No. 25 Baseball Heads to Knoxville for Road Series Against Tennessee

OXFORD, Miss. – No. 25 Ole Miss Baseball (27-11, 8-7 SEC) takes their six-game winning streak on the road to Knoxville, Tennessee this weekend for a three-game set against Tennessee (25-12, 7-8 SEC). First pitch on Friday is set for 5:30 p.m. CT/6:30 p.m. ET with Saturday starting at 5 p.m. CT/6 p.m. ET and Sunday's finale beginning at noon CT/1 p.m. ET.

LEADING OFF

Ole Miss is currently on a six-game winning streak and have won eight of their last nine games after defeating No. 22 Southern Miss in Pearl on Tuesday.
Tristan Bissetta went 4-for-5 with two doubles, a home run, two RBI, and three runs scored in the win over the Golden Eagles.
The Rebels scored 26 runs and had 32 hits in their sweep of LSU last weekend, both the most in any SEC series this season.
For the second straight series, Walker Hooks walked away with a win and a save, working four innings against the Tigers and allowing just one baserunner while striking out five batters.
Taylor Rabe took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning on Sunday, working his first-career quality start.
Over his last nine games, Hayden Federico has hit .571 (12-for-21) with eight walks, three HBPs, six RBI, and four runs scored.
Over his last seven games, Owen Paino is hitting .368 (7-for-19) with two home runs, three doubles, eight RBI, eight runs scored, and eight walks.
Judd Utermark and Tristan Bissetta have combined to hit 29 of Ole Miss' 58 (50%) home runs this season.
Cade Townsend has issued just one walk over his last three starts and has now struck out at least six batters in all but one of his starts.
Walker Hooks has earned three wins, two saves, and pitched to a 1.06 ERA over his last seven appearances.
Dom Decker leads the SEC in walks with 38 on the season. He is averaging one walks per game, second-best in the conference.
Hunter Elliott is ranked fifth in the SEC in strikeouts with 68 punchouts on the season. His K/9 sits at 13.21 which is the third-best rate in the SEC.
The Ole Miss pitching staff has struck out 432 batters, second-most in the SEC and fifth in the NCAA. Their K/9 of 11.8 is the second-highest in the SEC and their ERA of 3.70 is the fourth-lowest in the conference.

PROJECTED PITCHING MATCHUPS
Friday: LHP Hunter Elliott (3-1, 3.69 ERA) vs. RHP Landon Mack (3-2, 3.75 ERA)
Saturday: RHP Cade Townsend (3-1, 2.02 ERA) vs. RHP Tegan Kuhns (2-3, 3.77 ERA)
Sunday: RHP Taylor Rabe (3-1, 3.16 ERA) vs. LHP Evan Blanco (3-2, 3.67 ERA)

BROADCAST INFORMATION
All three games this weekend will be streamed live on SEC Network+ with Myan Patel (PxP) and Cody Hawn (analyst) on the call.

Fans can listen to all Ole Miss Baseball games, home and away, on the Ole Miss Radio Network with David Kellum (PxP) and Brad Henderson (analyst) on the call.

SCOUTING REPORT
First-year head coach Josh Elander has led Tennessee's baseball team to a 25-12 overall record, which includes a 7-8 tally in SEC play. He's spent the past eight seasons leading up to his inaugural season as Tennessee's skipper with the program, including the last three as the associate head coach and recruiting coordinator for the Volunteers. During his eight seasons on staff, the Volunteers have made six NCAA Tournament appearances and won their first national championship in 2024.

Like Ole Miss, Tennessee is gaining momentum at the midway portion of the year. Tennessee is coming off its first SEC sweep of the season, knocking down No. 9 Mississippi State, 6-5, 6-2 and 7-2. It won its midweek match in run-rule fashion over UNC Asheville, 11-1.

The Volunteers are one of the top defensive squads in the country. They pace the conference in fielding percentage with a .984 success rate, which ranks sixth in the nation. Much of this achievement is from Tennessee's strong pitching staff, which holds the NCAA's second-best strikeout-to-walk ratio at 3.66. The Volunteers also excel at limiting walks, giving only 2.91 free bases per nine innings.

Tennessee's projected starters are sophomore righties Landon Mack and Tegan Kuhns on Friday and Saturday, with senior lefty Evan Blanco on Sunday. Kuhns and Blanco are coming off quality starts against Mississippi State, striking out 13 combined hitters in Tennessee's more deciding victories. All three starters maintain ERAs under four, have allowed roughly the same amount of earned runs and home runs. Blanco has given up the fewest hits with 36 this season, Mack leads the team in strikeouts with 64, and Kuhns has allowed only nine walks.

