Diamond Rebels Preview: Ole Miss Hosts Trojans and Bearcats for Double Midweek Action

OXFORD, Miss. – (Release) Coming off one of its biggest offensive games in program history, Ole Miss Baseball will look to keep things going this week as they host Little Rock and Missouri State for two midweek matchups.

Leading Off 

• Ole Miss won its first series of the season last weekend, taking two out of three games from High Point.
• The Rebels set a new program record for walks in a single game with 19 free passes in Sunday’s win.
• They also tied a program record with 25 RBI while scoring the most runs in a game since 2019.
• Ole Miss scored 11 times in the first inning of Sunday’s victory, its biggest inning since 2018 vs. LSU.
• The Rebels’ huge first inning also included a home run cycle capped off by Jackson Ross’ three-run shot.
• Ross had a huge week at the plate hitting .727 with 11 RBI, 8 runs scored, and four home runs. He has hit four home runs in his last three games.
• The Rebels hit 10 home runs in the three-game series against the Panthers, marking just the second time they have done that in the Mike Bianco Era.
• This is the only time this season that Ole Miss is scheduled to play two midweek games and the only time it is scheduled to play on a Wednesday.
• Ole Miss will host Iowa this weekend for a three-game set at Swayze Field.

Scouting Report: Little Rock

The Little Rock Trojans are led by head coach Chris Curry, who is entering his 10th season with the Trojans. Last season, Curry led Little Rock to a 31-23 overall record and a 14-8 OVC record to finish second in the conference. Little Rock enters the midweek matchup after winning the series against Illinois State 2-1 over the weekend.

Friday night’s game against Illinois State was action packed as the Trojans came from behind to win 5-4 in extra innings. Outfielder Tyler Williams set a program record for career doubles (45) in the 12-inning win. Little Rock fell to the Red Birds on Saturday 5-14, but took the series on Sunday 10-5. Overall, the Trojans are averaging .296 at the plate and a 7.50 ERA on the mound this season.

This will be the 53rd meetup between the Rebels and Trojans. Ole Miss holds a 26-21-5 record over Little Rock. During last season’s contest, the Rebels outpaced the Trojans on the annual Kids’ Day, 12-10.

Scouting Report: Missouri State 

Missouri State is led by one of the most successful coaches in the Missouri Valley Conference, Keith Guttin. After 41 years as head coach, this will be Guttin’s final year as the Bearcats head coach. Guttin led Missouri State to a 33-23 record and a second place finish in the Missouri Valley Conference in the 2023 season.

The Rebels welcome the Bears to Swayze Field as they are coming off a 1-2 series loss against Southern Miss this last weekend. After their series against the Golden Eagles, the Bears moved to a 4-3 record on the books.

On Friday, Missouri State dropped the opener in Hattiesburg, 4-3. The Bears responded on Saturday, shutting down the Golden Eagles in a 3-1 win. However, Missouri State dropped its Sunday game, 5-3. Some key players over the weekend were right fielder Zach Stewart and RHP Brandt Thompson. Stewart boasted three home runs this weekend and is averaging .429 on the season. In 2023, the MVC Freshman of the Year, had 12 homers and 61 RBIs, the second-most runs driven in by a freshman in school history. On the mound on Saturday’s game, Thompson pitched five innings, allowing only one run. Thompson earned First-Team All-Valley selection last year and posted a 3.46 ERA.

This is the fifth meeting all-time between the programs. Missouri State holds a 3-1 advantage in the series which was last played in 2005. Ole Miss won the last meeting 6-4, it’s only win in the series.

Walk this Way

Ole Miss set a new program record for walks in a single game with 19 free passes in Sunday’s blowout win over High Point. The previous record was 16 set on February 26, 1985 against Union.

In total, the Rebels reached base 20 times via the walk or hit by pitch while striking out just two times in the game. They worked 35 total walks in the series, 31 in the final two games.

Bomb Squad 

The Rebels hit 10 home runs in last weekend’s series against High Point, doing something that has only been done once before in the Mike Bianco Era. The last time an Ole Miss team hit 10 or more home runs in a three-game series was in 2020 against Princeton just before the season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to 2020, the feat had not been accomplished since 1998.

Power Cycle

In Sunday’s win over High Point, the Rebels accomplished the incredibly rare feat of completing the home run cycle in just the first inning. Ethan Groff led off the inning with a solo home run followed by a grand slam by Will Furniss. With one out in the inning, Reagan Burford hit a two-RBI home run and then Jackson Ross completed the cycle with a two-out, three-RBI shot five batters later.

