No. 18 Ole Miss Baseball Set for Rematch with No. 19 Southern Miss In Pearl

OXFORD, Miss. – No. 18 Ole Miss Baseball heads south to Trustmark Park for an early rematch against No. 19 Southern Miss in Pearl on Tuesday.

LEADING OFF

Ole Miss dropped their conference-opening series against No. 3 Arkansas last weekend, winning the first game, but losing on Saturday and Sunday.

Mitchell Sanford hit .455 with two home runs and a 1.182 slugging percentage in the series against the Razorbacks.

Hunter Elliott moved to 4-0 on the season, working five innings and striking out eight batters in the win on Friday.

Ole Miss was ranked in four of the five polls this week with the highest being No. 18 by D1Baseball and the USA Today coaches’ poll. The Rebels were also slotted at No. 19 in the Baseball America poll and No. 24 in the NCBWA poll.

The Rebels won 13 games in a row from February 16 to March 9, their longest winning streak since they won 16 in a row during the 2020 season.

Ole Miss’ offense comes into the week ranked ninth in the NCAA in home runs per game, averaging 2.05 long balls per game. They are also ranked 10th in total home runs with 39.

They are also ranked 23rd in the NCAA in walks having drawn 117 free passes this season.

The pitching staff is ranked eighth in the NCAA in strikeouts per nine innings, averaging 11.8 punchouts per game.

The Rebels will travel to Columbia, Missouri this weekend for a three-game series against the Missouri Tigers.

PROJECTED PITCHING MATCHUP

RHP Cade Townsend (0-0, 8.44 ERA) vs. RHP Matthew Adams (2-1, 3.05 ERA)

BROADCAST INFORMATION

The game will be streamed live on ESPN+.

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

The Rebels and the Golden Eagles have already matched up once this season, as Ole Miss beat Southern Miss 15-8 in Oxford on February 25.

The Rebels hit four home runs and every starter in the lineup had at least one hit and scored at least one run in the win.

Christian Ostrander is in his second season at the helm of the Southern Mississippi baseball program.

Southern Mississippi is currently 14-6 (2-1 SBC) and are coming off a 2-1 series win over Old Dominion where the Golden Eagles outscored Old Dominion 23-10 throughout the series.

Ole Miss leads the all-time series over Southern Mississippi 85-54. Tuesday’s matchup will mark the 140th meeting between Ole Miss and Southern Mississippi.

ON THE PATH

Both Isaac Humphrey and Hayden Federico have reached base in 16-consecutive games, with Humphrey’s streak dating all the way back to the second game of the season against Texas.

Federico has reached base in every game he has played in to start his career and had four walks on Sunday against Arkansas. The freshman leads the team in on-base percentage at .487.

WASTE NO TIME

The Rebels are outscoring opponents 29-7 in the first inning and 51-11 over the first two innings of games this season, jumping on opponents early. They are 10-2 when scoring in the first inning and 13-1 when they score the first run of a game.

NEVER SAFE

The Rebel pitching staff has picked off eight runners this season, surpassing its totals from each of the last two seasons already. Hunter Elliott leads the team with four pick offs, Riley Maddox has two, and Mason Nichols and Walker Hooks each have one.

GET US STARTED

Ole Miss’ starting rotation of Hunter Elliott, Riley Maddox, and Mason Nichols are sporting a combined ERA of 3.26 through the first five weeks of the season. They have allowed just 24 earned runs and struck out 83 batters over 66.1 innings of work. Elliott and Nichols have each reached the 10 punchout mark in a start this season, tying or setting new career-highs.

RETURN OF THE KING

Hunter Elliott was named the Dick Howser Trophy National Pitcher of the Month by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association for the month of February.

Elliott made three starts in the opening month of the season, working at least five innings and picking up the win in each. He only allowed six total hits and did not allow a run, earned or otherwise, to score.

Elliott was one of 17 qualified pitchers in the NCAA to not allow an earned run this season and one of just four to not allow an earned run while working 16+ innings. He was also just one of 11 to not allow a run at all, earned or unearned.

On February 14, Elliott made his first start since April of 2023 shutting out No. 21 Arizona over five innings in Texas. He allowed just two hits and struck out three Wildcats on the way to his first win since February of 2023.

The following weekend Elliott had everything working against Eastern Kentucky in his first start at Swayze Field in almost 700 days. He tied his career-high with 10 strikeouts over six innings, allowed just three hits and not issuing a single free pass. He faced just one batter over the minimum as he picked off two of the three baserunners he allowed.

POWER SURGE

Judd Utermark hit two home runs in the Rebels’ win over Murray State, giving him his first multi-home run game of his career. He hit four home runs in four-consecutive games from February 28 to March 5, hitting five total during that time. He joins Andrew Fischer, Logan Power, and Michael Rosamond as the only Rebels to hit a home run in four-straight games since 1997.