Ole Miss Takes on Southern Miss in Pearl

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

Ole Miss baseball returns to the diamond on Tuesday as they travel down I-55 to take on in-state rival the Southern Miss Golden Eagles in Pearl. The first pitch is set for 6 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN+.

This will be the first of two-games at Trustmark Park this season for the Rebels.

Ole Miss (15-9, 0-6 SEC) looks to bounce back after being swept by then No. 3 Florida at home at Swayze. The Rebels went into the series as the No. 13 team in the nation and dropped out of D1Baseball.com Top 25 Poll.

The Gators outscored the Rebels 28-19 over the three-game series.

Kemp Alderman is ranked eighth in the SEC in RBI with 34 RBI in 24 games. He is averaging 1.42 RBI per game. Alderman is also ranked eighth in the SEC in home runs with 10, one short of his 2022 total.

Southern Miss rolls into Pearl with a 14-9 overall record and a 3-3 mark in Sun Belt Conference. The Golden Eagles took the front end of the series against Georgia Southern over the weekend.

USM has two sluggers hitting over .330 this season, led by Tate Parker with a .354 average and Slade Wilks at .333 on the season.

The pitching matchup will showcase the arm of right-hander Sam Tookoian for the Rebels versus RHP Billy Oldham for Southern Miss.

Ole Miss and the Golden Eagles are meeting for the second time this season after last year’s NCAA Super Regional matchup. The Rebels defeated Southern Miss 11-5 on March 7, in Oxford.

The two clubs have met on the diamond 132 times with the Rebels holding a 80-53 advantage in the all-time series. The Rebels have won the last four contests between the two teams and five of the last six.