Rebels Face Western Division Leader At Swayze Field
#24 Ole Miss (30-16, 10-11 SEC) vs. #4 LSU (36-10, 14-7 SEC)
Oxford, Miss. • Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field
May 4-6 • 6:30 PM/2:00 PM/1:30 PM
Radio: Full Ole Miss Network
Announcers: David Kellum & Keith Kessinger
Television: SportSouth (Saturday)
Announcers: Dave Neal (Play-by-Play) & Nick Belmonte (Analyst)
Live Stats:Click Here
RebelVision/Audio:Click Here
THIS WEEK FOR OLE MISS:
Ole Miss kicked off a busy week this week with a Tuesday win over Southern Miss at Trustmark Park in Pearl to make up for the rained out game earlier this season. The Rebels then returned home to host Murray State on Wednesday night with an 11-5 win before hosting the LSU Tigers in a three-game series in Oxford over the weekend. Game times are set for 6:30 p.m., 2 p.m. and 1:30 p.m at Swayze Field.
NEXT WEEK FOR THE REBELS:
Ole Miss will have no midweek games next week because of finals, but the Rebels will return to action with the final home series of the regular season. Ole Miss will play host to Tennessee in a three-game set that will begin on Friday night at 6:30 p.m. The Rebels will then face the Vols at 4 p.m. on Saturday on SportSouth and then close out the series at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCH-UPS:
FRIDAY, 6:30 P.M.
LSU – Kevin Gausman, So., RHP
OM – Bobby Wahl, So., RHP
NOTING WAHL: Sophomore right-hander Bobby Wahl takes the mound on Friday night to open the series against LSU and makes his 12th start of the season. On the year, Wahl is 5-1 with a 2.09 ERA and has posted 67 strikeouts with 23 walks in his 60.1 innings of work. The sophomore is holding opponents to a .211 batting average against and has combined for three shutouts this season. He has picked up wins over #10 TCU, UNC-Wilmington, Houston, Auburn and #1 Florida. He has twice been named the SEC Pitcher of the Week, been tabbed as the National Pitcher of the Week, has been selected to compete for the USA Baseball National Team and was named to the Golden Spikes Player of the Year watch list and National Pitcher of the Year watch list.
SATURDAY, 2:00 P.M. (SportSouth)
LSU – Ryan Eades, So., RHP
OM- Mike Mayers, So., RHP
NOTING MAYERS: Sophomore right-hander Mike Mayers takes the mound for the Saturday game against LSU and will be making his 11th start of the season and 12th appearance. Mayers holds a 4-2 record on the year with a 3.69 ERA and has posted 43 strikeouts to 19 walks in his 63.1 innings of work to date. Mayers has posted wins over UNC-Wilmington, Houston, #1 Kentucky and #15 Arkansas this season. The win over Kentucky was the first home loss of the season for the Wildcats, while Mayers combined for a two-hit shutout of the Razorbacks two weeks ago to help the Rebels clinch the series win in game two.
SUNDAY, 1:30 P.M.
LSU – Aaron Nola, Fr., RHP
OM – TBA
A LOOK AT LSU:
The Tigers of LSU enter the weekend series with an overall record of 36-10 and 14-7 in the Southeastern Conference. The Tigers are coming off a series win over Georgia at home this past weekend and defeated Tulane in a midweek contest earlier this week. As a team, LSU is hitting at a .301 clip and is led at the plate by Raph Rymes with a .503 batting average and 46 RBI through 43 starts. Mason Katz leads the power production with eight home runs this season for LSU. The pitching staf for the Tigers holds to a 3.20 ERA and has posted 421 strikeouts to 112 walks this season while allowing 147 earned runs on 371 hits. Friday night starter Kevin Gausman holds a 3.12 ERA and has posted a 7-1 record through 11 starts this season. Gausman has posted 97 strikeouts to only 20 walks in his time on the mound for LSU.
OLE MISS VS. LSU:
Ole Miss and LSU have faced off a total of 306 times with the Rebels trailing in the all-time series 145-161. The two teams first met in 1906 with the Tigers claiming a pair of wins over the Rebels in Baton Rouge.
LAST TIME OUT VS. LSU:
Ole Miss and LSU met last season in Baton Rouge with the Rebels dropping the series 2-1 in a back-and-forth series. LSU claimed the first game 7-6 after holding off an eighth-inning rally by the Rebels. Ole Miss won game two 16-3 behind a 4-for-6 performance from Tanner Mathis and a 3-for-5 performance from Alex Yarbrough. Both players notched three RBI in the win. LSU claimed the finale 8-2 to take the series on Sunday.
BIANCO VS. LSU:
Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco faced off against the LSU Tigers 38 times as the head coach of the Rebels, posting an 18-20 record in that time. Bianco holds a winning record against LSU in Oxford and has also posted two sweeps of the Tigers (2006, 2010).
vs. LSU
in Oxford: 11-4
in Baton Rouge: 6-12
in SEC Tournament: 1-3
Series Wins: 4
Series Lost: 7
Series Sweeps: 2
Series Swept: 0
GAMES ON REBELVISION:
Fans of Ole Miss baseball who can’t make it to Swayze Field can catch all the action live on the subscription based RebelVision or listen to the games online. Both features can be found at www.OleMissSports.com on any home game not carried live on television as a part of the Southeastern Conference’s 2012 television package. Certain road games will be carried where an agreement has been reached with the host institution for a video share.
LISTEN TO THE GAMES ONLINE:
Rebel fans who can’t make it to the game at Swayze Field have options for catching all the action with Rebel Baseballl. In addition to the RebelVision option for video and audio, fans can also download the Ole Miss App for their phone and receive live stats and streaming audio right in the palm of their hand.
USA BASEBALL NATIONAL TEAM SELECTION:
Wahl also gained recognition from USA Baseball this week when he was selected to compete with the USA Baseball National Collegiate Team. Wahl is one of seven players currently selected to the 22-man roster and is the seventh player selected to compete with the international squad under Mike Bianco. He joins Stephen Head, Seth Smith, Zack Cozart, Lance Lynn, Cody Satterwhite and Drew Pomeranz.
GOLDEN SPIKES AWARD WATCH LIST:
A pair of Rebels made the 60-man watch list for th Golden Spikes Award at the midseason. Bobby Wahl and Alex Yarbrough were both named to the list on Tuesday by USA Baseball for their performances this season.