No. 17 Ole Miss Baseball (36-20, 15-15 SEC) will open play at the SEC Tournament Tuesday morning against Missouri (23-30, 6-24 SEC) in Hoover, Alabama. First pitch is set for 9:30 a.m. on SEC Network.
LEADING OFF
- Ole Miss comes into the tournament as the No. 9 seed after finishing 15-15 in conference play.
- The Rebels finished the regular season with a RPI of 15 and the third-toughest schedule in the country.
- They have 11 Quad 1 wins (ninth-most in the NCAA) and have played 28 total games against Quad 1 opponents (third-most in the NCAA).
- Ole Miss and Auburn are the only two teams in the SEC to have played series against all of the top five teams in the conference standings.
- Five different Rebels earned All-SEC honors for the first time since 2021.
- Walker Hooks was named to the First Team as one of three relief pitchers. Will Furniss, Cade Townsend, and Judd Utermark were all three named to the Second Team at their respective positions. Hunter Elliott was named to the All-Defensive Team as the only pitcher.
- Taylor Rabe has struck out 27 batters over his last two starts, 14 against Texas A&M and 13 against Alabama.
- Rabe is the first Rebel since Liam Doyle in 2024 with back-to-back 10+ strikeout outings. His 27 total strikeouts are the most over two starts since Gunnar Hoglund in 2021.
- Rabe leads the SEC in strikeout-to-walk ratio, striking out 10.12 batters for every walk issued. He has issued just eight walks all season.
- Austin Fawley is hitting .441 (15-for-34) with six home runs, 13 RBI, and an OPS of 1.471 in the month of May.
- Fawley has hit eight home runs over his last 13 games, after hitting just four over his first 36. 10 of his 12 home runs came in SEC play.
- Utermark is hitting .351 (13-for-37) with three home runs, eight RBI, and 10 runs scored in the month of May.
- Utermark, Fawley, and Tristan Bissetta have combined to hit 50 of Ole Miss’ 92 (54%) home runs this season.
- The Ole Miss pitching staff is one of seven staffs in the entire country to have over 600 strikeouts, racking up 627 punchouts this season. Their strikeouts per nine innings of 11.7 and their strikeout per walk ratio of 3.52 are both ranked third in the NCAA.Â
PROJECTED PITCHING MATCHUP
LHP Wil Libbert (2-2, 6.97 ERA) vs. RHP Josh McDevitt (3-5, 4.03 ERA)
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Tuesday’s game will be broadcast on SEC Network.
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
Missouri head coach Kerrick Jackson is in his third season guiding the Tigers program. He previously had a five-year stint as an assistant coach for the team from 2011-15. As Southern’s head coach in 2019, he was named the SWAC Coach of the Year. With the Tigers, he’s accumulated a 62-101 record.
The Tigers are 23-30 entering the SEC Tournament, holding the 16th seed. Freshman infielder Blaize Ward has been a bright spot for this Tiger team, holding the second-best batting average on the team at .303. He’s contacted on 44 hits this season, knocking four out of the park. Jase Woita is arguably Missouri’s best offensive weapon despite a sub-.300 average. He’s hit 12 home runs on 54 hits this season and has scored 41 runs. Kam Durnin is Missouri’s best statistical hitter, averaging .316 at the plate.
Missouri hasn’t participated in a midweek game since April 21 against SIU Edwardsville. Dane Bjorn started in that game, working three scoreless innings with three strikeouts. Jackson Sobel, PJ Green and Luke Sullivan have also earned midweek starts and are potential starters for the round one matchup.