Sophomore Errol Robinson throws the ball during the baseball game Thursday April 15 (File Photo | Kayla Beatty)
Coming off of a series loss to Auburn, the Ole Miss baseball team looks to rebound this week with two midweek games beginning tomorrow against Central Arkansas.
Tuesday’s game is a make-up from the postponed game on February 25 due to weather conditions.
The Bears are coming into the game with a 19-14 record and a 10-8 record in the Southland conference. UCA has dropped five of their last seven games and are coming off a 2-1 series loss at Northwestern State this past weekend.
The Bears will be led offensively by a trio of juniors. Center fielder Tyler Langley leads the team in hits with 39 and is tied for the team lead in RBIs with right-fielder Braxton Phillips with 21 each. Shortstop Logan Preston leads the team in home runs with six and has 20 RBIs on the year for UCA.
The Rebels’ starting pitcher for tonight’s game has not been announced by the team. The two likely starters are senior right-hander Sam Smith or junior left-hander Mitchell Babb.
If Smith gets the nod to start, he will come into the game with a 2-4 record and a 6.02 ERA in eight starts and four relief appearances this year. Smith will be coming off a win in his last start against University of Tennessee-Martin, where he went six innings and gave up just one run.
If Babb gets the start, it will be his first career start for the Rebels. Babb comes into the game with a 4.40 ERA in 14.1 innings and 10 appearances in relief this year. Babb pitched two scoreless innings of relief in game one at Auburn and gave up three runs on three hits in one inning of relief in game three.
Offensively, Ole Miss will look to continue to get production from junior outfielder Connor Cloyd and sophomore shortstop Errol Robinson both of which are coming off good weekends on the plate at Auburn. Cloyd recorded two multi-hit games while Robinson recorded five hits in the series.
If Ole Miss is going to win this game, they will likely need to get off to a fast start. UCA has a solid bullpen and are 15-0 this year when leading after the sixth inning. The Bears have also outscored opponents 80-45 in the final four innings this season.
The Rebels have struggled in midweek games this year, posting a 5-5 record, but did win their last midweek game against UT-Martin by a score of 11-1 behind a great pitching performance from Smith.
Tuesday will start a stretch of five games in six days for the Rebels. After tomorrow’s game, Ole Miss will take on Memphis on Wednesday before Alabama comes to Oxford for a three game series that starts Friday.
First pitch tomorrow is set for 6:30 p.m.
