Sports
Ole Miss Opens Series Against Utah in the Oxford Regional
Picture by Bill Barksdale
This weekend opens the first run for all the teams to battle for that next step closer to competing in Omaha in two weeks.
The Ole Miss Rebels are facing the Utah Utes this Friday evening in game two of the Oxford Regional. The Rebels and the Utes will step in between the chalk thirty minutes after the conclusion of Tulane and Boston College.
Ole Miss is coming into this regional after being knocked out of the SEC Tournament in the semi finals by Texas A&M by the score of 12-5.
Let’s take a closer look at the Utes.
The Rebels will face Utah to begin NCAA Regional action Friday night. The Utes went 25-27 during the 2016 regular season, earning an automatic bid as the Pac-12 regular season champions. After being picked to finish 11th in the preseason Pac-12 poll, Utah shocked the conference by going 19-11 to win the crown. Utah is in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2009, when it was a member of the Mountain West Conference.
Four Utes are hitting over .300, led by a .328 average from Cody Scaggari. Scaggari is among the Pac-12 leaders in batting average (11th) as well as slugging percentage at .492 (10th). Utah will throw ace Jayson Rose Friday night, who leads the league with 102 strikeouts. Rose is 8-5 in 15 starts on the season, boasting a 2.62 ERA in 103.0 innings of work. Bill Kinneberg is in his 21st season as a head coach, including his 13th at Utah.
Coach Mike Bianco is going to send Brady Bramlett to the hill. Utah will be going with Jayson Rose who has a 2.62 ERA.
Ole Miss and Utah have never met on the diamond prior to this regional.
Fans can watch every game on SECN+ or listen to every pitch on the Ole Miss Radio Network.
Adam Brown is the sports editor for HottyToddy.com. He can be reached at adam.brown@hottytoddy.com.
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| Fri, Nov 8 |  | vs Grambling | W, 66-64 |
| Tue, Nov 12 |  | vs South Alabama | W, 64-54 |
| Sat, Nov 16 |  | vs Colorado State | W, 84-69 |
| Thu, Nov 21 |  | vs Oral Roberts | L, 100-68 |
| Thu, Nov 28 |  | vs BYU | W, 96-85 OT |
| Fri, Nov 29 |  | vs 13 Purdue | L, 80-78 |
| Tue, Dec 3 |  | @ Louisville | W, 86-63 |
| Sat, Dec 7 |  | vs Lindenwood | W, 86-53 |
| Sat, Dec 14 |  | vs Southern Miss | W, 77-46 |
| Tue, Dec 17 |  | vs Southern | W, 74-61 |
| Sat, Dec 21 |  | vs Queens University | W, 80-62 |
| Sat, Dec 28 |  | @ Memphis | L, 87-70 |
| Sat, Jan 4 |  | vs Georgia | W, 63-51 |
| Wed, Jan 8 |  | @ 23 Arkansas | W, 73-66 |
| Sat, Jan 11 |  | vs LSU | W, 77-65 |
| Tue, Jan 14 |  | @ 5 Alabama | W, 74-64 |
| Sat, Jan 18 |  | @ 17 Mississippi State | L, 81-84 |
| Wed, Jan 22 |  | vs 13 Texas A&M | L, 62-63 |
| Sat, Jan 25 |  | @ Missouri | L, 83-75 |
| Wed, Jan 29 |  | vs Texas | W, 72-69 |
| Sat, Feb 1 |  | vs 2 Auburn | L, 92-82 |
| Tue, Feb 4 |  | vs 10 Kentucky | W, 98-84 |
| Sat, Feb 8 | | @ LSU | 7:30 PM SECN |
| Wed, Feb 12 |  | @ South Carolina | 6:00 PM SECN |
| Sat, Feb 15 | | vs 17 Mississippi State | 5:00 PM TBA |
| Sat, Feb 22 |  | @ Vanderbilt | 2:30 PM SECN |
| Wed, Feb 26 | | @ 2 Auburn | 6:00 PM TBA |
| Sat, Mar 1 |  | vs 12 Oklahoma | 1:00 PM TBA |
| Wed, Mar 5 |  | vs 1 Tennessee | 8:00 PM TBA |
| Sat, Mar 8 |  | @ 6 Florida | 5:00 PM SECN |