Baseball
Ole Miss to Host Little Rock on the Diamond
No. 18 Ole Miss returns home to start a five-game home stand to close out the regular season at Swayze as they play host to the Arkansas Little Rock Trojans.
By Adam Brown
Sports Editor
adam.brown@hottytoddy.com
No. 18 Ole Miss returns home to start a five-game homestand to close out the regular season at Swayze as they play host to the Arkansas Little Rock Trojans. The first pitch is set for Wednesday at 4 p.m. on SEC Network+.
Ole Miss (33-14) is coming off a weekend series loss at Texas A&M. The Rebels won game two 12-7 but dropped the series opener and finale by a lone run.
At the dish, Ole Miss is 16th in the nation and leads the SEC in batting average at .304, including a league-best .305 in conference play. Eight Rebels are hitting over .300 on the season. They also lead the SEC in hits, runs scored, on-base percentage and batting average. The Rebels are also top-five in the league in slugging percentage, doubles, walks, hit by pitch, sacrifice flies and runs per game.
On Monday, the Rebels pitching staff lost ace Gunnar Hoglund for the rest of the season after an MRI revealed a tear of the UCL. The staff is fourth nationally and third in the SEC in strikeouts per nine innings at 11.6. Ole Miss is second in the league and eighth in the country in strikeout-to-walk ratio at 3.39.
Arkansas Little Rock (19-19) comes into town on a two-game losing streak to Sam Houston over the weekend.
The Trojans are lead at the plate by John Michael Russell with a .318 average. His teammate Tyler Williams leads the club with seven home runs and 34 RBI on the season.
Arkansas Little Rock will send right-hander Luke Wallner to the mound to face the Rebels. Ole Miss will call on the arm of Josh Mallitz to face the Trojans lineup. Mallitz is 4-1 with a 6.85 ERA and 28 strikeouts to eight walks on the season.
These two programs have met on the diamond 24 times, with the Rebels holding a 19-5 advantage in the all-time series. Ole Miss won the first meeting in 1978, a 7-5 victory in Oxford. All 24 meetings have taken place in Oxford. The Rebels led from start to finish in an 11-6 victory the last time the two teams met earlier this season on April 20.
| Sat, Aug 31 |  | vs Furman | W, 76-0 |
| Sat, Sep 7 |  | vs Middle Tennessee | W, 52-3 |
| Sat, Sep 14 |  | @ Wake Forest | W, 40-6 |
| Sat, Sep 21 |  | vs Georgia Southern | W, 52-13 |
| Sat, Sep 28 |  | vs Kentucky | L, 20-17 |
| Sat, Oct 5 |  | @ South Carolina | W, 27-3 |
| Sat, Oct 12 |  | vs LSU | L, 29-26 (2 OT) |
| Sat, Oct 26 |  | vs Oklahoma | W, 26-14 |
| Sat, Nov 2 |  | @ Arkansas | W, 63-35 |
| Sat, Nov 16 |  | vs Georgia | W, 28-10 |
| Sat, Nov 23 |  | @ Florida | L, 24-17 |
| Sat, Nov 30 |  | vs Mississippi State | W, 26-14 |
| Thu, Jan 2 |  | vs Duke (Gator Bowl) | W, 52-20 |
| Mon, Nov 4 |  | vs Long Island University | W, 90-60 |
| Fri, Nov 8 |  | vs Grambling | W, 66-64 |
| Tue, Nov 12 |  | vs South Alabama | W, 64-54 |
| Sat, Nov 16 |  | vs Colorado State | W, 84-69 |
| Thu, Nov 21 |  | vs Oral Roberts | L, 100-68 |
| Thu, Nov 28 |  | vs BYU | W, 96-85 OT |
| Fri, Nov 29 |  | vs 13 Purdue | L, 80-78 |
| Tue, Dec 3 |  | @ Louisville | W, 86-63 |
| Sat, Dec 7 |  | vs Lindenwood | W, 86-53 |
| Sat, Dec 14 |  | vs Southern Miss | W, 77-46 |
| Tue, Dec 17 |  | vs Southern | W, 74-61 |
| Sat, Dec 21 |  | vs Queens University | W, 80-62 |
| Sat, Dec 28 |  | @ Memphis | L, 87-70 |
| Sat, Jan 4 |  | vs Georgia | 11:00 AM SECN |
| Wed, Jan 8 |  | @ 23 Arkansas | 6:00 PM TBA |
| Sat, Jan 11 |  | vs LSU | 5:00 PM SECN |
| Tue, Jan 14 |  | @ 5 Alabama | 6:00 PM TBA |
| Sat, Jan 18 |  | @ 17 Mississippi State | 5:00 PM TBA |
| Wed, Jan 22 |  | vs 13 Texas A&M | 8:00 PM TBA |
| Sat, Jan 25 |  | @ Missouri | 5:00 PM SECN |
| Wed, Jan 29 |  | vs Texas | 8:00 PM ESPN2 |
| Sat, Feb 1 |  | vs 2 Auburn | 3:00 PM TBA |
| Tue, Feb 4 |  | vs 10 Kentucky | 6:00 PM ESPN |
| Sat, Feb 8 | | @ LSU | 7:30 PM SECN |
| Wed, Feb 12 |  | @ South Carolina | 6:00 PM SECN |
| Sat, Feb 15 | | vs 17 Mississippi State | 5:00 PM TBA |
| Sat, Feb 22 |  | @ Vanderbilt | 2:30 PM SECN |
| Wed, Feb 26 | | @ 2 Auburn | 6:00 PM TBA |
| Sat, Mar 1 |  | vs 12 Oklahoma | 1:00 PM TBA |
| Wed, Mar 5 |  | vs 1 Tennessee | 8:00 PM TBA |
| Sat, Mar 8 |  | @ 6 Florida | 5:00 PM SECN |