Ole Miss Baseball will play its first elimination game of the NCAA Tournament against Troy today at 1 p.m. at Charles Schwab Field Omaha. The Rebels will send Hunter Elliott to the mound in hopes of keeping the season going.
The Trojans, from the Sun Belt Conference, opened the College World Series with a 7-5 loss to West Virginia. They won the Gainesville Regional with wins over Rider, Miami and host Florida to host a super regional, which they won in two games over Little Rock.
They went 38-30 (17-13 SBC) in the regular season and became the first team in history to reach the College World Series with 30 losses. Like Ole Miss in 2022, they were one of the last teams to qualify for the postseason.
Catcher Jimmy Janicki and shortstop Aaron Piasecki lead qualified Trojans with a 1.077 and .976 on-base plus slugging percentage percentage, respectively. Both players have over 90 hits and 60 runs scored.
With 20 homers and 86 runs batted in, Janicki is the biggest run-producer on the team. He batted fourth against West Virginia, compiling two hits, including a homer, a walk and two runs scored.
Troy was 4-for-10 with runners in scoring position in the College World Series opener. Six of their nine hits came from three players, Janicki, left fielder Drew Nelson and second baseman Sean Darnell.
On the mound, the Trojans threw Benjamin Stubbs, who leads the team with 91 ⅓ innings, and Zach Crotchfelt against West Virginia. Stubbs threw 77 pitches in 3 ⅔ innings, while Crotchfelt was more efficient with 60 pitches in 4 ⅓ innings.
Tommy Egan will get the start against the Rebels today. Egan has a 5.38 earned run average in 87 innings. His 99 strikeouts leads the team and his 32 walks are the second most on the staff. The Rebel bats will need to do a better job of taking free passes against Egan, something they only did three times against UNC.
Troy used its top reliever against West Virginia. Cooper Ellingworth is likely to come out of the bullpen this afternoon. In 29 appearances he has a 6.15 ERA with 56 strikeouts. With 27 appearances, Dylan Alonso is also a frequently used reliever. He has a 4.63 ERA with 55 strikeouts.
Ole Miss needs a win to keep its season alive. They will seek to do that today at 1 p.m. ESPN will broadcast the game.
