No. 11 Baseball Heads to Columbia for Meeting With South Carolina

OXFORD, Miss. –(Release) No. 11 Ole Miss baseball is back on the road this weekend, traveling to Columbia, South Carolina for a three-game set against the Gamecocks. The series begins on Thursday with first pitch set for 5:30 p.m. CT. First pitch on Friday has been moved up to 3 p.m. CTand Saturday will begin at 1 p.m. CT.

LEADING OFF

• The Rebels have dropped three of their last four after losing to Little Rock on Tuesday 7-3 in their annual Kids’ Day game.
• Ole Miss took one of three games against No. 5 Tennessee last weekend for their first series loss since the opening weekend of conference play.
• The Rebels have now matched their win total from 2024 with 27 wins on the season.
• Their three SEC series wins also matches their total from 2024 and they are one series win away from matching their combined total from the past two seasons.
• Ole Miss is ranked in all five polls this week coming in at No. 11 in the D1Baseball poll, USA Today and Baseball America polls, and No. 12 in the Perfect Game poll and NCBWA poll.
• Luke Hill is on a 15-game hitting streak, hitting .429 with 21 runs scored, 13 RBI, and 13 walks during that stretch.
• The Rebels now lead the SEC in total walks drawn as a team with 239 free passes so far this season.
• The Rebels have stolen 54 bases in 2025, their highest total since 2019
• Ole Miss has hit 71 home runs this season, eighth-most in the NCAA and fourth-most in the SEC. They are ninth in the nation in home runs per game, averaging 1.92 home runs per game.
• They are top eight in the SEC in batting average, hits, on base percentage, runs scored, slugging percentage, and stolen bases.
• Ole Miss leads the SEC in strikeouts during conference play, punching out 166 batters over their first five series
• Ole Miss’ pitching staff is ranked seventh in the NCAA in K/9 (11.5) and 10th in K:BB at 2.90.

PROJECTED PITCHING MATCHUPS

Game 1: LHP Hunter Elliott (5-1, 3.92 ERA) vs. RHP Brandon Stone (1-4, 5.73 ERA)

Game 2: RHP Riley Maddox (4-2, 5.75 ERA) vs. LHP Jake McCoy (3-3, 7.30 ERA)

Game 3: RHP Mason Nichols (2-0, 4.54 ERA) vs. TBA

 

BROADCAST INFORMATION

All three games will be streamed live on SEC Network+ with Mike Morgan (PxP) and Ray Tanner (analyst) on the call.

Fans can listen to all games, home and away, on the Ole Miss Radio Network with David Kellum (PxP) and Brad Henderson (analyst) on the call.

SWIPE!

Ole Miss has stolen 54 bases so far in 2025, already reaching their highest season total since 2019 when they stole 93 bases. The Rebels have only reached the 50 steals mark one in the previous five seasons (2024, 50).

The Rebels stole eight bases in last Saturday’s win over Tennessee, three shy of the single-game record of 11 set in 1966. Hayden Federico stole four bases in the game, one shy of the individual single-game record. Federico, Luke Hill, and Mitchell Sanford all lead the team with 11 stolen bases on the season.

SO HOT RIGHT NOW

Luke Hill is currently riding a 15-game hitting streak and a 21-game on base streak. Over his last 15 games, Hill is hitting .429 (27-for-63) with two home runs, 21 runs scored, 13 RBI, and 13 walks.

Hill hit two home runs in the series win against Kentucky including the go-ahead, game-winning shot in the top of the 12^th inning of game three.

WE’LL TAKE IT

The Rebels currently lead the SEC in walks drawn with 239 total walks on the season. That number is the seventh highest in the NCAA.

Over their last 17 games, the Rebels have worked 119 walks and been hit by pitches 22 times for 141 total free passes. Luke Hill leads the team with 31 walks while Will Furniss, Hayden Federico, and Isaac Humphrey all have 27.

Ole Miss drew 18 walks on April 1 against Jackson State, one shy of the program record set last season against High Point.

IT JUST MEANS MORE

Ole Miss leads the SEC in strikeouts during conference play, punching out 166 batters over their first five series. They are second in innings pitched and fourth in strikeouts looking.

The Rebel offense is ranked second in batting average (.287), on base percentage (.392), hits (156), and stolen bases (22) during conference play. They are ranked third in slugging percentage (.517), runs scored (117), RBI (111), home runs (29), and total bases (281).

WASTE NO TIME

The Rebels are outscoring opponents 51-15 in the first inning and 83-33 over the first two innings of games this season, jumping on opponents early. They are 17-3 when scoring in the first inning and 22-2 when they score the first run of a game.

NEVER SAFE

The Rebel pitching staff has picked off 14 runners this season, their highest total since 2002. They lead the SEC in total pickoffs by a wide margin with the next highest total being eight. Hunter Elliott leads the team with seven pickoffs, the most by a Rebel pitcher in the Bianco Era.

OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION

The Rebels set new program records for runs scored and RBI in a single game in their 29-1 win over Alcorn State last Wednesday. Their 29 runs scored took down a program record that had stood since 1989 when Ole Miss defeated Illinois College 28-0.

The previous single-game RBI record was 25 which had been accomplished three times and as recently as last season against High Point. The Rebels collected 27 RBI in the win over Alcorn to set a new record.

The Ole Miss offense also had 44 total bases which was just two shy of the single-game program record and 23 hits which was four short of the program record.

NOT JUST YOUR SUNDAY STARTER

Mason Nichols has been recognized by the NCAA, the SEC, and the University of Mississippi recently for his achievements in the classroom. He was one of 90 Ole Miss students to be awarded the 2025 Taylor Medal, the highest academic honor awarded by the university.

The senior was also named one of the two recipients of the NCAA’s Walter Byers Graduate Scholarship, one of the highest academic honors awarded by the NCAA, and is one of Ole Miss’ two nominees for the H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Postgraduate Scholarship.

Nichols has been a mainstay in the Rebels’ starting rotation this season, making a start in every weekend series so far. In nine starts, he has posted an ERA of 4.54 while striking out 41 batters over 35.2 innings of work. On March 2, in a start against Wright State Nichols struck out a career-high 10 hitters and is one of only two Rebel pitchers to reach double-digit strikeouts in a game this season.

Nichols will graduate with a degree in biological sciences in May. A three-year team representative on Ole Miss’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Nichols’ community involvement has included volunteering at events for individuals with special needs, church activities for the elderly and team projects to give back to low-income families.

-Courtesy of Ole Miss Athletics