As baseball season kicks into gear, Ole Miss prepares for an extended homestand before SEC play begins.
The Rebels will take on UT Martin tonight in a game that could get out of hand quickly for the Skyhawks. The first midweek game of the season against Arkansas State last Tuesday proved to be no challenge for the Diamond Rebs, who came away with a convincing 15-3 victory.
This game should be no different against an opponent picked to finish last in the Ohio Valley conference in their preseason coaches’ poll.
The Skyhawks are 3-3 this season, losing two out of three to South Dakota State before winning two of three against North Alabama this past weekend. Their three wins have all been by just one run, including a pair of 1-0 victories over UNA. They have scored three runs or fewer in four of their six games so far this season and will need to get hot if they want the game to be competitive.
Ole Miss enters the game 4-2 on the young season and has gotten off to a shaky start with some inconsistent starting pitching. After Houston Roth was sidelined for opening weekend with a shoulder injury, ace Will Ethridge missed the second weekend of the season with a blister on his throwing hand.
Even when the starters are healthy, there is no guarantee that they will have a good outing.
Ethridge was phenomenal in his only start, but junior lefty Zack Phillips, who was expected to be the Rebs’ regular Saturday starter, gave up five runs in 2.2 innings in his first outing. His second was not much better, as he surrendered four runs in 4.1 innings of work.
Freshman Gunnar Hoglund gave up three runs in both of his starts this season, managing just two and four innings in those games. Oxford native Houston Roth gave up five runs on eight hits in 2.2 innings in his first start on Saturday. The Rebels will have to shore up these pitching concerns if they want to compete for a spot in the College World Series this summer.
While the pitching has been lackluster for Ole Miss so far this season, the bats have been hot in nearly every game. The Diamond Rebs have scored five or more runs in all of their games this season and have hit double digits in half of those.
The team is batting .294 with a .904 on-base plug slugging (OPS) and 12 home runs. Most of this damage has come from junior Thomas Dillard, who was named SEC Player of the Week and Collegiate Baseball Player of the Week this week. He is hitting .522 this season with a 1.824 OPS, four home runs and 15 RBIs. Senior Ryan Olenek has also performed well, posting a .435 average with a 1.117 OPS, five RBIs and 10 runs scored.
Sophomore Tyler Keenan has continued to impress in his second year in Oxford after being named a Freshman All-American in 2018. This season, he is hitting .320 with a 0.925 OPS, three home runs and 11 RBIs. The offense will need to continue to excel at least until the team can get into a rhythm on the mound.
The Rebels will face UT Martin today at 4 p.m. at Swayze Field.
