Rice at Blue Bell Park in College Station.
Junior Braden Montgomery is currently ranked No. 9 in MLB's top 20 College Prospects for the 2024 draft. The Madison Mississippi native is on the 2024 Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List, and the 2024 Bobby Bragan National Collegiate Slugger Award Watch List. The outfielder has a .342 batting average, 76 RBI's, including 24 home runs.
The all-time series is deadlocked at 19 with just 38 all-time meetings between the two programs. Last season, the Aggies won two of three in Bryan-College Station.
FISCHING WITH DYNAMITE
Andrew Fischer became the first Rebel since 2007 to hit a home run in four straight games 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 is now hitting .365 (19-52) with 6 home runs, 19 RBI, and 13 runs scored over his last 13 games and has 19 total home runs on the season, matching Kemp Alderman's team-leading total from 2023. The sophomore has moved into the top-25 in the NCAA and is seventh 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 record is 24 set by Tim Elko in 2022.
Ole Miss Single-Season Home Run Record
1. Tim Elko, 2022 24
2. Jason Huisman, 1998 21
Brian Pettway, 2005 21
3. Kemp Alderman, 2023 19
Andrew Fischer, 2024 19
4. Michael Rosamond, 1999 18
Stephen Head, 2005 18
5. 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 fourth in the NCAA in walks. He is currently averaging 1.08 free passes per game and has covered 4,680 feet in just walks.
Ole Miss Single-Season Walks Record
1. Thomas Dillard, 2019 61
2. Pat Ball, 1977 59
3. Jordan Henry, 2009 56
4. Burney Hutchinson, 2001 53
5. Jackson Ross, 2024 52
6. Jacob Gonzalez, 2022 50
7. 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 904 victories at Ole Miss and holds a 1,004-607 (.624) overall record for his career. His 904 wins at Ole Miss are the most in Rebel baseball history and rank third all-time among coaches in the SEC.
CHANGE OF SCENERY
Since moving to second base three weeks ago, Luke Hill has made just two errors and has seen his batting average start to rise. In 16 games on the right side, Hill is hitting .321 (17-for-53) with 13 runs scored. The sophomore has at least one hit in 11 of his last 12 games and is on a three-game multi-hit streak.
In 30 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 nine 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.
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 17th in the NCAA in walks with 277 free passes in 48 games. The Rebels are averaging 5.70 walks per game and are one of four teams from the SEC in the top-20 (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.
