Ole Miss Baseball Opens SEC Tournament Against Missouri
Ole Miss, ranked No. 17 nationally, will begin the SEC Tournament Tuesday against Missouri in Hoover, Alabama. The game is scheduled to start at 9:30 a.m. and will be broadcast on SEC Network, according to the university’s athletics department.
The Rebels finished the regular season with a 36-20 record and a .500 mark in conference play at 15-15. They earned the No. 9 seed in the tournament, with an RPI of 15 and the third-toughest schedule in the nation. Ole Miss has secured 11 Quad 1 wins and played 28 games against top-tier opponents, both among NCAA leaders, the department said.
Ole Miss and Auburn are the only SEC teams to have faced all of the top five teams in the conference standings during the regular season. Five Rebels received All-SEC honors for the first time since 2021. Walker Hooks was named to the First Team as a relief pitcher, while Will Furniss, Cade Townsend, and Judd Utermark made the Second Team. Hunter Elliott was selected for the All-Defensive Team.
Pitcher Taylor Rabe has struck out 27 batters over his last two starts, marking the first time since 2024 a Rebel has achieved back-to-back 10-plus strikeout outings. Rabe leads the SEC with a 10.12 strikeout-to-walk ratio and has issued only eight walks this season.
Offensively, Austin Fawley is hitting .441 in May with six home runs and 13 RBIs, and Utermark has hit 13 home runs this season, bringing his career total to 49, a new Ole Miss record. The Rebels have hit 97 home runs overall this season, nearing the program’s single-season record of 124 set last year.
The projected starting pitchers for Tuesday are left-hander Wil Libbert and right-hander Josh McDevitt. The game will be available on SEC Network, with radio coverage on the Ole Miss Radio Network featuring David Kellum and Brad Henderson.
Missouri, seeded 16th, enters the tournament with a 23-30 record. Head coach Kerrick Jackson, in his third season with the Tigers, has a 62-101 record. Freshman Blaize Ward leads Missouri hitters with a .303 average, while Jase Woita has 12 home runs on the season.
Ole Miss’s power hitting has been a highlight this season, with the team nearing 100 home runs for the second consecutive year, a first in program history. The Rebels aim to extend their postseason run and contend for the NCAA Regional, Super Regional, and College World Series titles.
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