Sikes Orvis and Holt Perdzock celebrate a homerun by Orvis during a game last season. (DM File Photo)
Inclement winter weather has delayed the beginning of the Rebels’ season so far with weather postponing Tuesday’s matchup at home against Arkansas State.
The matchup has been rescheduled to 3:00 p.m. Tuesday. Sophomore right-hander Evan Anderson was slated to start, but may see action out of the bullpen this weekend.
Weather may play a factor in this weekends series against Wright State. The weather Friday is not favorable as freezing temperatures are expected with a chance of freezing rain in the afternoon. Saturday isn’t looking any better. A high of 62 degrees is expected, but a 100 percent chance of rain is in the forecast. Sunday is favorable with temperatures with cool temperatures in the high 30s with only a 20 percent chance of rain.
As for the Rebels, this will be the first time the team has played Wright State since February of 2011 where the Rebels won that matchup 6-5. The matchup today will be exactly four years to the date since the two teams last played.
Friday also begins a stretch where the Rebels will play eight games over a 10-day period. The Rebels are in the midst of an eight-game homestand to begin the 2015 season where the team looks to continue to start the campaign strong.
The weekend rotation for the Rebels will feature the same three pitchers, but in a different order. Junior left-hander Christian Trent will get the start Friday. Trent picked up the victory in the season opener last Friday, going five innings, only allowing one run on six hits. Trent looked shaky at times against William & Mary, but got out of some jams and pitched a solid outing. Trent looks to stay perfect for his Ole Miss career as he holds a 10-0 record in 18 starts.
Sophomore right-hander Brady Bramlett will get the Saturday start after his strong performance Sunday. Bramlett let went six innings only giving up two runs on four hits, sealing the rubber match for the rebels. Bramlett added eight strikeouts and only gave up one walk in his first victory as a weekend starter. Bramlett pitched like a weekend starter and if he continues to pitch well, he’ll solidify his spot as a weekend starter the rest of the season.
Senior right-hander Sam Smith moves back to Sunday after he struggled Saturday against William & Mary. The move back to Sunday might be good for Smith where he made 18 starts on Sunday over the 2014 season. Smith went three innings Saturday, giving up four runs on four hits with three walks and a strikeout. Smith will need to step up his game as a weekend starter as Smith is the most experienced starter in the SEC making 37 starts on the mound.
Wright State comes into the series 3-0 with a win over Belmont in the season opener and a pair of wins against Toledo. The Raiders are led by junior outfielder Ryan Fucci and sophomore infielder Mitch Roman, who both hit .500 over the opening weekend. Fucci was the star of the weekend for the Raiders as he blasted two home runs and led the team with seven RBIs. Roman went 5-10 with two extra-base hits and three RBI’s over the weekend.
Wright State will stick with the same weekend rotation as they did to start the season. Junior lefty Robby Sexton will start on Friday, with junior righty Jesse Scholtens and restart sophomore righty Trevor Swaney will follow up for the weekend.
With departure of Cliff Godwin from hitting coach, Mike Clement has picked up where the offense left off last season. The offense has scored 24 runs in three games and the team has batted .313 in those games.
The offense will continue to produce over the course of the season, but it’s the pitching staff that will take this team far. We will find out more about the pitching staff this weekend against a good Wright State team.
