Headlines
No. 7 Diamond Rebs Return to Swayze to Host Arkansas State
Ryan Olenek. Photo by Steven Gagliano
The No. 7 Ole Miss baseball team returns home this evening as they welcome in the Arkansas State Red Wolves for a mid-week contest on the diamond. First pitch is slated for 6:30 p.m.
Ole Miss (29-8) remained strong in the top 10 of most polls, including No. 7 rankings by ESPN/USA Today, Perfect Game and Baseball America. The Rebels did fall right outside of the top 10 in D1Baseball. At the end, of an eight-game road trip, Ole Miss was 4-4 including three losses by just one or two runs. Of the Rebels’ eight losses this year, seven have come by two runs or fewer.
Junior Ryan Olenek continues to have a hot bat at the plate by pushing his hitting streak out to 15-games, which is the second-longest active streak in the SEC. He’s hitting .508 in league play, the conference’s second-best mark. He leads the SEC in hits with 30, is statistically the toughest player to strike out in the league and is tied for the SEC lead with 18 multi-hit games. Over his streak, he is hitting .525 with an OPS of 1.227.
Arkansas State rolls into Oxford with a 12-20 overall record and 4-11 mark in the Sun Belt Conference after dropping a series at UT Arlington over the weekend.
The Red Wolves are led offensively in nearly every category by Kyle MacDonald. MacDonald is hitting .359 with 11 doubles, five home runs and 25 RBI and 33 runs scored in 31 games. His teammate Jeremy Brown is the only other player hitting over .300 at .309 on the season. He boasts 10 doubles as well, good for second on the team.
The probable pitching matchup for this evening will showcase the arm of RHP Zachary Patterson for Arkansas State. Patterson is 0-2 on the season with a 6.75 ERA. Coach Mike Bianco will send LHP Jordan Fowler to the mound. The southpaw is 3-0 on the year with a 3.94 ERA in 16.0 innings of work.
Ole Miss and Arkansas State are no strangers to one another on the diamond as they have met for the past 13 seasons in a home-and-home series. In the last game, the Red Wolves defeated Ole Miss 5-0 in Jonesboro. The Rebels lead the all-time series 72-23 over Arkansas State.
Fans can watch every pitch on the SEC Network + or listen to the call on the Ole Miss Radio Network.
Adam Brown is the sports editor of HottyToddy.com. He can be reached at adam.brown@hottytoddy.com.
| Mon, Nov 4 |  | vs Long Island University | W, 90-60 |
| 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 |