Rebels Ready for Top 15 SEC Series at Swayze this Weekend

Ryan Olenek. Photo by Steven Gagliano

No. 7 Ole Miss welcomes in the No. 12 Georgia Bulldogs for an SEC series tilt at Swayze Field this weekend.

Ole Miss (30-8, 8-7 SEC) improved to 11-0 in midweek action after a 10-3 victory on over Arkansas State Wednesday.
Junior Ryan Olenek is on a 16-game hitting streak, the second-longest active streak in the SEC. He’s hitting .508 in league play, the conference’s second-best mark. Olenek 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 19 multi-hit games. Over his streak, he is hitting .540 with an OPS of 1.257.
The Rebels third baseman Tyler Keenan has been the best-hitting freshman in SEC play. Keenan leads all SEC freshmen in batting average, slugging and on-base percentage in league play. He has homered in Game 3 in each of the Rebels’ last four SEC series.
This season, Ole Miss is hitting at a .305 clip in league play, that is the second-best mark in the SEC.
Georgia heads into Oxford with a 26-11 overall record and a 9-6 mark in conference play. The Bulldogs picked up a 6-1 win over Clemson Tuesday. Last weekend, Georgia took two-of-three games from the Kentucky Wildcats in Athens.
The Bulldogs are a balanced ball club, led offensively by senior outfielder Keegan McGovern. McGovern leads UGA hitting .339 with 12 home runs and 42 runs scored. His teammate Michael Curry is dangerous at the plate as well with a .322 average, seven homers and a team-best 37 RBIs.
Sophomore Aaron Schunk is one of the most important figures on the club for Georgia. Schunk is an aggressive .293 hitter with eight doubles and 43 knocks on the season. He also serves as a closer for the Bulldogs with five saves and a 2.12 ERA.
The Rebels and the Bulldogs have met on the diamond 78 times prior to this evening with Ole Miss holding a slight advantage in the all-time series at 40-38. Ole Miss and UGA last met for a three-game series in Athens in 2016, where the Rebels won two of three. The Rebels also topped the Bulldogs 5-1 in the first round of the SEC Tournament that year. UGA last made the trip to Swayze Field in 2014, and the Rebels took two of three in that series as well.
The probable pitching matchup for this weekend has RHP Chase Adkins (tonight), RHP Emerson Hancock (Saturday) and LHP Ryan Webb (Sunday) for Georgia. Coach Mike Bianco will go with LHP Ryan Rolison (tonight), RHP Brady Feigl (Saturday) and RHP James McArthur (Sunday).
Game times for are set for 6:30 p.m. Friday and 1:30 p.m. for both Saturday and Sunday. 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.