After a hot start to the season and a thirteen-game winning streak, the Rebels have been in a rough patch. They are now 1-4 in their last five and searching for a return to form. The good news is that they are heading to Columbia, Missouri, to take on the Missouri Tigers for the second weekend of SEC play. Mizzou has been struggling in baseball for years, and this year looks no different. It provides a big opportunity for Ole Miss to right the ship and kick off SEC on the right foot. A sweep in CoMo would put them at 4-2 in the league, which is a great start overall.
The Missouri Tigers will come into this one at 8-11 overall on the season and on a four-game losing streak after suffering a sweep at the hands of the Tigers of LSU. Mizzou has struggled against some not-great teams this season, splitting a four-game series against Evansville and Binghamton. Anything less than a Rebel sweep would be a disappointment.
The Rebels will roll out with the same three starters again this weekend. Elliott has been phenomenal this year, and I expect he will turn in another strong start on Friday. Maddox will throw on Saturday. Maddox was strong through the first four innings, but he is developing a sort of Derek Diamond effect where he gets figured out when he goes through a lineup the second and especially the third time. Mason Nichols will throw Sunday, coming off several really solid starts; I hope he will be able to go a bit deeper into this game.
The three Missouri starters have struggled this season and had poor outings in the opening weekend of SEC play. Senior Ian Lohse has been the Friday starter, and he has a season ERA over 7.00 and allowed seven earned runs in his just 3 innings pitched against LSU. Freshman Wil Libbert was thrown on Saturday, only managing to make it through 17 total innings in 5 starts. He also allowed six earned in less than four innings last weekend. Finally, the Sunday starter was JUCO transfer Kadden Drew, who had the best ERA of the three at 4.50 but allowed four to earn in just two innings last weekend.
Ole Miss will continue to look up some bullpen roles; there have been few sure-fire things outside of Mason Morris and Connor Spencer. Walker Hooks has been good this season but struggled against Arkansas. I look forward to him being called upon again this weekend. For Missouri, their bullpen has been a dumpster fire this year. They only have one sure thing, and that is PJ Green.
The Missouri lineup is in flux, with only five consistent everyday players. Cayden Nicoletto leads the way, batting .392 and slugging .608. Jackson Lovich is hitting .324 but only has an OBP of .373. Brock Daniels has an average of .298, Kaden Peer is hitting .292, and Mateo Serna is at a clip of .286; however, none of them have a slugging percentage above .500, and none have an OBP above .400. Overall, the Tigers lineup is mediocre. It also severely lacks power, not having a single player with more than four home runs.
The Ole Miss lineup, for the most part, seems to be pretty solidified. Last week, we saw Reuter and Furniss swapping depending on the pitcher's handiness. However, Furniss is starting to swing a hot bat and provides much more defensively. The real question mark is at shortstop. I expect to see Luke Cheng start if he is out of concussion protocol after suffering a pitch to head against Arkansas. If Cheng is not good to go, then I think it would be Randle who would play.
First pitch on Friday is at 6:00 Central. Saturday and Sunday are both starting at 4:00 PM. The Rebels will look to bounce back.
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