Ole Miss begins the baseball season Friday against TCU, and The Daily Mississippian baseball beat writer Matt Sigler gives five things to watch for as the season approaches.
Cain Madden | The Daily Mississippian
Sophomore center fielder Auston Bousfield
Sunday Starter
The Sunday starter has been one of the biggest question marks for Ole Miss going into the season.
The Rebels have All-American junior right-hander Bobby Wahl and junior right-hander Mike Mayers at the Friday and Saturday starting spots, respectively, but with the loss of R.J. Hively, Ole Miss will be forced to fill the Sunday starter role.
So far the front-runner is sophomore right-hander Chris Ellis, who arguably had the best fall.
Ellis was 4-0 this past season in 19 appearances, including one start. He finished the year with a 2.84 ERA with 29 strikeouts to eight walks in 31.2 innings of work.
Second Base
With the loss of All-American Alex Yarbrough, one of the toughest spots to fill from last year’s squad is at second base.
Senior John Gatlin was looking to be in the lead to fill that void, but a dislocated non-throwing shoulder during spring practice has a position battle left to be sorted out.
Leading the way so far are junior college transfer Lance Wilson, who looks to be the leader for the job, and freshman Christian Helsel. With the timetable for Gatlin’s injury not certain, Ole Miss may be looking at an extended amount of time with Helsel or Wilson at second base.
Scoring Runs
Heading into the season, the Rebels will look to fill two big holes in the lineup after losing Yarbrough and first baseman Matt Snyder, who were big run producers this past season. With senior outfielder Tanner Mathis returning as the catalyst for the Rebel offense, Ole Miss will need some younger players to take a step forward.
Junior catcher/first baseman Will Allen, sophomore center fielder Auston Bousfield and sophomore first baseman/designated hitter Sikes Orvis appear to be the ones whom Bianco will count on to drive in runs, but also look for junior college transfer catcher Stuart Turner to make a big impact in the lineup.
Bullpen Performance
Senior right-hander Brett Huber has the closer position locked down, but Ole Miss will be looking for a lot of guys to step up and play the middle reliever and set-up man roles.
Junior right-hander Aaron Greenwood, who had 19 appearances last season, appears to be a reliable arm for Ole Miss to lean on out of the bullpen, and senior right-hander Tanner Bailey, who was a spot starter this past season, also returns.
A number of sophomores could take a step forward as well in Hawtin Buchanan, Josh Laxer and Sam Smith, while redshirt sophomore right-hander Scott Weathersby appears he will also play a role in the bullpen.
Winning on the Road
Winning on the road is never an easy thing in college baseball, especially in the Southeastern Conference, but Ole Miss will have to do it in order to reach its ultimate goal of the College World Series.
Last year’s team finished with a record of 8-14 on the road but excelled at home, finishing 25-8.
Winning a critical road series could be the difference-maker for the Rebels this year.
The Rebels have a three-game series at Florida International at the beginning of March and a two-game series at Louisiana-Monroe to get them prepared to play on the road before a three-game series at Arkansas to open league play.
For continuing coverage of Ole Miss baseball, follow @SigNewton_2 and @thedm_sports on Twitter.
