Ole Miss Baseball Takes the Diamond Against Arkansas State Tonight

By Adam Brown
Sports Editor
adam.brown@hottytoddy.com

Tyler Keenan opened the 2019 campaign with a home run. Photo by Joshua McCoy/Ole Miss Athletics

The No. 10 ranked Ole Miss Rebels baseball team returns to the diamond of Swayze this afternoon to take on the Arkansas State Red Wolves. First pitch is set for 5 p.m.

Ole Miss opened up the 2019 season against the Wright State Raiders, but the series was cut short due to rain in the Oxford area. Both clubs took one game apiece. The Rebels took Friday nights game 10-1, and the Raiders evened the series with a 9-5 victory on Saturday.

Rebel fans saw the ball fly out of Swayze in the opening weekend as junior Thomas Dillard, junior Cooper Johnson, senior Ryan Olenek and sophomore Tyler Keenan all hit a home run each over both games.

Dillard was red-hot at the dish against the Raiders with a .833 average.

Arkansas State opened its 2019 season on a strong note, taking a 2-1 series win over Stephen F. Austin. The Red Wolves fell, 4-2, in Game 1, but came back with a decisive 11-2 victory in Game 2, as nine different players drove in a run in the victory. A-State then rallied from an early 3-0 deficit in Game 3 to squeak out a 7-6 win, using a three-run seventh inning and two scoreless innings by Kollin Stone to complete the comeback.

Sky-Lar Culver led the way, hitting .400 over the weekend with six RBI. Four A-State starters hit over .300 on opening weekend: Culver, Justin Felix (.364), Jaylon Deshazier (.333) and Kyle MacDonald (.333).

Ole Miss and Arkansas State are familiar foes on the diamond as this will be the 98 all-time meeting in the series. The Rebels lead the series 74-23 over the Red Wolves. Last time they stepped in between the chalk Ole Miss won 15-8 back on May 15, 2018.

The projected starters for this evening game will showcase the arm of right-hander Carter Holt for Arkansas State. Coach Mike Bianco will send to the mound freshman RHP Gunnar Hoglund. Hoglund was drafted in the first round of the 2018 MLB Draft by the Pittsburg Pirates and choose to come to Oxford.

Fans that are not able to make it out to the ballpark can listen to all the action on the Ole Miss Radio Network or watch all the action on SEC Network+.