No. 23 Ole Miss Baseball Set to Host No. 9 Vanderbilt for Big Weekend In Oxford

OXFORD, Miss. – (Release) No. 23 Ole Miss baseball hosts No. 9 Vanderbilt this weekend for a three-game series at Swayze Field. First pitch on Friday is set for 6:30 p.m., Saturday is set for 5 p.m., and Sunday will start at 1:30 p.m.

LEADING OFF

• Ole Miss beat Mississippi State 8-7 on Tuesday night in the annual Governor’s Cup game.
• Austin Fawley hit a game-tying, two-RBI home run with one out in the ninth inning and Will Furniss hit a walk off RBI single in the 10th to win it.
• The Rebels have now surpassed their win total from 2024 with 29 wins on the season, their most since 2022.
• 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. 23 in the D1Baseball poll, No. 18 in both the USA Today and Perfect Game polls, No. 19 in the NCBWA poll, and No. 22 in the Baseball America poll.
• Luke Hill is currently riding a 25-game on base streak, reaching base in every game since the beginning of conference play.
• Hill is top-10 in the SEC in walks (34), walks per game (0.86), hits (55), runs scored (48), and runs per game (1.20).
• Austin Fawley has hit a home run in six of his last seven games, including a grand slam last Saturday against South Carolina.
• The Rebels now lead the SEC in total walks drawn as a team with 257 free passes so far this season.
• The Rebels have stolen 58 bases in 2025, their highest total since 2019.
• Hayden Federico is one stolen base shy of tying the Ole Miss freshman single-season record of 12 set by Jordan Henry in 2007.
• Ole Miss has hit 80 home runs this season, seventh-most in the NCAA and fourth-most in the SEC. They are seventh in the nation in home runs per game, averaging 1.95 home runs per game.
• They are top 10 in the SEC in batting average, hits, on base percentage, runs scored, slugging percentage, and stolen bases.
• Ole Miss’ pitching staff is ranked seventh in the NCAA in K/9 (11.4) and 11th in K:BB at 2.86.
• Mason Morris has not allowed an earned run over his last three outings, working 12 innings and striking out 20 batters during that stretch.

PROJECTED PITCHING MATCHUPS

Game 1: LHP Hunter Elliott (5-2, 4.04 ERA) vs. LHP JD Thompson (3-3, 3.95 ERA)

Game 2: RHP Riley Maddox (4-3, 6.10 ERA) vs. RHP Cody Bowker (2-2, 3.66 ERA)

Game 3: RHP Mason Nichols (3-0, 4.43 ERA) vs. RHP Connor Fennell (4-0, 3.00 ERA)

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Friday and Sunday’s games will be streamed live on SEC Network+ with Richard Cross (PxP) and Keith Kessinger (analyst) on the call. Saturday’s game will be broadcast on SEC Network with Clay Matvick (PxP) and David Dellucci (analyst) on the call.

AROUND THE HORN

Oxford will be buzzing this weekend as Swayze Field becomes the site of a top 25 college baseball showdown. The annual Double Decker Arts Festival will be happening on Friday and Saturday as The Square turns into a concert venue. The festivities start at 5 p.m. Friday night and wrap up around 10 p.m. Saturday night.

Ole Miss baseball will also be hosting their annual Stand Up To Cancer® (SU2C) Game on Saturday. The game will feature a Placard Moment™ between the third and fourth innings in which fans at Swayze Field will be invited to stand in recognition for a moment of silence. This impactful moment draws attention to just how many people are impacted by this disease and the need for further research.

Placards will be placed in each seat for fans to fill out when they arrive at Swayze Field. Extra placards can also be picked up at the left field and home plate entrances.

Fans that can’t make it to Swayze Field can also create a digital version to share on social media using the SU2C placard generator at StandUpToCancer.org.

SCOUTING REPORT

Tim Corbin is in his 23rd season at the helm of the Vanderbilt baseball program.

The Commodores currently hold a 30-11 overall record and are 11-7 in SEC play. Vanderbilt is coming off a midweek 3-5 loss to Middle Tennessee.

Ole Miss leads the all-time series against Vandy 69-66-2. The SEC foes last met March 16-18, 2023. where No. 6 Vandy swept Ole Miss in Nashville. This is the first time the Commodores have come to Oxford since 2021.

SWIPE!

Ole Miss has stolen 58 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 once in the previous five seasons (2024, 50).

The Rebels stole eight bases in their 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. Luke Hill leads the team with 13 swipes while Federico and Mitchell Sanford each have 11.

Federico is one steal shy of tying the Ole Miss single-season freshman record of 12 set by Jordan Henry in 2007.

SO HOT RIGHT NOW

Luke Hill is currently riding a 25-game on base streak, reaching base in every game since the beginning of conference play. He has reached base in all but two of his 39 games played this season.

Austin Fawley has hit six home runs in his last seven games played, including a first-inning grand slam on Saturday against South Carolina. Over his last eight games, Fawley has racked up 15 RBI and scored eight runs to go with his six home runs.

WE’LL TAKE IT

The Rebels currently lead the SEC in walks drawn with 257 total walks on the season. That number is the eighth highest in the NCAA.

Luke Hill leads the team with 34 walks, Will Furniss has 30, and Hayden Federico has 28. All three have more walks than strikeouts at the plate.

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

The Rebels have had one of the top offenses in the SEC during conference play. In conference games, Ole Miss’ offense is ranked second in hits (179), RBI (127), total bases (326), and walks (99). They are ranked third in batting average (.281), slugging percentage (.513), on base percentage (.387), runs scored (133), and home runs (36).

WASTE NO TIME

The Rebels are outscoring opponents 59-20 in the first inning and 91-41 over the first two innings of games this season, jumping on opponents early. They are 18-4 when scoring in the first inning and 23-3 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 nine. 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 on April 9. 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 4.43 while striking out 44 batters over 40.2 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.

STAY GOLDEN

Hunter Elliott was named to the Golden Spike Midseason Watch List by USA Baseball earlier this month. He is the seventh Rebel ever to be named to the Watch List and the first since Jacob Gonzalez in 2023.

Elliott has a 5-1 record in nine starts this season, posting a 3.92 ERA, 53 strikeouts and a .207 batting average against. The Tupelo native has allowed the eighth-fewest runs in the SEC at just 19 in 43.2 innings of work. He is also ranked 16th in the conference in ERA, 11th in opponent batting average, and 11th in strikeouts.

Elliott’s 53 total strikeouts and rate of 10.92 strikeouts per nine innings are both top 15 in the SEC. His seven runners picked off are the most in the SEC and the most by a Rebel pitcher in the Bianco Era (since 2001).

HUMP WEEK

Isaac Humphrey was named the SEC Player of the Week and the NCBWA Dick Howser Trophy Player of the Week after his huge weekend in Missouri.

Humphrey hit .389 (7-for-18) with four home runs, 13 RBI, and 21 total bases in four total games, including the Rebels’ midweek matchup with Southern Miss.

The senior went 1-for-3 with a double in Pearl before really heating up in Columbia. Humphrey hit .400 (6-for-15) with four home runs, 13 RBI, and 19 total bases as Ole Miss swept Missouri for their first conference sweep since 2022.

He came into the series with three total home runs on the season and more than doubled his total with four long balls in three games. He launched two home runs in the series-clinching win on Saturday for the first multi-home run game of his career.

Humphrey drove in 13 of the Rebels’ 40 runs scored in the series, a whopping 32.5 percent of the scoring.

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.

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.