Ole Miss wraps up its home non-conference schedule this weekend as Grambling State comes to Oxford for a three-game series. Ole Miss is coming off a two-game midweek sweep of Southeast Missouri State that capped off with a 6-4 win last night.
Ole Miss enters the series with a record of 12-1 and has won seven games in a row. It is the fourth time in school history that the Rebels have started 12-1and it is the third time the team has done so under Mike Bianco. The game will feature the usual starting pitcher rotation of Brady Bramlett, Chad Smith and Sean Johnson on the mound for Ole Miss.
Will Golsan tosses the ball to James McArthur from his knees to end the inning Tuesday. (Photo by: Cameron Brooks)
Grambling State comes in with a record of 4-6 and this will be the first meeting between these two programs. Grambling has not announced its weekend rotation yet, and the Tigers have struggled on the mound to start the year, giving up an average of nine runs per game.
Daniel Barnett, who has 15 RBIs on the year and boasts a .415 batting average, leads the Tigers offensively.
A couple of Rebels have gotten off to hot starts offensively as J.B. Woodman leads the team with 14 RBIs. Tate Blackman is hitting .364 through the first 13 games and also has 13 RBIs of his own on the year.
This weekend will be a chance for Ole Miss to give a lot of different guys some looks throughout the lineup before it begins conference play next weekend at Tennessee.
“We obviously are here to win, but it’s also trying to figure out ‘what is the lineup,’” head coach Mike Bianco said. “It’s time to lock into the lineup.”
Bianco said he has used a number of different outfield looks this year. Nick Fortes has seen a couple of starts at catcher and several Rebels have seen time as designated hitter this year. Though Bianco said he sees this as a chance to solidify his lineup, he also thinks it can be interchangeable, and pitching is where most of the emphasis will be this weekend.
“I think the lineup is very fluid. I think we get caught up too much in it. You know sometimes guys are hitting and they move up, and sometimes they’re not hitting and they move down,” Bianco said. “I think it is more the pitching. The lineup can change day to day, but hopefully your pitching stays pretty much the same.”
Ole Miss has had a number of young arms out of the bullpen who have been good this year, and the entire bullpen has not given up an earned run in its last 19 innings of work.
Bianco has three games this weekend at home to tinker a bit before heading to Birmingham to play UAB next week before opening up conference play in Knoxville.
First pitch on Friday is set for 6:30 p.m.
– Brian Scott Rippee
