No. 13 Ole Miss Opens SEC Play at Home Against No.3 Florida

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

No. 13 Ole Miss returns to the diamond this weekend as they play host No.3 Florida at Swayze for a three-game series.

Due to the inclement weather the series will get underway on Saturday with a doubleheader starting at 1:30 p.m.

Ole Miss (15-6, 0-3 SEC) is coming off an 11-1 victory over Arkansas Pine Bluff on Tuesday night. The Rebels hit five home runs on 12 hits in the game.

As a team, Ole Miss has hit a total of 40 home runs and led by Kemp Alderman with nine. Alderman is ranked eighth in the SEC in RBI with 30 RBI in 21 games. He is averaging 1.43 RBI per game.

Ole Miss’ defense is ranked second in the SEC and 11^th in the NCAA in fielding percentage (.982).

Florida rolls into town with with a 19-4 record and a 2-1 mark in conference action. The Gators opened up the conference slate by taking the first two games of the series against No. 24 Alabama last weekend.

On Tuesday, the Gators defeated Florida State 9-5 on the road.

This season, Florida has hit a total of 51 home runs with Jac Cagilanone having 13 on on the season.

The pitching matchup this weekend will show case the arms of right-hander Brandon Sproat, RHP Hurston Waldrep and LHP Cagilianone for the Gators. Coach Mike Bianco will go with RHP Jack Dougherty, RHP Grayson Saunier and LHP Xavier Rivas.

The Rebels and the Gators have not played each other since April 1-3, 2021 in Gainsville. Ole Miss won just one game of that three-game set. Florida has not come to Oxford since April 5-6, 2019 when the Rebels swept all three games of that series.