The Super Regional between Ole Miss and Auburn begins tonight at Plainsman Park in Auburn, Ala.
HOW TO WATCH
Friday’s game will be broadcast live on ESPN2 with Tom Hart (PxP) and Todd Walker (analyst) on the call. Saturday’s game will be broadcast live on ESPN with the same crew. Friday’s game is set for 7 p.m. CT, while Saturday’s game starts at 4 p.m. CT. If needed, Sunday’s game time start has yet to be announced.
TONIGHT’S EXPECTED PITCHING MATCHUP
LHP Hunter Elliott (5-3, 5.21 ERA) vs. RHP Andreas Alvarez (10-3, 3.52 ERA)
SCOUTING THE SUPER REGIONAL
OLE MISS
- Ole Miss enters the super regional with a 39-21 overall
record and went 15-15 in SEC play. The Rebels swept through
the Lincoln Regional, defeating Arizona State in extra
innings by one run twice and also defeating host Nebraska. - Offensively, the Rebels are hitting .265 as a team with
411 runs scored on 519 hits, including 86 doubles and 103
home runs. Two players in Tristan Bissetta (22) and Judd
Utermark (21) have 20+ home runs. - On the mound, Ole Miss has turned in a 4.40 staff
ERA, good for fifth in the league, with a league-best 672
strikeouts and 201 walks in 524.0 innings pitched. Senior
lefty Hunter Elliott (5-3, 5.21) will make the start in game
one after allowing four runs on six hits with four walks and
four strikeouts in 5.0 innings last week. - Ole Miss advanced to the Super Regional round last weekend after sweeping through the Lincoln Regional 3-0.
- The Rebels beat Arizona State on Friday in 14 innings, host Nebraska in a suspended game that began on Saturday but was finished on Sunday, and the Sun Devils again Sunday night in 10 innings to claim their first Regional Championship since 2022.
- The Ole Miss bullpen combined for a 2.12 ERA, allowing just four earned runs with 15 strikeouts over 17 innings during the regional. Hudson Calhoun earned the win on Friday and locked down a save on Sunday morning, allowing just one hit over 4.2 innings.
- Hayden Federico went 7-for-14 with a double and three runs scored in the regional. Brayden Randle went 5-for-10 with an RBI single in all three games.
- Hunter Elliott became the first Rebel in program history to post three 100+ strikeout seasons in their career, reaching the mark on Friday against Arizona State.
- This is the ninth time in program history that Ole Miss has competed in a Super Regional, the first since 2022.
- Taylor Rabe has struck out 36 batters over his last three starts and gone six innings in all three.
- Rabe leads the SEC and is third in the NCAA in strikeout-to-walk ratio, striking out 9.00 batters for every walk issued. He has issued just 10 walks all season.
- Rabe also leads the SEC in walks allowed per nine innings (1.42), is ranked third in the SEC in WHIP (1.03), and fourth in the conference in K/9 (12.79).
- Hayden Federico is hitting .474 (9-for-19) with four RBI, four runs scored, and an OPS of 1.229 this postseason.Â
- Brayden Randle is hitting .429 (6-for-14) with three RBI this postseason including the walk-off winner against Arizona State on Friday.
- Austin Fawley has hit nine home runs over his last 17 games, after hitting just four over his first 36. 11 of his 13 home runs have come against SEC teams.
- Fawley, Judd Utermark, and Tristan Bissetta have combined to hit 56 of Ole Miss’ 103 (54%) home runs this season.
- The Ole Miss pitching staff is one of 19 staffs in the entire country to have over 600 strikeouts, racking up 672 punchouts this season. They lead the SEC and are fourth in the NCAA in total strikeouts, trailing only Oregon State, Arizona State, and Wake Forest.
AUBURN
Head coach Butch Thompson has guided Auburn to its fifth Super Regional since 2017, with this season marking back-to-back hosting bids. Thompson and the Tigers have reached the CWS twice, in 2019 and 2022. This season, he’s guided Auburn to a 42-20 record entering the weekend.
Auburn coming off a turbulent regional round, having lost game one to Milwaukee. Facing elimination, it came back the following day with a 17-run outburst over NC State, then handled UCF on Sunday to force a rematch with Milwaukee. The Tigers didn’t blink as it bested the Panthers twice in a row to advance to the supers.
Auburn’s strengths lie in its pitching staff, as it holds a 3.62 team ERA, which leads the SEC and is sixth in the country. Among qualifying pitchers, Auburn has four in the top 10 of the conference in terms of ERA, led by Jackson Sanders. The sophomore lefty allows a 2.63 ERA, which is second in the conference. Auburn excels at not allowing free baserunners, holding the best strikeout-to-walk ratio in the country at 3.75. Jake Marciano leads the team in strikeouts with 108 and Andreas Alvarez is close behind with 103.
At the plate, Chase Fralick and Ethin Bingaman have combined for 35 home runs this season, with Fralick’s 20 serving as the ninth best mark in the conference. Both batters are hitting north of .320 at the plate, but Chris Rembert is Auburn’s most consistent hitter with a .345 average. Rembert, Fralick and Eric Guevara each have at least 70 knocks for the year, and each have at least 10 doubles. Fralick leads the team with 18, the seventh most in the SEC.