Preview of Ole Miss Baseball in Paradise: Rebels Open the 2024 Season in Hawaii
HONOLULU — There’s nothing quite like opening weekend of the college baseball season, and when you get to experience that opening weekend in paradise, well, it doesn’t get much better than that.
Ole Miss will be doing just that when they open the 2024 season on the road tonight in Hawaii. The Rebels will grind through four games in three days against the Rainbow Warriors beginning Friday, February 16th at 10:35 p.m. (CT).
A Look Back
The 2023 campaigns couldn’t have gone much differently for the two programs. Ole Miss, coming off of the all-time high of winning the 2022 national championship, experienced a disappointing 2023. Plagued by injuries, as well as the loss of an immense amount of talent to the Major League Baseball draft, the Rebels finished 25-29 overall and 6-24 in conference play, finishing the season on a six-game losing streak. During 2023, the Rebels were just 6-13 on the road, and posted a team ERA of 6.40 over the course of the year.
The Rainbow Warriors, however, would finish 2023 at 29-20, 18-12 in the Big West Conference, including a three-game winning streak over a very good UC Santa Barbara club. The Warriors were 19-7 at home, and posted a team ERA of just 4.85 over the season.
The Matchup
Despite the two team’s difference in record and performance in 2023, the Rebels dominated the offensive categories between the two and did so while playing in the SEC, easily the toughest conference in all of college baseball. Ole Miss hit .285 as a team with 83 home runs, compared to Hawaii’s .278 overall average with just 36 homers. The Rebels also bring back one of their more prolific players from last year’s squad in Ethan Groff.
GROFF GOES OFF 🚨🚨🚨🚨 | @ethangroff12 pic.twitter.com/Fw4elp4iSk
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) April 8, 2023
Groff goes yard 🧨 | @ethangroff12 pic.twitter.com/Q6LD27SN0z
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) March 22, 2023
Head Coach Mike Bianco has set his opening weekend pitching rotation as follows: JT Quinn (Friday), Gunnar Dennis and Grayson Saunier (Saturday doubleheader), and Riley Maddox (Sunday.)
The 2023 stats for the Rebels’ opening rotation are as follows:
- Quinn: 3-4, 6.83 ERA in 55.1 innings, 63 strikeouts, 36 walks.
- Dennis (transfer from Meridian CC, new to Ole Miss in 2024): 70 innings for Meridian in 2023, 3.50 ERA with 74 strikeouts.
- Saunier: 2-4, 6.85 ERA in 46 innings, 52 strikeouts, 27 walks.
- Maddox: Injury-shortened season, pitched just three innings in 2023.
Meanwhile, Hawaii does not return its best offensive player from 2023, as senior Matt Wong finished his career. Wong led the Warriors in 2023 with 10 home runs and 42 RBI’s. The ‘Bows, however, do return a veteran lineup for the 2024 season with six players who started at least 30 games a year ago. In addition, Hawaii is coming off one of its best power-hitting seasons, hitting posting a slugging percentage of .416.
The Rainbow Warriors have a pitching staff to be reckoned with, returning six of their seven best hurlers from 2023. The likely starters for the ‘Bows will be Randy Abshier, Harrison Bodendorf, and Alex Giroux.
Abshier, a lefty transfer from Arizona, went 6-3 overall in 2023 and 5-0 at home, while posting an ERA of just 4.29 and holding opponents to .235 in 15 starts, striking out 69.
One last ride for the lefty 👊
𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐘 𝐀𝐁𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐄𝐑 | LHP
▪️ 5-0, 2.98 ERA at home
▪️ 7+ Ks in 5 games
▪️ Saturday starter for all of 2023@rabshier99 x #GoBows pic.twitter.com/4KL4ikojuC— Hawaii Baseball (@HawaiiBaseball) February 10, 2024
Bodendorf, also a lefty, put up a 5-2 record with an ERA of just 3.45 with 66 strikeouts in 2023. He also grabbed five saves for the Warriors and held opponents to an average of just .239.
Lethal Lefty 💥
𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗥𝗜𝗦𝗢𝗡 𝗕𝗢𝗗𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗢𝗥𝗙 | LHP
▪️ Freshman All-American
▪️ 1st Team All-Big West
▪️ 5-2, 3.45 ERA#GoBows pic.twitter.com/LkGfL1tj8H— Hawaii Baseball (@HawaiiBaseball) January 30, 2024
Finally, right-hander Alex Giroux will likely be the Sunday hurler for Hawaii. Giroux went 4-2 with a 2.83 ERA in 2023 with 52 strikeouts.
Mr. Consistency
𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐗 𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐗 | RHP
▪️ 2.94 ERA – 4th in the Big West
▪️ 1.08 WHIP – 3rd in the Big West
▪️ 22 appearances, 6 starts@alex_giroux_ x #GoBows pic.twitter.com/YRwphfQajI— Hawaii Baseball (@HawaiiBaseball) February 14, 2024
The Rebels’ offense will have their work cut out for them against the ‘Bows hurlers. Mike Bianco’s reloaded roster — Ole Miss has 23 new players on the team this season, including the No. 7 transfer portal class — will need to show patience and discipline at the plate. Ethan Groff will also be a key to disrupting the Warriors’ staff with his prolific baserunning.
Weekend Schedule
The Friday opener is going to be a challenging one for Rebel fans hoping to catch the action. First pitch is scheduled for 10:35 p.m. CT. For those hoping to stay up late and try and catch the action, the game will be televised on Spectrum Sports and ESPN+. This is the only game of the weekend set for a televised broadcast.
Saturday will feature a double-header, with game one set to go at 5:05 p.m. and game two scheduled for 8:35 p.m., both central time.
Sunday’s finale is scheduled for 5:05 p.m. CT.
Stay tuned to The Rebel Walk for continued coverage and all updates from Honolulu.
Austin Eldridge
Austin has more than ten years in sports media, including sports talk radio, play-by-play broadcasting and journalism. He has followed Ole Miss athletics for his entire life and has covered the Rebels and the rest of the SEC while working in the Memphis media market. Outside of sports media, Austin is a musician and outdoorsman. Before a serious accident forced him to be medically discharged, he was a multi-media journalist with the Mississippi National Guard.
