OXFORD, Miss. — No. 18 Ole Miss travels to Columbia, Mo., this weekend for their first road series of the season.
First pitch on Friday is set for 6 p.m. while both Saturday and Sunday are set for 4 p.m.
LEADING OFF
• Ole Miss split the season series with No. 19 Southern Miss on Tuesday, dropping their second matchup 6-2 at Trustmark Park.
• Cade Townsend made his first career start in the loss, working three innings and striking out five batters.
• Mitchell Sanford hit .455 with two home runs and a 1.182 slugging percentage in the last weekend’s series against Arkansas.
• Sanford is hitting .368 (7-for-19) with two home runs, two triples, and seven RBI over his last five games.
• Hunter Elliott is now 4-0 on the season, after working five innings and striking out eight batters last Friday against Arkansas.
• Ole Miss was ranked in four of the five polls this week with the highest being No. 18 by D1Baseball and the USA Today coaches’ poll. The Rebels were also slotted at No. 19 in the Baseball America poll and No. 24 in the NCBWA poll.
• The Rebels won 13 games in a row from February 16 to March 9, their longest winning streak since they won 16 in a row during the 2020 season.
• Isaac Humphrey and Hayden Federico are each riding 17-game on base streaks.
Ole Miss’ offense comes into the week ranked 10th in the NCAA in home runs and home runs per game with 39 total long balls over 20 games.
• They are also ranked 31st in the NCAA in walks having drawn 120 free passes this season.
Hayden Federico is 41st in the country and 5th in the SEC, averaging one walk per game.
• The pitching staff is ranked eighth in the NCAA in strikeouts per nine innings, averaging 12.0 punchouts per game.
• Hunter Elliott’s 33 total strikeouts are 12th-most in the SEC and his 12.21 K/9 is top 10 in the conference.
• Collin Reuter and Missouri’s Pierre Seals were teammates on USA Baseball’s 2015 12U National Team. The pair helped Team USA win a gold medal at the WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup.
PROJECTED PITCHING MATCHUPS
Game 1: LHP Hunter Elliott (4-0, 2.22 ERA) vs. LHP Ian Lohse (0-3, 7.15 ERA)
Game 2: RHP Riley Maddox (3-2, 4.03 ERA) vs. LHP Wil Libbert (1-2, 7.41 ERA)
Game 3: RHP Mason Nichols (1-0, 3.66 ERA) vs. TBA
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Friday and Saturday’s games will be streamed live on SEC Network+ with Matt Pauley (PxP) and Dylan Kelly (analyst) on the call. Sunday’s game will be on SEC Network with Anish Shroff (PxP) and Lance Cormier (analyst) on the call.
Fans can also listen to all the games on the Ole Miss Radio Network with Eli Savoie (PxP) and Brad Henderson (analyst) on the call.
SCOUTING REPORT
Kerrick Jackson is in his second season as the coach of the Missouri Tigers after spending the 2023 season leading the Memphis Tigers.
Missouri is currently 8-11 overall and 0-3 in conference play after being swept by then-No. 1 LSU in Baton Rouge last weekend. Outfielder Cayden Nicoletto leads the team offensively, hitting .392 with 16 runs scored and 11 RBI. 21 different players have debuted for the Tigers through their first 19 games of the season.
The last series between the two teams took place in 2023 in Columbia. The Rebels and the Tigers combined for 70 runs as Missouri took the first two game to win the series. Calvin Harris hit a program-record four home runs in the Sunday finale as Ole Miss won 20-14.
ON THE PATH
Both Isaac Humphrey and Hayden Federico have reached base in 17 consecutive games, with Humphrey’s streak dating all the way back to the second game of the season against Texas.
Federico has reached base in every game he has played in to start his career and had four walks on Sunday against Arkansas. The freshman leads the team in on-base percentage at .494.
ENTER SANDMAN
Rebel closer Connor Spencer has made seven appearances out of the bullpen and has yet to allow an earned run. He gave up his first hit of the season on Sunday against Arkansas. He is tied for second in the SEC in active career saves with 12 total over his three seasons of DI baseball.
WASTE NO TIME
The Rebels are outscoring opponents 29-9 in the first inning and 51-13 over the first two innings of games this season, jumping on opponents early. They are 10-2 when scoring in the first inning and 13-1 when they score the first run of a game.
NEVER SAFE
The Rebel pitching staff has picked off eight runners this season, surpassing its totals from each of the last two seasons already. Hunter Elliott leads the team with four pick offs, Riley Maddox has two, and Mason Nichols and Walker Hooks each have one.
