Ole Miss baseball travels to Southern Miss for final midweek contest

OXFORD, Miss. – (Release) Hot off back-to-back series wins over Auburn and Texas A&M, Ole Miss (27-24, 11-16 SEC) heads south to Hattiesburg to take on No. 25 Southern Miss (34-17, 18-9 SBC) for its final midweek contest of the season.

Scouting the Golden Eagles

The Golden Eagles (34-17) currently enjoy a season-high seven-game winning streak after outscoring Arkansas State 38-11 in a three-game sweep in Jonesboro, Ark., last weekend.

This will be the second meeting between Ole Miss and Southern Miss this season with the Rebels taking an 8-3 decision at Trustmark Park in Pearl back in March. The Golden Eagles own a five-game losing streak to the Rebels overall, as well as a three-game losing streak at home to Ole Miss. Southern Miss last beat the Rebels in Hattiesburg during the 2019 campaign.

Southern Miss has played well at home in 2024, posting a 22-5 record, marking the ninth-straight time – not counting 2020 due to COVID – that they have won 20 or more home games in a season. Earlier this month, the Golden Eagles also clinched their 22nd consecutive 30-win season, giving them the longest current streak in Division I baseball. Southern Miss has produced 30 or more victories in 37 of the last 38 seasons.

Senior designated hitter Slade Wilks has paced the Golden Eagle offense as of last with his current career-best 24 game hitting streak, which ranks tied for sixth longest at the school. He is hitting .375 (36-for-96) over this span with eight doubles, a triple, eight home runs, 20 runs and 32 RBI. He has seven, two-hit contests, one, three-hit affair and one four-hit game. The school record for a hitting streak is 41 games set by Todd Nace during the 1991 campaign.

Junior shortstop Ozzie Pratt is also swinging a hot bat, owing a nine-game hitting streak of his own. During his streak, he is hitting .525 (21-for-40) with four doubles, a triple, a home run and eight RBI to go along with 14 runs scored.

Projeted Starters

Ole Miss: RHP Grayson Saunier
4-3, 5.62 ERA, 30 K, 15 BB

Southern Miss: LHP Kros Sivley
3-5, 3.96 ERA, 41 K, 8 BB

Leading Off

• Ole Miss is coming off a series win over No. 2 Texas A&M last weekend, winning on both Friday and Saturday to clinch the series.
• Starting pitching was key in the series win with all three Rebel starters combining for 19 strikeouts and just four earned runs over 17 innings of work.
• Riley Maddox and Liam Doyle put together back-to-back quality starts, giving up two or less earned runs while each working six innings. Mason Nichols was one inning shy of what would have been three quality starts on the weekend.
• Freshman Wes Mendes made two outings against the Aggies, striking out eight over four innings and earning the win on Friday night.
• Overall, Rebel pitching limited one of the top offenses in the country to just 10 earned runs on the weekend, six of them coming on Sunday.
• Ole Miss has now won four SEC series and back-to-back SEC series in a season for the first time since 2022.
• Ole Miss pitching set a new single-game program record for strikeouts Wednesday night against Murray State, punching out 24 Racers.
• Andrew Fischer became the first Rebel to hit a home run in four consecutive games on Wednesday since Logan Power did so in 2007.
• Luke Hill is hitting .397 (23-58), with 12 runs scored, eight RBI, seven walks, and an OPS of .971 over his last 15 games.
• Jackson Ross leads the SEC and is sixth in the NCAA in walks with 52. His 52 walks the most by a Rebel in a single season since 2019 when Thomas Dillard set the program record with 61.
• Ole Miss is currently No. 2 in Strength of Schedule, having played one of the hardest schedules in the country.
• The Rebels are ranked 21^st in the nation in strikeouts per nine, averaging 10.2 punchouts per game.
• Ole Miss is also 21^st in the NCAA in walks drawn (284), averaging 5.57 per game.

Get us started

In Ole Miss’ series win over No. 2 Texas A&M, the starting pitching set the tone for the Rebels, keeping one of the best offenses in the country down. Riley Maddox, Liam Doyle, and Mason Nichols combined for 19 strikeouts and allowed just four earned runs on 13 hits over 17 innings of work. The three posted a 2.12 ERA over their three outings.

Maddox laid the ground in game one with his third quality start of the season, working six innings and allowing just two earned runs while striking out seven batters. Doyle earned the win in game two with a quality start of his own, working six innings and allowing just one earned run while also striking out seven.

Nichols worked five innings on Sunday, allowing just one earned run on three hits while striking out a career-high five batters.

Climbing the Hill

Luke Hill has caught fire at the plate over the last month, hitting .397 (23-58) over his last 15 games. He has also scored 12 runs, driven in eight runs, drawn seven walks, and posted an OPS of .971 during that stretch. The sophomore has five multi-hit games and has scored at least once in five of eight games in the month of May.

Gone Fisching

Andrew Fischer became the first Rebel since 2007 to hit a home run in four straight games last Wednesday night against Murray State. The last Rebel to accomplish the feat was Logan Power in 2007 (March 24 vs Alabama, March 25 vs Alabama, March 27 vs Southern Miss, and March 30 at Auburn).

Fischer has 19 total home runs on the season, matching Kemp Alderman’s team-leading total from 2023. The sophomore has moved into the top-40 in the NCAA and is eighth in the SEC in total home runs.

Fischer’s 19 home runs have him tied with Alderman for the third-most home runs in a single season in program history. The program record is 24 set by Tim Elko in 2022.

Ole Miss Single-Season Home Run Record

1. Tim Elko, 2022                                   24
2. Jason Huisman, 1998                        21
3. Brian Pettway, 2005                           21
3. Kemp Alderman, 2023                       19
3. Andrew Fischer, 2024                 19
4. Michael Rosamond, 1999                  18
4. Stephen Head, 2005                          18
5. David Dellucci, 1995                          17
5. Cody Overbeck, 2008                        17

Game info:

First pitch is set for 6:00 p.m. Tuesday at Ole Miss at Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.

Hotty Toddy!

Evelyn Van Pelt

Evelyn has covered sports for over two decades, beginning her journalism career as a sports writer for a newspaper in Austin, Texas. She attended Texas A&M and majored in English. Evelyn’s love for Ole Miss began when her daughter Katie attended the university on a volleyball scholarship. Evelyn created the Rebel Walk in 2013 and has served as publisher and managing editor since its inception.