No. 4 Ole Miss Close Out the 2018 Regular Season at Alabama

Thomas Dillard. Photo by Steven Gagliano

The No. 4 Ole Miss Rebels take the diamond this evening in Tuscaloosa for the final 2018 regular season three-game series against the Alabama Crimson Tide. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. on the SEC Network+.

Ole Miss (40-13, 16-11 SEC) rolls into the game after defeating Arkansas State 15-8 on Tuesday night. The Rebels had Grae Kessinger, Thomas Dillard, Michael Fitzsimmons and Tyler Keenan all hit the ball out of the park in the game.
Dillard has produced more runs than any other player in the SEC with a combined 106 RBI and runs scored.
Ole Miss’ third baseman, Keenan hit .556 with two home runs, two doubles and six RBI last week to earn SEC Player of the Week honors to go along with back-to-back Freshman of the Week nods in April. He’s the only freshman in the conference to be named POTW this season.
The diamond Rebels are a game behind Arkansas in the chase for the SEC West Division crown. Arkansas faces Georgia this weekend.
Alabama (26-27, 7-20 SEC) is coming into this weekend after dropping last weekends series in Baton Rouge to the LSU Tigers. The Crimson Tide took game two of the series 6-1, but dropped the first and third game.
Alabama’s offense is paced by Cobie Vance who is hitting .297 on the season with 63 hits, 10 doubles and six home runs. His teammate, Chandler Avant holds the team lead with 36 RBI and is hitting at a .288 clip with 14 doubles. The Crimson Tide’s power on offense has come from Chandler Taylor with 12 home runs on the season.
Alabama does hold an advantage against Ole Miss in all-time series at 198-151-2. Last season, the Rebels swept the Crimson Tide last season in Oxford. The home team has won the last five series between Alabama and Ole Miss. The Rebels last won a series in Tuscaloosa in 2012, taking the first and third games.
The probable pitching matchup for this weekends series will have LHP Ryan Rolison (tonight), RHP Brady Feigl (Friday) and James McArthur (Saturday) on the mound for the Rebels. Alabama will send to the hill RHP Sam Finnerty (tonight), RHP Jake Walters (Friday) and LHP Garret Rukes (Saturday).
Game times are set for tonight and Friday at 6 p.m. and Saturday at 1 p.m. with all the games on SEC Network +. Fans can also listen to all the action on the Ole Miss Radio Network.

Adam Brown is the sports editor of HottyToddy.com. He can be reached at adam.brown@hottytoddy.com.