Henry Ford has been Tennessee's best hitter so far this season, recording 44 knocks and a team-leading 11 homers. He paces the team in RBI (34) and hits (44) as well. Blaine Brown is another power hitter with nine on the season, while Manny Marin is the only Volunteer batting north of .300 entering this weekend's series, hitting .311. Of Tennessee's 18 players with an at-bat this season, 15 have one hit outside the park as the team has 57 total this season.

RICO SUAVE
Over his last nine games, Hayden Federico has hit .571 (12-for-21) with eight walks, three HBPs, six RBI, and four runs scored. He has struck out just once and posted an OPS of 1.316 during that stretch. The sophomore switch hitter has raised his batting average 69 points to .282 and is currently hitting .550 in the month of April.

HIGH QUALITY
For the first time since 2019, all three Rebel starting pitchers in a series put together quality starts last weekend against LSU. All three had very similar lines, working six innings, allowing two runs, and just one walk each.

Hunter Elliott worked six innings and allowed eight hits and two earned runs on Friday night. He struck out eight batters and issued just one walk. It was his second quality start of the season.

Cade Townsend worked six innings and allowed six hits and two earned runs on Saturday. He also struck out eight batters and issued just one walk. It was his second consecutive quality start of the season.

Taylor Rabe took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning on Sunday but did not record an out in the seventh giving him six innings with two earned runs. He struck out five batters while also issuing just one walk in what was the first quality start of his career.

HOOK 'EM
Walker Hooks has earned three wins, two saves, and pitched to a 1.06 ERA over his last seven appearances out of the bullpen. He has struck out 21 batters and walked just two over 17 innings of work.

Hooks has allowed more than one earned run just twice this season over 13 appearances. He is tied with Landon Waters for the most appearances on the team.

KING OF NEW YORK
Since March 31, Owen Paino has appeared in seven of the Ole Miss' nine games, getting starts at either DH or shortstop in six of them. During that time, the sophomore is hitting .368 (7-for-19) with an OPS of 1.398. He has hit two home runs, three doubles, driven in eight runs, and scored eight times with eight walks and a stolen base.

CAPTAIN CLUTCH
Brayden Randle has had six game-winning or game-tying hits this season that have set up Ole Miss for wins down the line. Three of them have come in conference games in the month of April.

It started on February 17 against Arkansas State with a walk-off sacrifice fly to beat the Red Wolves 7-6. His next came on February 22 against Missouri State when he hit a game-winning RBI single in the eighth inning as Ole Miss defeated the Bears 3-2. On March 4 against North Alabama, Randle broke a 4-4 tie in the sixth inning with an RBI single to set up an 8-5 win over the Lions.

Following Judd Utermark's game-tying home run on April 4 against Florida, Randle broke the 2-2 tie in the ninth inning with a sacrifice fly to give Ole Miss a lead they would not relinquish.
He had two more clutch hits in the sweep over LSU, tying the game on April 11 with a single in the fourth inning and driving in the game-winning run on April 12 with a single that completed the sweep.

CHANGE OF SCENERY
Transfer senior Tristan Bissetta was named to the Golden Spikes Midseason Watch List recently. He comes into the week ranked second in the SEC in home runs (16), fourth in total bases (104), sixth in RBI (42), sixth in slugging percentage (.738), ninth in RBI per game (1.11).

The senior transfer leads the team in most offensive categories including batting average, slugging percentage, hits, RBI, home runs, and total bases. He has already set career highs in home runs, RBI, and total bases.

Bissetta has four multi-homer games already under his belt, coming against Jackson State, Baylor, Austin Peay, and Kentucky. He had just one in his entire career before coming to Ole Miss.

He became the fastest Rebel to hit 13 home runs in a season, hitting his 13th home run on March 19, just 23 games into the year.

On February 18 against Jackson State, Bissetta hit two home runs in the third inning, becoming the first Rebel to accomplish the feat in almost a decade. Nick Fortes was the last Rebel to hit two home runs in the same inning, doing so in 2017 against ULM.

MOVING ON UP
With eight strikeouts on Friday against LSU, Hunter Elliott moved into third place on the Ole Miss career strikeouts list. He passed Jeff Calhoun and Mark Holliman and looks to become just the third pitcher in program history to reach the 300-strikeout mark.

