Mississippi’s Austin Bousfield (9) hits the ball during an NCAA college baseball game against LSU in Oxford, Miss., Thursday, April 17, 2014. (Photo/Ignacio Murillo)
After four games on the road and more than a week off from playing at Swayze, the Rebels (33-12, 13-8 Southeastern Conference) return home on Wednesday to face Southern Miss.
The game on Wednesday marks the final home midweek contest of the season, and first pitch is slated at 6:30 p.m.
With the neutral site loss to Mississippi State and the weekend sweep against Kentucky on the road, the Rebels climbed in the rankings in the National College Baseball Writers Association from 18th to 15th. But, the Rebels fell in the USA Today coaches poll from 13th to 16th.
The Rebels continued to prove that they are one of the best offensive teams in the country by scoring 39 runs in three games against Kentucky.
With his strong performance over the past week, junior outfielder Austin Bousfield was named the player of the week by the National College Baseball Writers Association. Bousfield also collected the honor of Southeastern Conference Player of the Week. Bousfield hit for an astounding .714 batting average for the series against Kentucky. He went 10-14 batting over the weekend, which includes four doubles and a home run.
If the regular season ended right this moment, the Rebels would be the 3-seed in the Southeastern Conference tournament, behind Florida and Alabama. The Rebels can make a big leap in the conference and national rankings by taking care of business against Southern Miss and picking up quality wins against their next two SEC opponents in Arkansas and Georgia.
The two teams above Ole Miss in the SEC standings, Alabama and Florida, play each other this weekend in a three-game series, which could help the Rebels move up in the SEC standings.
Southern Miss enters the match with a 26-19 overall record, going 14-7 in Conference USA play. The Golden Eagles as a team hold a .243 overall batting average and the pitching staff holds a 3.60 ERA.
After the contest against Southern Miss, the Rebels will begin a weekend series at home on Friday against Arkansas. The Rebels will then have four days off and face Georgia at home in their last home series of the year.
