No. 12 Ole Miss Takes on the Aggies in the Lone Star State

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

No. 12 Ole Miss travels to the Lone Star State of Texas to face the Texas A&M Aggies in a three-game SEC West series tilt this weekend. The first pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. Friday on SEC Network+.

Ole Miss (32-12, 13-8 SEC) is riding a five-game winning streak that includes a sweep over then-No. 13 South Carolina last weekend. The Rebels defeated Arkansas State 15-12 in an offensive showdown on Tuesday night.

This season, Ole Miss leads the conference in team batting average at .304, including a league-best .304 in conference play. Ole Miss hit .289 vs. a Gamecock pitching staff that has allowed a .218 average for the season (.223 vs. SEC).

Ole Miss is led at the plate by TJ McCants with a .352 average. Junior left-fielder Kevin Graham is tied with the team captain Tim Elko in home runs with nine. Graham has the team-high in RBIs with 38.

Texas A&M (25-22, 5-16 SEC) are coming off of an 8-4 victory over UT Arlington on Tuesday night following being swept by Mississippi State last weekend.

At the dish, the Aggies have three batters hitting over .300 all led by Roy Alejo with a .342 average. Senior Will Frizzell leads the Aggies in home runs (13) and RBI (36).

Texas A&M has scored a total of 290 runs on the season with 416 hits.

Ole Miss will send Gunnar Hoglund (Friday) and Doug Nikhazy (Saturday) to the mound to face the Aggies. Coach Mike Bianco has not announced Sunday’s starter. Texas A&M will go with a duo of southpaw pitchers in Dustin Sanez and Chris Weber on Friday and Saturday respectively. The Aggies are TBA about Sunday’s hurler.

These two programs have met on the diamond 29 times with Ole Miss holding a 16-13 advantage in the all-time series. The Rebels have won the last six meetings in the series, nine of the last 10 and each of the past three series. 

Game times for this series are Friday at 6:30 p.m. (SEC Network+), Saturday at 11 a.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. on ESPNU.