No. 24 Baseball Set for Top 25 Midweek Showdown Against No. 22 Southern Miss

OXFORD, Miss. – (Release) No. 24 Ole Miss Baseball will host No. 22 Southern Miss for a midweek top 25 matchup Tuesday at Swayze Field. First pitch is set for 4 p.m.

LEADING OFF

• Ole Miss swept Eastern Kentucky over the weekend, outscoring the Colonels 26-7.
• Each member of the Rebels’ starting rotation picked up a win as the trio of Hunter Elliott, Riley Maddox, and Mason Nichols combined for a 0.60 ERA and 20 strikeouts.
• The seven runs allowed to EKU was the fewest number of runs allowed in a weekend by an Ole Miss pitching staff in just over two years.
• Hunter Elliott tied a career high with 10 strikeouts on Friday, working six scoreless innings and picking up his second win of the season.
• Elliott and Mason Morris, who got the save on Friday, faced just two batters over the minimum as they combined for the Rebels’ first shutout since 2023.
• As a whole, the Rebel pitching staff put up a 1.70 ERA with a shutout and 52 strikeouts in four games last week.
• Hayden Federico hit .625 (5-for-8) in three games last week, reaching base at least three times in each game.
• The Ole Miss’ pitching staff is ranked 18^th in the country in strikeouts per nine innings, averaging 12.1 punchouts per game.
• Isaac Humphrey is top 20 in the country in both walks and walks per game, averaging 1.43 walks per game.
• Luke Hill is ranked top 50 in the NCAA in home runs, total bases, runs scored, and total hits.
• Hill leads the Rebels in slugging percentage, runs scored, hits, RBI, home runs, and total bases.
• Federico and Hill are the only Rebels to have three hits in a game this season, each having done it twice.
• The Rebels host Wright State this weekend for a three-game set at Swayze Field.

PROJECTED PITCHING MATCHUP

RHP Will McCausland (1-0, 2.45 ERA) vs. RHP McCarty English (0-0, 40.50 ERA)

TICKET INFORMATION

Tickets for all home games at Swayze Field can be purchased here. Season tickets are still available for the 2025 season and can be purchased here.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Tuesday’s game will be streamed live on SEC Network+ with Jake Hromada (PxP), Matt McLaughlin (analyst), and Loral Winn (sideline) on the call.

Fans can also listen to the game on the Ole Miss Radio Network with David Kellum (PxP) and Brad Henderson (analyst) on the call.

SCOUTING REPORT

Christian Ostrander is in his second season at the reins of the Southern Miss (7-1) baseball program. In his first year at the helm of the Golden Eagles baseball program, he led the team to a 43-20 record, finishing second in the Sun Belt Conference regular season standings while capturing the league’s tournament title.

Southern Mississippi is coming off a 2-1 series victory over Louisiana Tech where the Golden Eagles outscored LA Tech 14-9 throughout the weekend.

Ole Miss holds an 84-54 record over Southern Mississippi. The Rebels and Golden Eagles last squared off in 2024 where Southern Mississippi walked away with the 7-4 win over Ole Miss.

GET US STARTED

Last week’s four starting pitchers (Alex Canney, Hunter Elliott, Riley Maddox, and Mason Nichols) combined for a 0.50 ERA allowing just one earned run over 18 innings of work. They struck out 24 batters and allowed just four walks while holding opponents to a .164 batting average.

The weekend rotation of Elliott, Maddox, and Nichols put up a 0.60 ERA with 20 strikeouts and a .176 opponent batting average.

FEDERICO SUAVE

Hayden Federico continued the hot start to his collegiate career last week, reaching base at least three times in all three games he played in. He also had at least one hit in each game, extending his career-long hitting streak to four games. Despite not starting in the Rebels’ extra-inning win over Arkansas State, Federico still got three at bats in which he drew a walk, was hit by a pitch, and singled up the middle. He started in two games over the weekend against Eastern Kentucky, going 4-for-7 with a double, two RBI, four stolen bases, and two hit by pitches against the Colonels. He stole three bases in the series finale, including a steal of home.

NUKE HILL

Luke Hill is off to a hot start in 2025, hitting .462 with an OPS of 1.416 and 11 runs scored over two weeks. He leads the Rebels in slugging percentage, runs scored, hits, RBI, home runs, and total bases.

The junior from Baton Rouge had a career day in the Rebels’ upset win over No. 15 Clemson, putting together the first multi-home run game of his career. He went 3-for-3 with two home runs, a triple, five RBI, and four runs scored against the Tigers.

