Ole Miss Baseball Hosts Evansville for Final Non-Conference Series at Swayze Field
Oxford, Miss. — Ole Miss Baseball hosts Evansville this weekend for the final non-conference series of the season at Swayze Field. The Rebels will play a doubleheader Friday starting at 3 p.m., with the series finale scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Sunday, according to university athletics.
The Rebels enter the series after sweeping their midweek games against Memphis and North Alabama. Freshman pitcher Grayson Gibson earned a win over Memphis, pitching four hitless innings with five strikeouts. Marko Sipila made his first start against North Alabama, striking out seven in three innings. Ole Miss’s pitching staff recorded 48 strikeouts last weekend in Houston, including 20 strikeouts in a 10-inning game against Baylor on Friday.
Ole Miss pitchers Hunter Elliott, Cade Townsend, and Taylor Rabe set personal bests for strikeouts last weekend. Townsend and Rabe combined for a six-hit shutout of Ohio State on Saturday, striking out 16 of 34 batters faced. Dom Decker hit three home runs in Houston, bringing his season total to four. The freshman outfielder previously had not hit a home run in his career.
Decker leads the SEC and ranks fifth nationally in walks with 18. Ole Miss as a team has drawn 92 walks over 14 games, ranking second in the SEC and seventh in NCAA Division I. The Rebels’ pitching staff has 176 strikeouts this season, the second most in the SEC and third in the nation. The team owns a 2.75 ERA, the second-lowest in the SEC, and a 13.1 K/9 ratio, third-best nationally.
Projected starting pitchers for the series include Hunter Elliott and Cade Townsend for Ole Miss. All three games will be streamed on SEC Network+ with broadcasters Jake Hromada and Keith Kessinger. Fans can also listen on the Ole Miss Radio Network with David Kellum and Brad Henderson.
Evansville, led by head coach Wes Carroll in his 18th season, enters the weekend with a 3-8 record. The Purple Aces started the season 0-5 but snapped the skid with a win over Kentucky. The team has struggled offensively, with no player hitting above .300, though Reid Haire leads with two home runs. Their weekend rotation features left-hander Kenton Deverman and right-hander Kevin Reed, with Max Hansmann leading the team with a 2.12 ERA and 19 strikeouts.
Ole Miss looks to continue its strong start, which includes outscoring opponents 59-18 in the first three innings and a perfect 10-0 when scoring in the opening frame. Roster standout Collin Reuter is batting .463 with eight doubles and 15 RBIs through 13 games. Several Rebels made notable debuts, including Brett Moseley and Tate Sirmans, who each homered in their first college at-bats during opening weekend.
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