Ole Miss Prepares for Matchup on the Diamond Against Southern Miss

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

Ole Miss baseball takes the diamond at Pete Taylor Park on Saturday to take on in-state rival the Southern Miss Golden Eagles in the Hattiesburg Super Regionals. The first pitch is set for 3 p.m. CT and can be seen on ESPNU.

Ole Miss (35-22) rolls into its third straight Super Regional appearance this weekend after making history last weekend in the Coral Gables Regional with their first road regional win in program history.

The Rebels swept through the Coral Gables field by beating Arizona twice 7-4 and 22-6 to move on in the field. Ole Miss also sent the host school Miami to the loser’s bracket after a 2-1 win on Sunday.

Tim Elko was named the Regional MVP after posting six extra base hits, seven runs and seven RBIs. Elko’s 2.111 slugging percentage led the nation during regionals, while his .778 batting average ranked second. Elko reached base after all six plate appearances in Monday’s win over Arizona, scoring six runs to tie the single-game record at Ole Miss. The Slugger hit three home runs in the game, the first three-homer game of his career and the first time a Rebel has done so in the NCAA Tournament.

Second baseman Peyton Chatagnier led the Rebels with 10 runs driven in during the regional, the fifth most by a player during the regional round. Chatagnier’s .538 batting average ranked 25th in the nation.

Last weekend, in the Ole Miss bullpen did not allow a single run over 12.1 innings.

Southern Miss (47-17) welcomes the Rebels into town after coming out of the loser’s bracket to knock of the LSU Tigers in the Hattiesburg Regional.

The Golden Eagles are led at the plate by sophomore Dustin Dickerson with a .326 average with 85 hits and 24 doubles with 32 RBIs.

As a club, Southern Miss is hitting .281 on the season with a total of 82 home runs.

The probable pitching matchup as right-hander Dylan DeLucia (Saturday), southpaw Hunter Elliott (Sunday) and TBA on a possible game three on Monday for the coach Mike Bianco and the Rebels. Southern Miss will give the ball to three right handers in Hurston Waldrep (Saturday), Tanner Hall (Sunday) and Hunter Riggins (Monday).

The Rebels and Golden Eagles have squared off 133 times previously, making Southern Miss the seventh most common opponent for Ole Miss, second most frequent outside of the SEC. The two sides squared off twice this season, with the Golden Eagles earning a 10-7 win over the Rebels at Trustmark Park in Pearl, Mississippi. A few weeks later, Ole Miss headed south for a visit to Pete Taylor Park, defeating 11th-ranked Southern Miss 4-1, the first of four-straight wins over ranked teams for the Rebels. Ole Miss and Southern Miss have faced off in NCAA Tournament play three times, all during the regional round. The first matchup came during the 2007 NCAA Oxford Regional, a 4-0 win for the Rebels at Swayze Field, the second of three straight as Ole Miss advanced. That would be the only postseason meeting until last season, when Southern Miss forced an in-necessary game with a 10-7 victory at the Oxford Regional. However, Ole Miss responded with a 12-9 win, once again sending the Rebels to Super Regionals.

Game times for this Super Regional on the Road to Omaha is Saturday (ESPNU) and Sunday at 3 p.m. CT and Monday an (if necessary) on ESPN family of network.