HottyToddy.com’s Daily Ole Miss Sports Roundup

HottyToddy.com is giving readers a roundup of all the commentary and information about the Ole Miss Rebels from various publications around the Web.

Readers will be able to check out the latest information in a single post every day throughout the year. Here at HottyToddy.com, we are doing all the leg work to find the information that people may want to hear about Ole Miss sports.

Today’s roundup features Ole Miss Sports, OMSpirit, Clarion-Ledger and Gridiron Now.

Oregon State LB transfer expected to compete for starting MLB job at Ole Miss

Photo courtesy of John Bowen

Oregon State linebacker transfer Rommel Mageo inked with Ole Miss last month. This weekend he finally got a chance to visit his new home.

Mageo started 10 games last year for the Beavers and registered 87 tackles. His best games were the two biggest – rival Oregon and Michigan. The 6-foot-2, 245-pound middle linebacker has one year of eligibility left and he hopes to make the best out of it at Ole Miss.

He’s expected to fight for the starting job at middle linebacker.  Inside the video he talks about his goals for his senior season, how his first trip to Ole Miss is going, and how he fits into the Rebels’ defensive schemes.

Courtesy of Yancey Porter and OMSpirit.com

Ole Miss’ Chad Kelly undergoes surgery

Photo by John Bowen

Quarterback Chad Kelly underwent surgery to repair a sports hernia last week and will miss the remainder of spring workouts, which conclude Saturday.

The surgery isn’t expected to keep him out for an extended period of time or impact his status for Ole Miss’ season opener on Sept. 5 against Florida State. However, it leaves the Rebels with just two scholarship quarterbacks for the rest of the spring, which ends on Saturday with a scrimmage. Ole Miss is not having a “Grove Bowl” spring game this year because of construction at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.

Chuck Rounsaville of Ole Miss Spirit first reported the news.

Redshirt freshman Jason Pellerin and true freshman Shea Patterson have split second-team snaps during spring workouts. The Rebels also have redshirt senior Drew Davis, a walk-on.

Kelly completed 65.1 percent of his passes for 4,042 yards and 31 touchdowns against 13 interceptions and rushed 107 times for 500 yards and 10 touchdowns last fall. He broke or tied 14 Ole Miss single-season records last season, including total yards and passing yards.

Courtesy of Daniel Paulling and the Clarion-Ledger

Chad Kelly’s mindset: ‘I am the best quarterback in the nation’

Chad Kelly
Photo by John Bowen

The calendar has turned to April, meaning we have three weeks left in Spring Practice. There is a lot going on, so let’s get to it. Here is your Monday Morning Briefing:

1. Chad Kelly believes he’s the nation’s best quarterback. And that’s a good thing.

I sat down with Ole Miss quarterback Chad Kelly last week for a column I’m going to do later in the month. But this little nugget jumped out at me when I was transcribing the tape.

Kelly had a great season in 2015, leading the SEC in total offense (4,542 yards, 8.04 yards per play). Only Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel has posted more total yards in a season (5,116 in 2012 and 4,873 in 2013).

But Kelly was especially good in the second half of the season. He threw 13 interceptions on the year, but only one in the last four games, and that one, coach Hugh Freeze told me, was because the receiver didn’t continue a route.

Courtesy of Tony Barnhart and GridironNow.com

Ole Miss Takes Care of Mississippi State to Claim Rival Series

Photo by Joshua McCoy/Ole Miss Athletics
@olemisspix

Ole Miss rallied for a total team effort cruising past rival Mississippi State, 9-5, Monday night at Nusz Park in front of a national TV audience in the SEC’s Game of the Week.

After Mississippi State (21-15, 2-7 SEC) took an early 2-0 advantage, the Rebels (28-10, 4-5 SEC) posted runs in four different frames and never looked back winning the series over the Bulldogs for the second-straight year. The series victory also marked just the second time in school history and first time since 2006-07 the Rebels won back-to-back series over their rival.

While the Rebel offense tied its season high with 15 hits on the night, senior Madi Osias carried the load for Ole Miss totaling over 300 pitches on the weekend to move to 15-3 on the year. She entered in relief of starter Elisha Jahnke, and totaled 6.1 innings with three earned runs allowed off five hits and seven strikeouts. It was her second win of the weekend as she gave up just four runs to the Bulldogs in the three contests.

On the offensive side, the top of the Rebel order in Elantra Cox and Hailey Lunderman paced the way for a potent offense as the duo, along with Alex Schneider, all set new career highs in hits. Cox went 4-for-5 from the leadoff spot with two RBI and three runs scored, while Lunderman was 4-for-5 with two RBI and one run. Schneider finished the game 3-for-4 with two RBI and three runs off her two-run home run.

Freshman Ashton Lampton also found her groove again at the plate finishing 2-for-4 with one RBI, and just missed a three-hit night after a hard line drive back to the MSU pitcher was snared. Natalie Martinez also finished the contest with two RBI off one hit.

After the Bulldogs tacked on two runs early in the first, Ole Miss started pouring it on a half inning later. Schneider got it going with her first hit of the night, before coming home to score on Lampton’s RBI single. Cox then kept the RBI train going on a single of her own, before Lunderman’s hit made it a 3-2 game.

The Bulldogs threatened in the second after a one-out triple down the line in left, but after Courtney Syrett thwarted a bunt attempt at home, Osias worked out of the jam with a strikeout to keep it 3-2.

The Rebels wasted no time in their next chance at the plate thanks to Schneider’s two-run blast that made it 5-2. Cox again led off the fourth, and after Lunderman reached on a single to center, Miranda Strother grounded to second but was safe on a fielders choice. Martinez then delivered with her two RBI on a single to left giving the Rebels a 7-2 advantage.

Mississippi State cut the lead back to three runs in the fifth when Seitz got a two-run home run to left, but the Rebels again answered in the seventh thanks to RBI doubles from Cox and Lunderman.

Ole Miss was efficient under pressure, plating seven of the nine runs with two outs. The Rebels also struck out just four times on the night.

On Deck
Ole Miss returns home to the Ole Miss Softball Complex next weekend for a three-game set against the two-time defending national champion, No. 1 Florida.

For all Ole Miss Softball news and information, go to OleMissSports.com and follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissSoftball, on Facebook at Ole Miss Softball and on Instagram at Instagram.com/olemisssoftball. Fans can also follow head coach Mike Smith on Twitter at @msmithsb16. Additionally fans can get a behind the scenes look at Ole Miss Athletics on Snapchat under the handle, @WeAreOleMiss.

Courtesy of Ole Miss Sports

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