The Ole Miss Rebels return to Swayze field this weekend for their first home weekend series of the year. The Rebs will take on the Eastern Kentucky Colonels in the best three-matchup. The Rebels, of course, are coming off their 2-1 weekend in Arlington, Texas, at the Shriners Children’s College Showcase, picking up top 25 wins against Arizona and Clemson. Ole Miss would also knock off Arkansas State on Tuesday night with the boost of a Judd Utermark walk-off homer in the 10th.
The Colonels, on the other hand, will arrive in Oxford still in search of their first win. Currently, Eastern Kentucky is sitting at 0-4, scoring only eight runs in those four games. They have lost to Kent State, SIUE, and two at the hands of South Alabama. Needless to say, anything less than a sweep this weekend for the Rebels would be a failure.
Game one of the series has been bumped up from 4 to 2 PM CT on Friday. The Rebels will almost assuredly start Hunter Elliott again on Friday, who is coming off an excellent return outing against Arizona. Of course, we all want him to continue taking steps in the right direction and maybe limit the walks more during this outing. Senior right-hander Ryker Walton will get the start for the Colonels. He was pretty good in his season debut against Kent State, throwing 4.2 innings, allowing four hits and two runs, walking none, and striking out 5.
Riley Maddox will take the bump on Saturday, first pitch at 1:30 PM CT. I thought Maddox looked excellent early against the Longhorns. A few questionable plays in the 4th and just the Longhorns being a potent offense got to him, but Maddox will be a key piece for this team this year. I will see if he can stretch this start a bit, hopefully getting through at least five innings. The Colonels will hand the ball to left Bradley Gagen, who did not start a game for them last weekend but threw four scoreless in relief. This is a good move against the lefty-heavy Rebels, who struggled against it in Arlington.
Sunday’s starter will once again be Mason Nichols. I will continue to say that I don’t believe he is a starter, and he would be better served as a setup man, but for now, he is the guy. This could be his last start if things don’t go great for him again, especially against a weak lineup. Elijah Underhill will be the starter for EKU, with an 8.31 ERA and 5 Ks in his 4.1 IP against South Alabama.
We will see Cade Townsend debut this weekend. He is one of the only pitchers left not to throw, which I find puzzling because he is the highest-upside pitcher on the roster. I trust Mangrum’s plan with the talented freshman, and I am excited to see him throw this weekend. I also hope we get to see Patrick Galle, the hardest thrower on the team, get a run out this weekend just to see what we have there.
On the offensive side, I expect the Rebels to show three different lineups again this year. The staff still has much to sort through regarding where everyone should play and who the best nine are. Luckily, these early-season non-conference games are an excellent opportunity for that. Two things I have my eye on are Hayden Federico. This kid has just been one of the better players on the team so far, and he will lock up a full-time spot this weekend. Second, can Judd Utermark take his performances against Clemson and his walk-off against Arkansas State and continue his ascension to become a real star for this club?
The Colonels will attempt to get some offense going. That will be a challenging task against this Ole Miss pitching staff. Juco transfer Diego Alana leads the way, hitting .417 with an OBP of over .500. He also has the Colonel’s only homerun. Sophomore Bejarano Mauri has notched four hits, and everyone else is hitting below a .200 clip to open the season.
These games will be streamed on SEC Network + available on the ESPN app. As always, David Kellum will be on the call on the Ole Miss Radio Network, which can be found on the Ole Miss App.
No lines out for this one. We will have recaps up here after the games, let's go Rebs and Hotty Toddy!