Ole Miss, winners of 10 straight and 11-1 overall, hosts Jacksonville State for three games starting at 6:30 p.m. on Friday and continuing at 1:30 on both Saturday and Sunday. The Rebels are coming off a weekend sweep of Wright State and a midweek come-from-behind victory over Murray State in 10 innings. Jacksonville State is 10-3 with a three of four win over Oakland, a three-game sweep of Arkansas State, a three-game sweep of Akron and a win over Samford. The Gamecocks have two midweek losses to Alabama. JSU was the runner-up in the 2019 Oxford Regional.
Jacksonville State's coach is Steve Bieser who was at Missouri for seven years previously.
Weekend Rotation
Game 1: LHP Hunter Elliott (3-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. LHP Jackson Phipps (1-0, 0.63 ERA)
Game 2: RHP Riley Maddox (2-1, 4.05 ERA) vs. RHP Karson Bonaparte (1-1, 2.19 ERA)
Game 3: RHP Mason Nichols (1-0, 5.73 ERA) vs. LHP Steven Cash (1-0, 4.15 ERA)
Notes and Thoughts
Ole Miss is 21st nationally in drawing walks this season which is an excellent number, but the Rebels need to do more with the opportunities during league play. Ole Miss is 15th in home runs but 74th in runs scored. The bottom of the order came through against Murray on Wednesday, but the Rebels need more offensive balance from a quality-at-bat perspective. It's something to watch for this weekend and moving forward.
Will Furniss was exceptional defensively on Wednesday. First base has been justifiably a platoon so far this season, and while Furniss got the ninth-inning hit to extend the game into extras, his early defense was just as pivotal to the outcome. He had a diving stop in the first inning and also stretched and caught two seemingly errant throws to avoid errors and base runners. It changed Taylor Rabe's day and let it be an excellent one. Furniss needs to be above average around the bag for consistent playing time.
"I'm proud of the way he played defense," Mike Bianco said. "If you don't play first a lot, those throws are errors because of knowing the distance to stretch. The little things matter, especially in a game like tonight. Even when you're not hitting, you have to still carry the glove and make a difference that way."
Those two wins in Arlington look better and better for Ole Miss. Clemson has won 10 straight since the run-rule loss to the Rebels including a three-game sweep of South Carolina. That series is annually played in three locations over the three days. The Tigers have allowed more than three runs just twice in that 10-game stretch. Arizona is 8-1 since leaving Arlington with wins over Texas A&M and Mississippi State and the only loss to Tennessee. It's a feather for Ole Miss' cap come selection time if the Rebels do enough in league play.
Ole Miss has outscored opponents 18-0 in the first inning and 31-1 in the first two innings this season.
I wrote about it last week, but Ole Miss still needs a catcher to emerge a little bit offensively. Campbell Smithwick and Austin Fawley are hitting .143 and .111, respectively, though Fawley does have an .829 OPS. The offensive struggles there make it hard for the Rebels to play Luke Cheng, who is likely the best defensive option at shortstop but he relies on quality at-bats instead of hits at the plate. Cheng only has one hit in 17 plate appearances, but his OBP is .533 because of four walks, three hit by pitches and two sacrifices. The Rebels will and should give Owen Paino plenty of opportunities for the production to catch up to the talent, but Cheng is also valuable in spots. It's just hard to play him alongside a catcher spot in the order that isn't producing offensively.
Jacksonville State's coach is Steve Bieser who was at Missouri for seven years previously.
Weekend Rotation
Game 1: LHP Hunter Elliott (3-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. LHP Jackson Phipps (1-0, 0.63 ERA)
Game 2: RHP Riley Maddox (2-1, 4.05 ERA) vs. RHP Karson Bonaparte (1-1, 2.19 ERA)
Game 3: RHP Mason Nichols (1-0, 5.73 ERA) vs. LHP Steven Cash (1-0, 4.15 ERA)
Notes and Thoughts
Ole Miss is 21st nationally in drawing walks this season which is an excellent number, but the Rebels need to do more with the opportunities during league play. Ole Miss is 15th in home runs but 74th in runs scored. The bottom of the order came through against Murray on Wednesday, but the Rebels need more offensive balance from a quality-at-bat perspective. It's something to watch for this weekend and moving forward.
Will Furniss was exceptional defensively on Wednesday. First base has been justifiably a platoon so far this season, and while Furniss got the ninth-inning hit to extend the game into extras, his early defense was just as pivotal to the outcome. He had a diving stop in the first inning and also stretched and caught two seemingly errant throws to avoid errors and base runners. It changed Taylor Rabe's day and let it be an excellent one. Furniss needs to be above average around the bag for consistent playing time.
"I'm proud of the way he played defense," Mike Bianco said. "If you don't play first a lot, those throws are errors because of knowing the distance to stretch. The little things matter, especially in a game like tonight. Even when you're not hitting, you have to still carry the glove and make a difference that way."
Those two wins in Arlington look better and better for Ole Miss. Clemson has won 10 straight since the run-rule loss to the Rebels including a three-game sweep of South Carolina. That series is annually played in three locations over the three days. The Tigers have allowed more than three runs just twice in that 10-game stretch. Arizona is 8-1 since leaving Arlington with wins over Texas A&M and Mississippi State and the only loss to Tennessee. It's a feather for Ole Miss' cap come selection time if the Rebels do enough in league play.
Ole Miss has outscored opponents 18-0 in the first inning and 31-1 in the first two innings this season.
I wrote about it last week, but Ole Miss still needs a catcher to emerge a little bit offensively. Campbell Smithwick and Austin Fawley are hitting .143 and .111, respectively, though Fawley does have an .829 OPS. The offensive struggles there make it hard for the Rebels to play Luke Cheng, who is likely the best defensive option at shortstop but he relies on quality at-bats instead of hits at the plate. Cheng only has one hit in 17 plate appearances, but his OBP is .533 because of four walks, three hit by pitches and two sacrifices. The Rebels will and should give Owen Paino plenty of opportunities for the production to catch up to the talent, but Cheng is also valuable in spots. It's just hard to play him alongside a catcher spot in the order that isn't producing offensively.