Ole Miss Career Strikeout List
1. Drew Pomeranz                                          344
2. Lance Lynn                                                  332
3. Hunter Elliott                                              284
4. Jeff Calhoun                                                282
5. Mark Holliman                                            281
6. Doug Nikhazy                                              259
7. Scott Bittle                                                  257
8. Brett Bukvich                                              245

CLIMBING THE CHARTS
After homering on Saturday against Florida, Judd Utermark now sits at 42 career home runs which is six shy of the Ole Miss all-time record. He most recently passed Matt Smith and Matt Snyder to move into sole possession of third place.

Utermark is just the seventh Rebel to hit 40 home runs in their career.

Ole Miss Career Home Run List
1. Kyle Gordon                                                48
2. Tim Elko                                                      46
3. Judd Utermark                                           42
4. Matt Smith & Matt Snyder 41
5. Brad Henderson & Jacob Gonzalez            40
6. Kevin Graham                                             38
7. Burney Hutchinson & Stephen Head          37
8. David Dellucci & Michael Rosamond          36

WORLD BASEBALL REBS
Ole Miss had two representatives in the recently completed World Baseball Classic, Dylan DeLucia and Josh Mallitz.

DeLucia pitched for Team Italy, making two appearances including a start against Great Britain. Over two outings for the Italians, DeLucia worked 7.2 innings with eight strikeouts and a 2.35 ERA. In the quarterfinals against Puerto Rico, DeLucia worked four scoreless innings and earned a hold for his efforts.

Mallitz made two appearances for Team Israel allowing just two baserunners over two innings of work.

WELCOME TO THE SHOW
Brett Moseley and Tate Sirmans each launched a home run for their first collegiate hit Opening Weekend against Nevada. Moseley hit a pinch-hit, two-RBI home run in the eighth inning of game one and Sirmans hit a solo shot in the fourth inning of game two. It was also Sirmans' first career start.

Moseley and Sirmans join a decent sized list of Rebels who hit a home run for their first career hit. Will Furniss and Judd Utermark each hit a pinch-hit home run for their first hits in 2023 when they were freshmen. Austin Fawley also hit a home run for his first career hit as a redshirt freshman at Kentucky in 2024.

BIG GAME HUNTER
Hunter Elliott returns to the Ole Miss rotation as the most experienced pitcher on the staff. He turned in one of the best seasons in Rebel history last year, becoming just the fifth pitcher to record a 10-win, 100-strikeout season finishing with a 10-3 record and 102 punchouts. He also became just the fourth pitcher in program history to record 100+ strikeouts in two different seasons. His 2.94 ERA was the lowest by a Rebel starting pitcher since his freshman season when he finished with an ERA of 2.70.

Elliott is the only returning pitcher in the country to have earned 10+ wins and struck out 100+ hitters in 2025.

BRING THE BOOM
The Ole Miss offense set a new program record for home runs in a season in 2025, crushing 124 home runs. It was just the second time in program history that an Ole Miss team has cracked the 100-home run mark.

The Rebels finished fifth nationally in total home runs, ninth nationally in home runs per game (1.94), and 13^th nationally in walks drawn (345). They were one of just four programs in the country to have two 20+ home run hitters and one of six programs to finish with 100+ home runs, 100+ doubles, and 100+ hit by pitches.

There are only 16 returning players who hit 20 or more home runs in 2025 and three of them will be in Ole Miss' Opening Day lineup: Judd Utermark, Austin Fawley, and Daniel Pacella.

BASH BROS
Judd Utermark and Austin Fawley both broke the 20-home run mark in 2025, becoming the first pair of Rebel teammates in program history to each hit 20+ home runs in a single season.

Utermark finished with 22 home runs, the second-most by a Rebel in a single season, just two shy of the program record of 24 set by Tim Elko in 2022.

The 2025 Rebels finished with three hitters with 15+ home runs for the first time in program history and six hitters with 10+ home runs, also for the first time in program history.

IMPROVEMENT ON THE MOUND
In the first season under pitching coach Joel Mangrum, the Ole Miss pitching staff finished sixth nationally in total strikeouts. They struck out 669 hitters, 127 more than their total from 2024, which was the largest increase in the country.

The staff also finished 12^th nationally in strikeouts per nine innings, averaging 10.8 strikeouts per game.

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Players Mentioned

Tristan Bissetta

Dom Decker

Hunter Elliott

Austin Fawley

Hayden Federico

Will Furniss

Walker Hooks

Brett Moseley

Daniel Pacella

Owen Paino

Taylor Rabe

Brayden Randle

Tate Sirmans

Cade Townsend

Judd Utermark

Landon Waters

The University of Mississippi Athletics