Ole Miss comes into its second weekend of conference play looking to get answers to a multitude of questions. Will Cade Townsend be available? Can the offense find consistency? Who will step up out of the bullpen.
The Rebels hope that most of these inquiries will be resolved as they host Kentucky to open SEC play at Swayze Field this weekend.
The starting lineup on the mound is set for two of the three games for the Rebels, with ace Hunter Elliott getting the start on Thursday and Wil Libbert starting one of the other days. The question mark in the lineup depends on the availability of standout sophomore Cade Townsend, who is day-to-day after being diagnosed with shoulder inflammation following a brief outing against Texas where he left in the top of the second.
“To this point, we don’t know what his availability will be,” said coach Mike Bianco after the Rebels beat Austin Peay on Tuesday night. “But, he felt really good today.”
Who Are The Wildcats?
Kentucky rolls into Oxford with an 18-2 record and a 3-0 SEC mark, after a conference opening sweep of Alabama. The Wildcats hold a No. 15 national ranking, and are currently riding a 13-game win streak. Nick Mingione’s club was picked to finish 11th in the SEC preseason poll but is playing like a top-10 team thanks to veteran experience, smart transfers, and pitching that’s limiting damage.
Jaxon Jelkin will start on the mound for the Wildcats Thursday night, Jelkin is a junior righty who is a year removed from having Tommy John surgery. He has been solid all season for Kentucky, starting five games and picking up four wins with a 3.38 ERA and a better than 6 to 1 K/BB ratio.
Ben Cleaver will start on Friday, the junior southpaw has an impressive 1.84 ERA through five starts and is 1-0 on the season. Sophomore right hander Nate Harris will start the final game on Saturday, he owns a 4-1 record with a 4.03 ERA.
Tyler Bell, a preseason All-America and All-SEC selection at shortstop, will play a large part in the Wildcat offense. Although he has been limited to just six games this season due to injuries, Bell has provided a spark when healthy owning a .474 batting average in his limited playing time.
As a team Kentucky is hitting .306 with a .419 on-base percentage, both of which are ninth in the league. Their pitching staff is among the most conservative in the SEC with a 3.56 ERA, which is good for the number six spot.
A Look At The Rebels
The Rebels have struggled with situational hitting this season, which was glaring in both losses to Texas last weekend. In the two losses, the Rebels were a measly 3-39 with runners on base and it hasn’t gone unnoticed.
“We’ve got to continue to make some improvements with our at bats,” said Bianco.
The Rebel sluggers have looked good at times this season, with a two home run performance on Tuesday night Tristan Bissetta overtook Judd Utermark for the team lead in homers; Bissetta currently sits at eleven to Judd’s ten. Utermark is chasing the Ole Miss career mark for homers, currently sitting in sixth place and needing just ten more to have sole possession of the record.
The Ole Miss pitching staff has performed well, currently possessing the seventh best ERA in the league and the second most number of strikeouts. Hunter Elliott has the tenth most strikeouts in the SEC with ten and Cade Townsend is sitting at fifth in league with a 0.92 ERA.
The Rebels success this weekend will depend heavily on the ability of the offense to generate runs when it has runners aboard and on the ability for the bullpen to keep the Kentucky offense out of rhythm late in games.
Game Time
The series at Oxford-University Stadium is scheduled for Thursday-Saturday this week. First pitch times and broadcast schedules are as follows:
- Thursday – 7 PM/SEC Network
- Friday – 6:30 PM/SEC Network+
- Saturday – 1:30 PM/SEC Network+
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