Preston Overbey (1) turns a double play during a game last year. Photo: Thomas Graning, The Daily Mississippian.
The Ole Miss baseball team will open the 2014 baseball season this weekend as they hit the road to Florida to take on Stetson of the Atlantic Sun Conference. The Rebels are coming off a 38-24 overall record last season, which included a 15-15 mark in Southeastern Conference play. The Hatters of Stetson finished 26-31 last season and posted a 15-12 record in conference play.
The Rebel roster features 10 true freshmen, but expect for many returning players to be the backbone of the team. There are big shoes to fill with Ole Miss losing players like Bobby Wahl, Mike Mayers, Andrew Mistone, Stuart Turner and Tanner Mathis, to name a few.
Coming into the season, arguably the biggest question mark for Ole Miss was going to be pitching. With Wahl and Mayers gone, the Rebels will be forced to fill one of the best Friday-Saturday combos in the SEC.
However, head coach Mike Bianco plans to do so with junior right-hander Chris Ellis and redshirt sophomore left-hander Christian Trent. Ellis, who comes into the year ranked the No. 16 major league prospect in the country, finished last season with a 1-2 record in thirteen appearances, two of which were starts. However, Ellis was consistently battling injury throughout the year.
Trent will be making his first appearance in a Rebel uniform this season after playing a year at Delgado Community College in Louisiana. Last season at Delgado, Trent finished with a 9-2 record, including six complete games and two complete-game shutouts.
Junior right-hander Sam Smith will wrap up the weekends on the mound for Ole Miss this season. In 15 starts last season, Smith posted a 3-1 record with a 3.41 ERA, after assuming the role of Sunday starter early in the year.
Stetson will be returning their three main weekend starters. Senior left-hander Austin Perez, junior right-hander Josh Powers and sophomore left-hander Adam Schaly will most likely get the nod in that order. Perez led the way with a 7-2 record last season and posted a 2.81 ERA. Powers and Schaly weren’t quite as efficient going 1-8 and 2-4, respectively.
Things don’t get any easier for Ole Miss when they turn to the offensive side, losing three of their top five hitters last season. Senior third baseman Austin Anderson, junior outfielder Will Jamison and senior second baseman/outfielder Preston Overbey will be the top returning batters this season. All three hit over .280 last season. Another name to look out for at the plate will be junior outfielder Auston Bousfield, who hit .253 last season, but had 61 hits on the year.
At the plate for the Hatters, sophomore Patrick Mazeika will lead the way. He hit a team best .382 last season and led the team with 81 hits. He also had a team-high three home runs and 33 RBI.
Perhaps the most intriguing thing of opening weekend though will be the debut of some new additions of the team. Expect to see shortstop Errol Robinson as well as outfielders Braxton Lee, J.B. Woodman and Colby Bortles.
The Rebels and Hatters are scheduled for a three-game series starting today at 5:30 p.m. and continuing at 1 p.m. and 11 a.m. Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
For continuing coverage of Ole Miss baseball, follow @SigNewton_2 and @thedm_sports on Twitter.
— Matt Sigler
mcsigler@go.olemiss.edu
