By Adam Brown
Sports Editor
adam.brown@hottytoddy.com
No. 9 Ole Miss returns to the diamond this weekend as they play host to the Princeton Tigers in the last non-conference three-game series tilt prior to conference action. The first pitch is set for this evening at 6:30 p.m. on SEC Network +.
Ole Miss (11-1) has been rolling over the past 11 games in all phases since the opening day loss to then No. 1 Louisville. The Rebels are coming off of an 8-1 victory over the Memphis Tigers on Tuesday night.
Three weeks into the season, Ole Miss’ offense is red hot at the plate as they sit at No. 4 in the nation with 21 home runs and are second in the SEC behind the Tennessee Volunteers with 24 dingers.
Junior shortstop Anthony Servideo leads the team in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging, runs scored, total bases, home runs, stolen bases, walks and hits. His teammate Tyler Keenan is tied with the club lead with 14 RBIs after hitting .529 with two home runs and five RBIs on a tremendous week three.
Princeton (0-4) opened their season last weekend as they took on Penn State in a four-game series. The Tigers were outscored 39-8.
Princeton is led at the plate by sophomore Eric Marasheski who is toting a .300 average and a .400 slugging percentage with three base knocks and double. His teammate junior Sy Snedeker has the lone bomb on the team this season.
At the plate, Princeton is hitting at a .149 clip with 18 hits and 45 strikeouts.
The Tiger defense is fielding at a .945 percentage with seven errors in the opening series.
The probable pitching matchup for this weekend will showcase the arms of LHP Doug Nikhazy (tonight), RHP Gunnar Hoglund (Saturday) and RHP Derek Diamond (Sunday). Ole Miss’ ace Nikhazy takes the mound with a 2-1 record in 17 innings tossed with a 3.18 ERA. The sophomore southpaw has surrendered six runs on nine hits and allowed six free passes while striking out 19 sluggers.
Princeton will send to the bump RHP Andrew Gnazzo (tonight), RHP James Proctor (Saturday) and LHP Conor Nolan. Gnazzo is 0-1 on the season with a 15.00 ERA with two strikeouts and five walks.
This is the first-ever meeting between the Rebels and the Tigers on the diamond.
Fans can watch every pitch on the SEC Network + or listen to the call on the Ole Miss Radio Network. For live in-game updates follow HottyToddySprts on Twitter.
