Rebels Travel to Baton Rouge to Open the SEC Slate

Photo courtesy Joshua McCoy, Ole Miss Athletics

The Ole Miss Rebel baseball travels down to the Bayou this weekend to open up SEC play against No. 1 LSU.

Ole Miss (9-7) enters the weekend versus the Tigers after splitting the mid-week contests with No. 8 Louisville, winning Wednesday’s game 8-3.

The Rebel third baseman has seen a great start to the 2015 season, reaching base in each of the last 14 games. Freshman Kyle Watson continues to lead the team in batting average, hitting at a .350 clip in doubles with 6 and in runs scored with 13.

No. 1 LSU welcomes in Ole Miss for a weekend series with a 16-1 overall record, winning the past 13 games. On Wednesday, the Tigers downed McNeese State 7-0 in their only mid-week game so far.

As a team, LSU leads the conference in hitting at a .322 clip which is sixth-best in the country. The Tigers also have seven players in the lineup batting over .300, they are all lead by senior catcher Kade Scivicque.

LSU’s pitching staff is made up of two freshman and a sophomore, carrying a 2.00 ERA which is second-best in the conference.

On the mound this weekend, the Tigers will start southpaw sophomore Jared Poche on Friday, and two freshmen righties in Alex Lange and Jake Godfrey respectively will take the hill Saturday and Sunday. Coach Mike Bianco is going to give the ball to Christian Trent and Brady Bramlett on Friday and Saturday, but has not announced a starter for Sunday’s game.

The Tigers do hold an advantage in the all-time series against the Rebels at 168-148. Last year, LSU won the series 2-1 in Oxford.

The backend of this three game series will be carried on SEC Network with first pitch set for 7 p.m. on Saturday and 3 p.m. on Sunday. Fans can also hear every pitch on the Ole Miss Radio Network starting tonight at 7 p.m.

Adam Brown is Hottytoddy.com sports editor and can be reached at adam.brown@hottytoddy.com.