OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss Baseball (35-18, 14-13 SEC) is set to wrap up its regular season with a series against No. 18 Alabama (35-17, 16-11 SEC) in Tuscaloosa. The games are scheduled for Thursday and Friday at 6 p.m., with the final game on Sunday at 2 p.m., according to university sources.
The Rebels recently closed their home schedule by run-ruling UT Martin and celebrated Judd Utermark becoming the school’s career home run leader with his 49th homer. Last weekend, Ole Miss took two of three games from No. 9 Texas A&M, marking their fifth SEC series win of the season. Dom Decker led the team with a .545 batting average in the series, while Taylor Rabe struck out 14 Aggies over six innings on Sunday.
Ole Miss enters the series ranked in multiple polls, including No. 15 by D1Baseball and No. 20 by Baseball America. Pitcher Walker Hooks leads the SEC in ERA (1.91), WHIP (0.82), saves (7), and appearances (16) during conference play. Rabe also leads the SEC in strikeout-to-walk ratio, striking out nine for every walk issued in league games.
Alabama, under third-year head coach Rob Vaughn, has posted three consecutive 30-win seasons. The Crimson Tide ranks second in the SEC with a 16-11 conference record and emphasizes strong pitching and defense. Their projected starters include Tyler Fay, Zane Adams, and Myles Upchurch, all with ERAs below 4.50. Alabama’s offense features key contributors such as Brady Neal and Justin Lebron, who has 13 home runs this season.
Ole Miss has hit 92 home runs this year, approaching the 100-home run mark for the second straight season — a first in program history. Judd Utermark’s 20 homers this season make him the first Rebel with back-to-back 20-plus homer seasons and potentially the first to reach 50 career homers.
Pitcher Hunter Elliott recently surpassed 300 career strikeouts, becoming just the third Rebel in program history to do so. He is 19 strikeouts shy of moving into second place on the school’s all-time list. Elliott’s strong May performances have been notable, with a 7-2 record and a 2.13 ERA over three seasons in the month, according to team statistics.
