No. 6 Ole Miss Baseball Travels to Memphis Tuesday Before Hosting Alcorn State Wednesday

OXFORD, Miss. – (Release) No. 6 Ole Miss Baseball begins a five-game week Tuesday night in Memphis with a rematch against the Memphis Tigers. It will then return home to Swayze Field to host Alcorn State on Wednesday. First pitch Tuesday is set for 6 p.m. while Wednesday is set for 4 p.m.

LEADING OFF

• Ole Miss won two out of three games in a rain-soaked road series against Kentucky last weekend.
• The Rebels have now won three-consecutive SEC series for the first time since 2018 when they opened conference play with three-straight wins.
• Ole Miss only allowed 10 runs over the three games; its fewest runs allowed in a conference series since it allowed just nine runs in a sweep of LSU in 2022.
• Friday’s 3-1 win in game two marked the first time Ole Miss has allowed one or fewer runs against a conference opponent since shutting out Arkansas in the 2022 College World Series.
• Ole Miss is now 8-4 in conference play, its best start since the 2021 season when it also started 8-4.
• With three SEC series wins under their belts, the Rebels have already matched their total from 2024 and 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. 6 in the D1Baseball poll, No. 7 in both the USA Today and Baseball America polls, No. 8 in the Perfect Game poll, and No. 9 in the NCBWA poll.
• In his last four outings, Walker Hooks has posted a 0.96 ERA, giving up just one run while striking out 13 batters over 9.1 innings.
• Luke Hill is on a nine-game hitting streak, hitting .425 with two home runs and eight RBI during that stretch.
• Ole Miss has hit 62 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 2.00 home runs per game.
• They are also ranked 19th in the NCAA and fifth in the SEC in slugging percentage at .536.
• The Rebels are ranked 11th in the NCAA and third in the SEC in total walks drawn with 214.
• Ole Miss’ pitching staff is ranked eighth in the NCAA and sixth in the SEC in strikeouts per nine innings, owning an 11.7 K/9.

PROJECTED PITCHING MATCHUPS

Game 1 vs. Memphis: LHP Gunnar Dennis (1-1, 5.25 ERA) vs. RHP Caden Robinson (1-2, 6.12 ERA)

Game 2 vs. Alcorn State: RHP Cade Townsend (0-0, 10.24 ERA) vs. TBA

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Tuesday’s game will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Jeff Brightwell (PxP) and Greg Gaston (analyst) on the call. Wednesday’s game will be streamed live on SEC Network+ with Jake Hromada (PxP) and Matt McLaughlin (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.

SCOUTING REPORT

Tuesday night will be the second meeting this season between Ole Miss and Memphis. The Rebels won the first matchup 7-5 in Oxford on March 25. Campbell Smithwick and Mitchell Sanford each hit home runs in that game.

The Tigers currently have a 12-19 (1-8 AAC) season record and are coming off a 13-8 win over South Florida last weekend. Ole Miss leads the all-time series over the Tigers, 103-57.

Alcorn State is led by head coach Carlton Hardy.

The Brave Hawks are 4-24 (0-12 SWAC) in the 2025 season and are coming off a 9-20 loss to Texas Southern University.

Ole Miss leads the all-time series over the Brave Hawks, 5-0. The last meeting between the opponents was April 12, 2023 where Ole Miss secured a 13-4 victory over Alcorn State in Oxford.

SO HOT RIGHT NOW

Luke Hill is currently riding a nine-game hitting streak and a 15-game on base streak. Over his last nine games, Hill is hitting .425 (17-for-40) with two home runs, eight RBI, three doubles, a triple, and eight walks.

Hill hit two home runs in last weekend’s series against Kentucky including the go-ahead, game-winning shot in the top of the 12th inning on Saturday.

WE’LL TAKE IT

Over their last 11 games, the Rebels have worked 78 walks and been hit by pitches 20 times for 98 total free passes.

They drew 18 walks last Tuesday night against Jackson State, one shy of the program record set last season against High Point. The Rebels have worked 20+ walks in two of their last three SEC series, drawing 22 against Missouri and 24 against Florida.

Ole Miss is ranked third in the SEC in total walks (189), fifth in hit by pitches (55), and fourth in on base percentage (.439).

WASTE NO TIME

The Rebels are outscoring opponents 39-13 in the first inning and 65-28 over the first two innings of games this season, jumping on opponents early. They are 14-2 when scoring in the first inning and 20-1 when they score the first run of a game.

NEVER SAFE

The Rebel pitching staff has picked off 13 runners this season, their highest total since 2009. Hunter Elliott leads the team with seven pickoffs, the most by a Rebel pitcher in the Bianco Era. Riley Maddox has three pickoffs while Cooper Johnson, Mason Nichols, and Walker Hooks each have one.

IN A PINCH

Will Furniss has made the most of his pinch-hitting opportunities, hitting .600 (3-for-5) in those situations.

He went 3-for-3 in pinch hit opportunities in the series against Missouri, hitting a three-RBI home run on Saturday and a double on Sunday.

REBEL NATION, STAND UP

Ole Miss currently sports the fourth-highest attendance numbers in the NCAA, averaging 9,228 fans through the first 20 home games of the season. 184,550 total fans have already walked through the gates at Swayze Field through the first two months of the season.

SEC schools make up nine of the top 10 in attendance numbers with LSU, Arkansas, Mississippi State, and Ole Miss making up the top four.

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.