Mississippi sophomore Colby Bortles runs for first base at the baseball game Thursday April 15 (DM Photo | Kayla Beatty)
Winners of three of their last four games, the Ole Miss baseball team looks to take their current momentum into Auburn this weekend as the second half of Southeastern conference play begins.
Ole Miss comes into the series with a record of 19-18 and 7-8 in conference play. The Rebels currently sit third in the SEC West and will look to improve their SEC and postseason status.
Auburn comes into the game with a 23-15 record and a 5-10 mark in SEC play. The Tigers have struggled this year, but like Ole Miss, they have played a tough conference schedule so far. Auburn has already had series against Texas A&M, Vanderbilt and LSU, who are all ranked in the top 10 nationally.
The Tigers have a tough one-two punch from the top part of their weekend rotation in sophomore right-handers Keegan Thompson and Cole Libscomb. Thompson comes into the series with a 7-2 record and a 2.84 ERA while Libscomb boasts a 4-1 record and a 2.44 ERA. Both of these pitchers will be tough match-ups for the Rebel offense this weekend.
Junior right-hander Christian Trent will take the mound for the Rebels Friday night. Trent comes into the game with a 5-3 record and will be looking to rebound after a loss last Thursday night against Vanderbilt. Junior right-hander Brady Bramlett will start on Saturday and freshman left-hander Will Stokes will take the ball Sunday for Ole Miss.
Auburn will feature a balanced lineup offensively. The Tigers have five hitters with at least 20 RBI’s on the season and eight hitters who have a .270 batting average or better. Junior outfielder Robert Daniel and sophomore infielder Jordan Ebert lead the team with three home runs each on the year.
Ole Miss will look to continue their success at the plate, which has lead to winning three of the last four games. The Rebels have struggled this year with runners in scoring position. After receiving some key timely hits against Vanderbilt, the Rebel offense continued to improve in that department on Wednesday, going 5-5 in that category. Ole Miss will need to continue to get production from hitters like sophomore third baseman Colby Bortles, who has recently found his rhythm at the plate.
Ole Miss will be looking to maintain their recent level of play and try to find some consistency, as well as take advantage of an easier schedule in the second half of conference play.
“We just want to play well and put some games together,” head coach Mike Bianco said after Wednesday’s win against UT-Martin. “We haven’t done that all year. We’ve been up and down all year. We’re just trying to be consistent.”
Senior first baseman Sikes Orvis agreed with his coach when asked what this team needs to do to get on a run late in the year.
“We’ve got to be consistent,” Orvis said. “We’ve showed that we can play with anybody. We’ve beaten some of the top teams in the country.”
This young team seems to have been gaining confidence and finding their stride over the last couple of weeks.
“The younger guys just need to see how good we really are, and I think we’ve shown that over these last couple of weeks, especially over the last four games,” senior pitcher Sam Smith said.
First pitch on Friday is set for 6 p.m.
