Ole Miss skipper Mike Bianco
No. 20 Ole Miss Baseball (32-17, 12-12 SEC) hosts No. 9 Texas A&M (36-10, 15-8 SEC) for its final home series of the season. First pitch on Friday is set for 6:30 p.m. with Saturday at 4 p.m. and Sunday at 5 p.m.
LEADING OFF
- The Rebels took one game from Arkansas last weekend in Fayetteville, winning game two of the series.
- Ole Miss has now dropped five of their last six games after a stretch in April where they won 12 of 14 games.
- Collin Reuter hit .429 (6-for-14) with a grand slam, a double, and seven RBI last week against Mississippi State and Arkansas.
- Will Furniss is hitting .379 (11-for-29) with four home runs, eight RBI, eight runs scored, and an OPS of 1.307 over his last eight games.
- Austin Fawley has hit five home runs over his last six games, after hitting just four over his first 36.
- Ole Miss and Auburn are the only two teams in the SEC to have played or will play the four teams that currently occupy the top of the league standings.
- The Rebels come into this week ranked No. 20 by D1Baseball and No. 23 by both USA Today and the NCBWA.
- Cade Townsend is ranked fourth in the SEC in WHIP (0.96), fifth in ERA (2.42), fifth in strikeouts per nine innings (12.63), and fifth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.62).
- Walker Hooks has the third-lowest ERA (2.10) and the third-lowest WHIP (0.80) in SEC games only.
- Taylor Rabe has a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 6.67 in conference play, the second-highest amongst SEC pitchers.
- Judd Utermark and Tristan Bissetta have combined to hit 38 of Ole Miss’ 86 (44%) home runs this season.
- The Ole Miss pitching staff has struck out 540 batters, third-most in the SEC and sixth in the NCAA. Their K/9 of 11.4 is fourth in the SEC, their strikeout-to-walk ratio of 3.38 is fourth in the SEC and their ERA of 4.21 is sixth in the conference.
- Will Furniss played in his 200th game for Ole Miss in game one against Georgia, becoming just the 21st Rebel to reach that milestone.
Hunter Elliott
PROJECTED PITCHING MATCHUPS
Friday: LHP Hunter Elliott (4-2, 5.49 ERA) vs. LHP Ethan Darden (4-0, 2.88 ERA)
Saturday: RHP Cade Townsend (5-1, 2.42 ERA) vs. RHP Aiden Sims (8-1, 3.60 ERA)
Sunday: RHP Taylor Rabe (3-3, 4.17 ERA) vs. TBA
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Friday and Saturday’s games will be streamed live on SEC Network+ with Jake Hromada (PxP) and Keith Kessinger (analyst) on the call. Sunday’s game will be broadcast on SEC Network with Richard Cross (PxP) and Mike Rooney (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
Texas A&M head coach Michael Earley is in his second season with the program. In his tenure, he’s had two 30-plus wins each season, including a 36-10 mark entering this weekend’s slate. Earley’s Aggies are ranked second in the SEC with a 15-8 conference mark and have won five of the last six SEC series, which includes sweeps against LSU, Texas and Missouri.
One of Texas A&M’s leading factors this season has been its ability to get base on balls and hit home runs, ranking 11th and third nationally in the respective categories. Because of that, the Aggies have scored the eighth-most runs in the country this season with 422 for a 9.2 per-game average. Texas A&M’s pitching and defense is solid as well, holding the seventh-best strikeout-to-walk ratio in the nation at 3.23 and third-best fielding percentage in the conference.
Junior outfielder Caden Sorrell has headed the charge in Texas A&M’s power hitting this season. He’s hit 21 blasts to this point of the year, which ranks second in the SEC and top 10 nationally. He’s one of five Aggies with a .300-plus batting average. Gavin Grahovac paces the team in that department with a .362 average. Grahovac is also a capable power hitter with 17 home runs, 13 doubles and three triples. Jake Duer, Nico Partida and Bear Harrison are each above .300, with the latter two in double-digit home runs.
Ethan Darden and Aiden Sims are Friday and Saturday’s projected starters. Darden holds a 2.88 ERA and would be starting his first game as an Aggie. The senior lefty has been a staple of the bullpen, holding a 4-0 record with only eight earned runs in 25.0 innings of work. Sims has started 12 games this season for the Aggies and holds an impressive 8-1 record. He leads the team in strikeouts with 68 and innings pitched with 65.0.
SEC STANDINGS
| 1 | 5 Georgia | 18-6 | .750 | — | 38-11 | .776 | 28-7 | 10-3 | 0-1 | 12-7 | W6 |
| 2 | 9 Texas A&M | 15-8 | .652 | 2.5 | 36-10 | .783 | 25-5 | 9-4 | 2-1 | 7-8 | W2 |
| 3 | 4 Texas | 15-8 | .652 | 2.5 | 36-10 | .783 | 26-4 | 7-6 | 3-0 | 10-5 | W2 |
| 4 | 6 Auburn | 14-10 | .583 | 4 | 33-14 | .702 | 20-8 | 8-6 | 5-0 | 12-8 | W1 |
| 5 | 11 Mississippi State | 14-10 | .583 | 4 | 37-12 | .755 | 24-6 | 9-5 | 4-1 | 7-9 | W1 |
| 6 | 19 Alabama | 13-11 | .542 | 5 | 32-17 | .653 | 21-5 | 8-11 | 3-1 | 10-10 | L1 |
| 7 | 21 Florida | 13-11 | .542 | 5 | 32-17 | .653 | 20-12 | 11-5 | 1-0 | 14-6 | W3 |
| 8 | 17 Arkansas | 13-11 | .542 | 5 | 32-17 | .653 | 20-11 | 8-5 | 4-1 | 9-7 | W1 |
| 9 | 20 Ole Miss | 12-12 | .500 | 6 | 32-17 | .653 | 24-6 | 6-8 | 2-3 | 11-14 | L1 |
| 10 | 24 Oklahoma | 12-12 | .500 | 6 | 30-16 | .652 | 19-7 | 7-8 | 4-1 | 8-11 | L2 |
| 11 |  Kentucky | 11-13 | .458 | 7 | 29-16 | .644 | 19-6 | 10-10 | 0-0 | 3-3 | L1 |
| 12 |  Tennessee | 11-13 | .458 | 7 | 32-17 | .653 | 25-9 | 5-7 | 2-1 | 7-6 | W2 |
| 13 |  Vanderbilt | 10-14 | .417 | 8 | 28-22 | .560 | 23-8 | 4-9 | 1-5 | 8-14 | W1 |
| 14 |  LSU | 9-15 | .375 | 9 | 29-21 | .580 | 23-11 | 3-10 | 3-0 | 3-12 | W5 |
| 15 |  South Carolina | 7-17 | .292 | 11 | 22-27 | .449 | 18-14 | 4-11 | 0-2 | 3-16 | L5 |
| 16 |  Missouri | 4-20 | .167 | 14 | 21-26 | .447 | 12-13 | 3-12 | 6-1 | 4-17 | L3 |