GET US STARTED
Ole Miss’ starting rotation of Hunter Elliott, Riley Maddox, and Mason Nichols are sporting a combined ERA of 3.26 through the first five weeks of the season. They have allowed just 24 earned runs and struck out 83 batters over 66.1 innings of work. Elliott and Nichols have each reached the 10 punchout mark in a start this season, tying or setting new career-highs.
RETURN OF THE KING
Hunter Elliott was named the Dick Howser Trophy National Pitcher of the Month by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association for the month of February.
Elliott made three starts in the opening month of the season, working at least five innings and picking up the win in each. He only allowed six total hits and did not allow a run, earned or otherwise, to score.
Elliott was one of 17 qualified pitchers in the NCAA to not allow an earned run this season and one of just four to not allow an earned run while working 16+ innings. He was also just one of 11 to not allow a run at all, earned or unearned.
On February 14, Elliott made his first start since April of 2023 shutting out No. 21 Arizona over five innings in Texas. He allowed just two hits and struck out three Wildcats on the way to his first win since February of 2023.
The following weekend Elliott had everything working against Eastern Kentucky in his first start at Swayze Field in almost 700 days. He tied his career-high with 10 strikeouts over six innings, allowed just three hits and not issuing a single free pass. He faced just one batter over the minimum as he picked off two of the three baserunners he allowed.
POWER SURGE
Judd Utermark hit two home runs in the Rebels’ win over Murray State, giving him his first multi-home run game of his career. He hit four home runs in four-consecutive games from February 28 to March 5, hitting five total during that time. He joins Andrew Fischer, Logan Power, and Michael Rosamond as the only Rebels to hit a home run in four-straight games since 1997.
PRESEASON ALL-SEC
Hunter Elliott was named to the 2025 Preseason All-SEC Team as one of five starting pitchers named to the Second Team.
Elliott is the first Rebel to be named to the Preseason All-SEC Team since Jacob Gonzalez in 2023 and the first Rebel pitcher to earn the honor since Parker Caracci in 2019.
Since being named a three-time Freshman All-American in 2022, Elliott has been sidelined for nearly two full seasons with an elbow injury. In 2022, Elliott set an Ole Miss freshman record for strikeouts in a season with 102. He finished second on the team with a 2.70 ERA over 20 appearances.
FRESHMEN READY TO MAKE AN IMPACT
The 2025 freshman class was named the No. 4 class in the country by three different publications: D1Baseball, Baseball America, and Perfect Game. They are one of five SEC classes in the top 10 and the third-highest ranked in the conference.
The class includes Hayden Federico, Owen Hancock, Walker Hooks, Cooper Johnson, Jackson Miller, Brett Moseley, Owen Paino, Jake Reigert, Tate Sirmans, Ethan Surowiec, and Cade Townsend.
Owen Paino is arguably the most heralded on the list as he was also named the No. 48 overall shortstop in the country by D1Baseball, No. 6 on Perfect Game’s 2027 MLB Draft Board, No. 7 on Perfect Game’s Fresh Arrivals On Campus, No. 8 on Perfect Game’s Top 75 Collegiate Freshmen, and No. 12 on Baseball America’s Top 25 College Baseball Freshmen.
TRANSFER TO THE SIP
Ole Miss’ 2025 roster features 10 new transfers from Division I, Division II, and JUCO ranks.
Mitchell Sanford, a transfer from New Orleans, and Isaac Humphrey, a transfer from Louisville, were both ranked on D1Baseball’s Top 50 Transfer Impact Hitters. D1Baseball also named them as two of the Top 35 outfielders in the country.
Sanford is the reigning Southland Hitter of the Year and was also named to the All-Southland First Team and All-Defensive Team in 2024 after hitting .381 with New Orleans last year. Humphrey played three seasons at Louisville where he hit .300 in 166 games in his career.
Will McCausland, a transfer from Saint Joseph’s, was named to D1Baseball’s Top 85 Transfer Impact Pitchers after playing two seasons for the Hawks. Ryan Moerman, an outfielder from Illinois, is a two-time All-Big Ten Second Team honoree who has played in 129 career games.
Alex Canney, a pitcher from Division II National Champions Tampa, is a three-time All-American and six-time All-South Region award winner.
The combined newcomer class of both transfers and freshmen was ranked No. 10 in the country by Baseball America.
Information from Ole Miss Sports is included in this story.
