Everything you need to know: Tennessee vs. Ole Miss
Tennessee baseball dropped its last SEC series to a desperate Texas A&M squad at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. The Vols no-hit and run ruled the Aggies 10-0 in the first game of the series, but then a double-header on Saturday saw Texas A&M hit double-digit home runs across the 2 games to blow out Tennessee in both games. Maybe it was a much-needed reality check for the Vols or a talented A&M squad sick of losing. Either way, Tennessee has to go on the road to Oxford, Mississippi, starting Friday night for a top-10 series versus the Ole Miss Rebels.
Ole Miss(26-7,8-4) comes into the series ranked 6th in the nation, according to D1 Baseball. The last time these two teams met was last season in LNS, when the Vols won the series 2 games to 1. Tennessee earned both wins in last year’s series via the run rule, scoring 15 runs in each win. However, the game Ole Miss was able to win featured a familiar face. Liam Doyle went 6 innings for the Rebels that day, striking out 10 Vols while only allowing 3 runs. The good news is Doyle is now wearing orange and will be looking forward to getting one over on his old team when he takes the mound Friday night. Tennessee first baseman Andrew Fischer will also be in the same boat, as he came to Knoxville from Ole Miss as well.
Batting-wise wise the Rebels are led by junior third baseman Luke Hill with a .369 average and a .500 OBP. Power-wise wise the Rebels are led by Judd Utermark with 11 home runs. 3 more players are tied at 9 home runs to complete an offense that comes in at 7th in the country with 67 home runs.
Pitching-wise, the Rebels will turn to Hunter Elliot for game 1, Riley Maddox for game 2, and Mason Nichols for game 3. The Rebels come in at 51st in the country in team ERA.
This is a pretty important series for Tennessee. Do they bounce back from their horrid performance in the double-header last Saturday, or do they fold under the pressure of an SEC road environment? I think they respond and win 2 games versus the Rebels before coming back home for a tilt with the Kentucky Wildcats next weekend.