How Ole Miss baseball can beat Vanderbilt

#7 Ole Miss baseball takes on #6 Vanderbilt in the winners bracket of the SEC tournament. Here’s how the Rebels can win.

Ole Miss upset #2 seed South Carolina on day two, after taking a game over #10 seed Georgia yesterday in an elimination game. The Rebels are set to face #6 seed Vanderbilt on day three, and look to advance to Saturday undefeated. Mike Bianco’s club will have a tough road ahead of them with Vanderbilt playing good baseball and fighting to lock up a regional in Nashville. Here is how the Rebels can do it.

Stop the offensive power

The Commodores have been hitting the ball over the wall in both of their first two tournament games. Julian Infante has hit a bomb in both games, and Walker Grisanti hit the game winning home run against Texas A&M on Wednesday.

Ole Miss will be without ace Brady Bramlett, and David Parkinson, who started games one and two.

Finding a starting pitcher for game three will be a tough job for Mike Bianco, but he does have a stock of arms in the bullpen he can choose from. Chad Smith, Sean Johnson and James McArthur appear to be likely options.

Vanderbilt has hit the ball very well, and have been making teams pay for their mistakes so far in this tournament. Vanderbilt as a team only hit .274 this season, but have been hitting well so far during this tournament. The Commodores have 19 hits from their first two games in Hoover, and a combined 13 runs.

Their leading offensive player during the regular season was OF Bryan Reynolds, but he only has 2 hits in 7 at-bats during the tournament.

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This team is a lot different on paper than the South Carolina team that Ole Miss faced yesterday, South Carolina. The Gamecock squad hit a whopping .290, while this Commodore squad only hits .274.

South Carolina did only hit 38 home runs this season, while Vanderbilt hit 40. Again, Bryan Reynolds led the team in home runs with 12.

Who do the Rebels have to stop?

Reynolds struggles to hit the inside and low fastballs, so I would expect to see the Rebel pitching squad try and take advantage of that. His arm is above average at best as well, so the Rebels should be aggressive when rounding the bases and the ball is in his hand.

Reynolds has a good eye at the plate and does not swing at bad pitches. He is one of the most disciplined batters in the league.

He is very good at hitting the ball in the gap as well, but Woodman should be able to limit the damage caused by that.

OF Jeren Kendall doesn’t look like he would hit for power, but the talented lefty is second on the team with 9 home runs. Kendall is a player that scouts love. He is predicted to go in the first round of the MLB draft in 2017.

Kendall can hit for average as well, as he is second on the team, batting .329. Kendall is a good outfielder who can throw you out from anywhere. His athleticism is one to watch for.

SS Ethan Paul is just a freshman, but plays like a seasoned veteran. While he is one of the better shortstops in the league, he leads the Commodores with 12 errors on the season and holds a .930 fielding percentage. Paul is a solid hitter, hitting .297 on the season.

Who will the Commodores put on the mound?

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In the first two games, Vanderbilt threw a reliever and their third starter. So that saves the two aces that Vanderbilt has in their arsenal, Kyle Wright and Jordan Sheffield.

Tim Corbin has yet to announce his decision on who will start for the Commodores on day three. Sheffield would be my guess as to who the ‘Dores throw out there.

Redshirt sophomore Jordan Sheffield is one of the top prospects eligible for the upcoming MLB Draft, and some think he could work himself up into the top 15 picks in the draft. Sheffield was one of the top high school prospects when he signed with Vanderbilt.

While at Tullahoma, Sheffield hit 98 MPH on the mound, but after Tommy John surgery during his freshman year in Nashville, his velocity has settled around 92-93 MPH but he can reach back and hit 96 when needed.

His two best pitches are his fastball and his curveball. The hook is an above average secondary pitch that he uses to get batters to swing and miss late in counts. If the Rebels can lay off of the tempting pitch, they could see some success over Sheffield.

His third pitch is his change-up, which still needs some improvement, but can be effective when set up by a fastball.

Sophomore Kyle Wright emerged from the bullpen this season and has taken his spot in the rotation. He led the team with a 1.76 ERA and an 8-3 record in 14 starts. Wright was dominate this season and potentially could work his way up into the first round of the 2017 MLB draft.

Who will Ole Miss throw?

Mike Bianco does not know who he will start tomorrow.

"It will be McArthur or Smith," he said. #RebsBSB
— Brian Scott Rippee (@bsrippee) May 25, 2016

Ole Miss does not have the luxury of having their aces at the helm, after using Brady Bramlett in the first game and David Parkinson on day two. The Rebels used Andy Pagnozzi for 9 pitches in the second game, so he could probably make the start if needed, but I expect Ole Miss to call to James McArthur to pitch against this dangerous Commodore lineup.