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Diamond Rebs Take on No. 1 Vandy in Music City
The Ole Miss Rebel baseball team travels to the Music City of Nashville, Tennessee, to take on the No. 1 Vanderbilt Commodores this weekend.
Ole Miss (16-17, 5-7 SEC) enters the weekend after dropping Tuesday’s contest 6-5 against Southern Mississippi. Junior Connor Cloyd recorded a career-high three hits in his first game as the Rebels lead off hitter against the Golden Eagles.
Freshman Will Golsan is hitting at a .313 clip in the 29 games he’s played in this season, including 20 starts between second base, third base and designated hitter.
Ole Miss is 3-3 against the nation’s No. 1 team in 2015, including a series victory over then-No. 1 Florida.
Vanderbilt is off to a 27-7 start as the reigning national champions, including 10-2 in SEC play. The Commodores saw their six-game winning streak come to an end on Tuesday in a 3-1 non-conference loss to Lipscomb.
At the plate, four Commodores are hitting over a .340 clip with junior Dansby Swanson’s .368 average pacing the Vanderbilt bats. Swanson also has a team-high 12 steals as Vanderbilt leads the conference with a total of 56.
The probable pitching matchup for this weekend will showcase the arms of Christian Trent Thursday, Brady Bramlett Friday and Will Stokes on the mound for Ole Miss Saturday. While the Commodores will send Carson Fulmer tonight, Walker Buehler tomorrow and Jordan Sheffield on Saturday.
This is the second time out of four this season that the Rebels will play a Thursday through Saturday series in SEC play.
Vanderbilt swept the series against Ole Miss in 2013, but last season the Rebels defeated Vandy in the SEC baseball tournament.
Two of the three games vs. Vanderbilt will be broadcast on national television. Tonight’s game will air on ESPNU, while Saturday’s series finale will be an SEC Network broadcast.
Game times are set for 6:30 p.m. tonight, 6:30 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Saturday.
Adam Brown is HottyToddy.com sports editor and can be reached at adam.brown@hottytoddy.com.