The Ole Miss Rebels responded in a big way following their disappointing series loss to the South Carolina Gamecocks last weekend with a massive comeback win in the Governors Cup against Mississippi State. It was the first Governors Cup win for the Rebels since 2022 and came in great comeback fashion. It appeared that the Rebs had let the game slip away from them, but a 9th inning two-run shot by one of the hottest hitters in the country, Austin Fawley, now his 6th homerun in 7 games, would tie it up at 5. Then, in the bottom of the 10th, Will Furniss would add to his clutch moments with a walk-off single, tallying his 3rd RBI of the game. While this technically counts as a non-conference win, the NCAA selection committee will view this as an SEC with for Ole Miss, making it that much more significant.
The Rebs return to Swayze Field tonight to kick off an essential series against Vanderbilt. The Commodores are coming off a sweep of the top 5-ranked Georgia Bulldogs; they are 30-11 overall and 11-7 in the league. This is a turning point of the season for Ole Miss. A series win in this one, and you are still in contention for a hosting slot. Anything less, and you will probably be out of that conversation. As always, avoiding the sweep will be crucial as it just puts you in such a bad spot, but this is a series where the Rebels really need to get back into the win column and hopefully can build on the momentum from Tuesday.
The Rebels are rolling with the same starting rotation that they have in every single weekend series this season. There is a growing call from the fans to move Mason Morris into the starting rotation, who has been the best pitcher on the staff this season. That coaches have opted not to do that, but there have been rumors that they are looking to tweak his usage. Instead of just using him as Elliott's bridge every opening game, they are considering splitting his usage between Friday and Sunday to maximize Morris's pitches.
The identity of this Vanderbilt squad is that of a solid pitching team with a scrappy, small-ball lineup and good defense. Lefty JD Thompson will throw tonight with a 4.11 ERA in his 35 SEC innings to go along with 41 strikeouts. He has been solid, as has all Vandy starters. The Rebels have struggled mightily the last two weekends against the Friday starters and will need to improve.
Saturday will likely see Cody Bowker, who has been the worst of the three Vandy starters but has much better stats than Ole Miss starter Riley Maddox. Bowker has a 4.88 ERA in SEC play and has been a victim of walking. Connor Fennell will throw on Sunday, and he has been excellent. He has only allowed four walks in the SEC and held opponents to a .198 average.
The Vandy lineup is not scary, especially compared to many other lineups in the league. They have five starters hitting under .220. They have the two SEC stolen bases leaders, Jacob Humphrey and RJ Austin, which is something to watch in this series. The best Commodore hitter is easily Riley Nelson, hitting nearly .400 in SEC play with close to a .700 slugging percentage.
This Vandy team is playing well, and it might not be the best time for this Ole Miss team to play them, but this is a big-time weekend for the Rebels, and I do think they are top to bottom a more talented lineup, especially on the offensive side and I do think they will take this series.