RETURN OF THE KING

Hunter Elliott has dominated in so far in his return to the mound after not pitching for nearly two years. He has made two starts, picked up two wins, and has yet to allow a run to score. Last weekend against Eastern Kentucky Elliott tied his career high with 10 strikeouts, did not allow a free pass and faced just one batter over the minimum during his six innings, picking off two of the only three baserunners. In every inning but the fourth, Elliott struck out at least two batters and nine of his 10 with a swing and miss.

FOR THE CAUSE

Will McCausland made his Rebel debut at the Shriners Children’s College Showdown, picking up the win over Clemson. He worked 3.2 innings, allowing just three hits and striking out eight batters in what was the first appearance out of the bullpen in his career. He retired the first seven hitters he faced and made eight of 11 outs via the punchout.

HOOK ‘EM

Walker Hooks has made three appearances already in his young career allowing just one baserunner, who he then picked off, over 4.2 innings of work. He made his debut on February 15 against No. 19 Texas, coming out of the bullpen with the bases loaded and just one out. He struck out the first two hitters he faced and would go on to retire all eight he saw. The freshman is up to eight total strikeouts and is holding opponents to a .067 batting average against.

PRESEASON ALL-SEC

Hunter Elliott was named to the 2025 Preseason All-SEC Team as one of five starting pitchers named to the Second Team.

Elliott is the first Rebel to be named to the Preseason All-SEC Team since Jacob Gonzalez in 2023 and the first Rebel pitcher to earn the honor since Parker Caracci in 2019.

Since being named a three-time Freshman All-American in 2022, Elliott has been sidelined for nearly two full seasons with an elbow injury. In 2022, Elliott set an Ole Miss freshman record for strikeouts in a season with 102. He finished second on the team with a 2.70 ERA over 20 appearances.

FRESHMEN READY TO MAKE AN IMPACT

The 2025 freshman class was named the No. 4 class in the country by three different publications: D1Baseball, Baseball America, and Perfect Game. They are one of five SEC classes in the top 10 and the third-highest ranked in the conference.

The class includes Hayden Federico, Owen Hancock, Walker Hooks, Cooper Johnson, Jackson Miller, Brett Moseley, Owen Paino, Jake Reigert, Tate Sirmans, Ethan Surowiec, and Cade Townsend.

Owen Paino is arguably the most heralded on the list as he was also named the No. 48 overall shortstop in the country by D1Baseball, No. 6 on Perfect Game’s 2027 MLB Draft Board, No. 7 on Perfect Game’s Fresh Arrivals On Campus, No. 8 on Perfect Game’s Top 75 Collegiate Freshmen, and No. 12 on Baseball America’s Top 25 College Baseball Freshmen.

TRANSFER TO THE SIP

Ole Miss’ 2025 roster features 10 new transfers from Division I, Division II, and JUCO ranks.

Mitchell Sanford, a transfer from New Orleans, and Isaac Humphrey, a transfer from Louisville, were both ranked on D1Baseball’s Top 50 Transfer Impact Hitters. D1Baseball also named them as two of the Top 35 outfielders in the country.

Sanford is the reigning Southland Hitter of the Year and was also named to the All-Southland First Team and All-Defensive Team in 2024 after hitting .381 with New Orleans last year. Humphrey played three seasons at Louisville where he hit .300 in 166 games in his career.

Will McCausland, a transfer from Saint Joseph’s, was named to D1Baseball’s Top 85 Transfer Impact Pitchers after playing two seasons for the Hawks. Ryan Moerman, an outfielder from Illinois, is a two-time All-Big Ten Second Team honoree who has played in 129 career games.

Alex Canney, a pitcher from Division II National Champions Tampa, is a three-time All-American and six-time All-South Region award winner.

The combined newcomer class of both transfers and freshmen was ranked No. 10 in the country by Baseball America.

TOP OF THE HILL

Luke Hill was ranked as the No. 29 third baseman in the country according to D1Baseball’s Preseason Top 50 Third Basemen List.

He was the ninth-highest ranked third baseman from the SEC and the eighth-highest ranked junior on the list.

Hill is coming off a sophomore campaign in which he hit .291 with 36 runs scored, 35 walks drawn, and 12 stolen bases. The Louisiana native really turned things up in SEC play, hitting .321 with an on-base percentage of .414 and 19 runs scored in 29 conference games.

BACK BEHIND THE DISH

Campbell Smithwick was ranked No. 22 on D1Baseball’s Preseason Top 50 Catchers list ahead of the 2025 season. Smithwick was the third-highest ranked sophomore and the seventh-highest ranked catcher from the SEC on the list that looks at every backstop in the country.

He was also ranked No. 60 on Perfect Game’s Top 100 Collegiate Sophomores List.

Smithwick is coming off a freshman season in which he played in 30 games and led the Rebels in on-base percentage at .449. His .266 batting average was also the fifth-highest on the team in 2024.

-Courtesy of Ole Miss Sports