Running Away With It 

Ole Miss scored 25 runs against High Point on Sunday, falling just three runs short of the single-game record set in 1989. Their 25 runs were the most scored in one game since March 20, 2019 against Arkansas-Pine Bluff (W, 25-0). It was just the sixth time in the last six seasons that the Rebels have broken the 20-run mark in a game.

They scored 11 runs in just the first inning of play, the most in a single inning since April 26, 2018 against LSU. In total, 15 hitters came to the plate, seven had hits in the inning, five drew walks, and five drove in runs.

Sgt. Ross 

Jackson Ross was a force at the plate for Ole Miss in week two, hitting .727 (8-for-11) with four home runs, 11 RBI, and eight runs scored over four games. He reached base 14 times in 17 plate appearances and accounted for 20 total bases during the week. The fifth-year senior had at least one hit in each game and put together three multi-hit games, including a 3-for-4 performance on Friday night. He hit four home runs in the Rebels’ three-game series against High Point, including just his second career multi-home run game on Saturday. In total, the Florida native torched the Panthers for seven hits, 10 RBI, and eight runs scored in Ole Miss’ first series win of the season.

Welcome to the Show 

Eight freshmen made their collegiate debut over the Rebels’ opening weekend in Hawaii. Trenton Lyons, Drew Markle and Campbell Smithwick all tallied their first career hits at the plate. Seth Farni and Brayden Randle also saw action as pinch hitters for Ole Miss. On the mound, Patrick Galle, Wes Mendes and Austin Simmons combined for 4.1 innings without surrendering a hit. Mendes struck out four batters in 3.0 innings of work, picking up the save in Saturday’s victory over the Rainbow Warriors. Simmons, a standout dual-sport athlete with the Ole Miss football team, pitched a perfect inning, striking out two of the three batters he faced.

All-American in the Outfield 

Treyson Hughes was named a 2024 Preseason All-American by the NCBWA, making the Third Team in the outfield.

Hughes is a junior transfer who played his first two seasons at Mercer where he played in 115 games for the Bears. The Georgia native boasts a career .352 batting average with 105 total RBI and 127 runs scored over two seasons.

Last season, he hit .387 and set a new single-season runs scored record at Mercer, crossing the plate 74 times in 58 games. Hughes led the Southern Conference in on-base percentage and runs scored, earning 2023 First Team All-SoCon and SoCon All-Tournament team honors.

Big Mal is Back

Josh Mallitz was named to the 2024 Stopper of the Year Watch List, opening the season among the nation’s best in the bullpen.

Malllitz returns to the mound this season after sitting out the entirety of the 2023 season recovering from injury.

In 2022, the Florida native was an integral part of the team’s national championship run, posting a 1.45 ERA over 31 innings of work. He held opponents to a .171 batting average while racking up 48 strikeouts.

Mallitz made five appearances during the team’s postseason run, allowing just one run while striking out 18 over 10.2 innings. In game one of the College World Series Final, Mallitz worked two innings and struck out four Sooners.

The Road to 1,000

Head coach Mike Bianco comes into the 2024 season needing just 21 wins to reach 1,000 for his career. He has 979 career wins, 879 as head coach of the Rebels and 100 from his time at McNeese State. He currently sits at No. 11 amongst active head coaches on the all-time NCAA career wins list.

In 23 seasons leading the program, Bianco has delivered 18 postseason appearances, including eight Super Regional berths and a pair of trips to the College World Series. He has racked up 879 victories, holding a 879-514-1 (.631) record. Those wins are the most in Rebel baseball history and rank second all-time among coaches in the SEC. He also stands as the winningest and longest-active coach in the SEC among the sports of baseball, men’s basketball and football.

Transfer to the Sip 

D1Baseball ranked Ole Miss’ 2024 transfer class the No. 7 class in the country and No. 5 in the SEC back in January. Five new Rebels were ranked in the top-70 in the publication’s 2024 Impact Transfer rankings including Treyson Hughes (No. 11), Andrew Fischer (No. 17), and Luke Hill (No. 20) who were all ranked in the top 20.

Jackson Ross and Kyler Carmack were also included on the list at No. 25 and No. 65 respectfully.

What Sophomore Slump? 

Ole Miss has five sophomores ranked in D1Baseball’s Top-100 2025 MLB Draft Prospects, something that no other program in the country can claim.

JT Quinn leads the way coming in at No. 27, followed by Luke Hill (No. 38), Andrew Fischer (No. 40), Grayson Saunier (No. 57), and Liam Doyle (No. 91).