Will Jamison celebrates with Errol Robinson after Jamison’s home run against Arkansas-Little Rock. Photo: Ignacio Murillo, The Daily Mississippian.
After taking one of three from No. 1 South Carolina on the road this past weekend, the No. 14 Ole Miss baseball team will return to Oxford to host Arkansas State in a midweek matchup tonight.
The Rebels (17-4, 1-2 Southeastern Conference) gave the Gamecocks a tough fight in all three games, and they even handed South Carolina its first loss of the season, but they couldn’t hold on to clinch their first SEC series of the season.
The Red Wolves (11-8, 3-0 Sun Belt) come to Oxford on a five game winning streak. Most recently, they swept conference opponent Arkansas-Little Rock.
Ole Miss will send senior left-hander Jeremy Massie to the mound to start the game. Massie has four appearances so far this season, three of which have been starts. He has thrown 16.1 innings and holds a 2.20 ERA. In his last start he went six innings against Southeastern Louisiana, giving up just one run on three hits and striking out three.
Junior right-hander Tanner Gaines will get the start for the Red Wolves. He will take the mound with a 2-0 record this season and a 4.50 ERA. In 14.0 innings pitched this season, he has recorded six strikeouts and five walks while giving up 16 hits.
Ole Miss will enter the game ranked third in the SEC in offense, hitting at a .313 clip with the seventh-ranked scoring offense in the SEC.
Senior catcher Will Allen will come into the game leading the SEC in doubles and will rank second in RBIs, third in hits and fifth in home runs.
Junior Auston Bousfield will enter the game with the second most hits in the SEC, and he, along with Allen, ranks in the top 10 in the SEC in average, slugging percentage and on base percentage.
At the plate for Arkansas State, sophomore Matt Burgess will lead the way. He is hitting .338 and leads the team with 24 hits and 23 RBI. Another guy the Rebels will have to keep an eye on is power-threat sophomore Austin Baker. Baker leads the team with three home runs. The team as a whole has only hit four. He has also knocked in 15 runs, the second most on the team.
First pitch between the Rebels and Red Wolves is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
— Matt Sigler
mcsigler@go.olemiss.edu
