Ole Miss Baseball Welcomes Eastern Kentucky for First Home Series of 2025

OXFORD, Miss. – (Release) Ole Miss Baseball hosts Eastern Kentucky this weekend for their first home series of the season. First pitch on Friday has been moved up to 2 p.m. due to winter weather. Saturday is set for 1:30 p.m. and Sunday is set for noon.

OLE MISS NOTES | EKU NOTES | SEC NOTES

LEADING OFF

• Ole Miss defeated Arkansas State Tuesday night in the 2025 home opener at Swayze Field to move to 3-1 on the season.
• Judd Utermark hit a two-RBI walk-off home run in the bottom of the tenth inning to defeat the Red Wolves.
• It was the first walk-off home run of Utermark’s career and the first true walk off home run for the Rebels since Kemp Alderman walked off Purdue on March 11, 2023.
• In just four games this season, Utermark has hit a walk-off home run, a 450-foot home run, stole home, and played both the infield and outfield.
• Alex Canney made his first start as a Rebel on Tuesday, working three scoreless innings and striking out four batters.
• Owen Hancock made his collegiate debut on Tuesday, working one inning in relief and punching out the first batter of his career.
• Luke Hill is hitting .429 through the first four games of the season with two home runs, a triple, and six RBI.
• Will McCausland picked up his first win as a Rebel on Sunday, working 3.2 innings as striking out eight in relief.
• Hayden Federico went 3-for-5 with a double, three runs scored, and two RBI in his collegiate debut against Clemson.
• Mitchell Sanford has collected six walks through four games already, averaging 1.5 walks per game.

PROJECTED PITCHING MATCHUPS

Game 1: LHP Hunter Elliott (1-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. RHP Ryker Walton (0-1, 3.86 ERA)

Game 2: RHP Riley Maddox (0-1, 16.20 ERA) vs. LHP Bradley Gagen (0-0, 0.00 ERA)

Game 3: RHP Mason Nichols (0-0, 9.00 ERA) vs. RHP Elijah Underhill (0-1, 8.31 ERA)

BROADCAST INFORMATION

All three games will be streamed live on SEC Network+ with Jake Hromada (PxP) and Keith Kessinger (analyst) on the call.

Fans can also listen to the games on the Ole Miss Radio Network with Eli Savoie (PxP) and Brad Henderson (analyst) on the call Friday, Gary Darby (PxP) and Henderson on Saturday, and David Kellum (PxP) and Henderson on Sunday.

SCOUTING REPORT

Walt Jones is in his first full season at the reins of the Eastern Kentucky baseball program. Jones was named the acting head coach in March of the 2024 season and was given the permanent position in May of 2024.

The Colonels concluded the 2024 season with a 21-37 (14-16 ASUN) record. While leading the program for the final 33 games of the 2024 season, Jones guided the Colonels to their third straight appearance in the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament.

The Colonels are still searching for their first win of 2025, losing games to Kent State, SIU-Edwardsville, and South Alabama to start the year.

Ole Miss has a 7-1 record over EKU throughout the all-time series. This will be the ninth meeting between the two teams, the last time being February 16, 1997, when the Colonels walked away with the 4-2 win to capture their lone win over the Rebels.

MULTI-TOOL GUY

Judd Utermark has been doing it all through the first four games of the season. He has started two games at third base, two games in left field, hit a 450-foot home run in the second deck at Globe Life Field, and hit a walk-off home run to beat Arkansas State. He also leads the team in stolen bases, including a steal of home against the Red Wolves.

NUKE HILL

Luke Hill got off to a sizzling start in 2025, hitting .556 with an OPS of 2.027 and three extra-base hits over three games at the Shriners Children’s College Showdown in Texas. The junior from Baton Rouge had a career day in the Rebels’ upset win over No. 15 Clemson on Sunday, 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. Hill was also a main piece of Ole Miss’ 2-1 win over No. 21 Arizona, as he went 2-for-3 with a sacrifice fly that drove in the first run of the game.

RETURN OF THE KING

Hunter Elliott dominated No. 21 Arizona in his first start in nearly two years, working five shutout innings and picking up his first win since Opening Day of 2023. The redshirt junior held the Wildcats to just two hits on the day while striking out three batters in his long-awaited return. Elliott used just 15 pitches to retire the final six batters he faced and even picked off a baserunner in the third.

FOR THE CAUSE

Will McCausland made his Rebel debut last Sunday, 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 two appearances already in his young career allowing just one baserunner, who he then picked off, over 3.2 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.

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.

NEW FACE IN THE DUGOUT

Joel Mangrum was hired as the newest Ole Miss Baseball assistant coach on June 13 and will be heading into his first season as the team’s pitching coach.

A native of Brandon, Mississippi, Mangrum came to Oxford after professional and college coaching stints with the Cleveland Guardians, ULM, New Mexico State, Austin Peay, Milligan College, and Hinds Community College.

Mangrum spent six seasons with the Guardians, four of them as Minor League Pitching Coordinator. He was promoted to Pitching Coordinator in 2020 after serving as a Minor League Pitching Coach in 2018 and 2019.

During his time as Minor League Pitching Coordinator, Cleveland’s Double-A team posted the second-best ERA and batting average against in the Eastern League three of the four seasons. Mangrum worked with and helped develop former Rebels Doug Nikhazy and Dylan DeLucia as pitchers in the Guardians organization.

Prior to professional baseball, Mangrum spent time at ULM, Austin Peay, New Mexico State, and Milligan College.