Ole Miss Opens 2014 Baseball Season At Stetson University

This weekend the Diamond Rebels open their 2014 baseball season in the sunshine state of Florida in a three-game series against Stetson University.
Ole Miss is opening the season on the road for the third time in the Mike Bianco era. The Rebels are returning six starters from the offensive lineup and 11 pitchers from last year’s squad that ended last season 38-24.
The Rebels batted .277 as a team last season. Senior shortstop Austin Anderson hit .310 and returns as Ole Miss’s top hitter.
The Stetson Hatters start the 2014 season with a complete starting rotation and six position players from last year’s squad that finished 26-31. The Hatters finished fifth in the Atlantic Sun Conference.
Returning Stetson sophomore Patrick Mazeika, who hit .382 as a freshman with three homeruns and 33 RBI, started in 57 games. With those numbers, Mazeika received Freshman of the Year honors from the Atlantic Sun Conference. The Hatters are also returning pitcher Austin Perez, who led the team on the mound 7-2 and a 2.81 ERA with two shutouts.
As a club last season, the Hatters hit for an average of .263 with seven home runs, 223 RBI’s and 75 doubles.
Coach Mike Bianco is sending to the mound this weekend: (Friday) RHP Chris Ellis, (Saturday) LHP Christian Trent, (Sunday) RHP Sam Smith. While Stetson will send: RHP Kurt Schluter, LHP Austin Perez and RHP Josh Powers.
The Rebels come in with a record of 12-1 in season openers under Coach Bianco. The lone loss came in the 2010 season to Louisiana Monroe.
First pitch of every game in this series are slated for: Friday at 5:30 p.m. CT, Saturday at 1 p.m. CT and Sunday at 11 a.m. CT.  Fans can listen to every pitch of the game on the Ole Miss Radio Network.
–Adam Brown, Sports Editor of HottyToddy.com, adam.brown@hottytoddy.com