March 7, 2013

Game Notes vs. Lipscomb

#7 Ole Miss (13-1) vs. Lipscomb (6-7)

Date: March 8-10, 2013
Times: 6:30 p.m./1:30 p.m./1:30 p.m.
Location: Oxford, Miss.
Venue: Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field
Capacity: 10,323
Surface: Grass
Series: Ole Miss leads 3-0
    In Oxford: 3-0
Radio: Ole Miss Radio Network
          (Local Only Saturday)
Television: None
Live Video (HD): RebelVision
Live Stats: OleMissSports.com
Live Blog: OleMissSports.com
Twitter Updates: @OleMissBSB

OLE MISS QUICK HITS
• Ole Miss continued to creep up in the national polls following a 4-1 week with a weekend sweep at FIU.
  The Rebels are ranked as high as No. 7 (Baseball America) and are also ranked 11th (Collegiate
  Baseball), 12th (Perfect Game), 15th (ESPN/USAToday) and 18th (NCBWA).
• Ole Miss was solid in an outing at Florida International, surviving a slugfest 11-9 on Friday night
  before Mike Mayers and Sam Smith were dominant in starts in 8-3 and 8-1 wins to close out the
  weekend sweep.
• In the last weekend outing, the Rebels posted a sweep of FIU. With the sweep, the Rebels have now
  swept three consecutive weekends to open the season for the first time since the 2004 campaign.
• Ole Miss has won six-straight after dropping the only game of the season against Memphis on
  February 26.
• The Rebels are coming off a midweek series sweep of Southeastern Louisiana 2-0 and 6-2.
• Junior C Stuart Turner threw out 3-of-4 base stealers on Wednesday against SELA and is 11-for-15 this
  season.
• Junior SS Austin Anderson hit his first home run of the season on Tuesday and is the third Rebel with a
  HR in 2013.
• Head coach Mike Bianco can tie Jake Gibbs for all-time wins as Rebel head coach with a victory over
  the Bisons this weekend. Two victories would make him the all-time winningest coach in Ole Miss
  baseball history.

PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
FRIDAY, 6:30 PM
LU - Josh Cotham, Sr., RHP
Ole Miss - Bobby Wahl, Jr., RHP
NOTING WAHL:
• Wahl makes his fourth start of the season on Friday and looks to run his record to 4-0 on the year in
  the start.
• The right-hander holds a 2.70 ERA through 16.2 IP this season with 12 walks and 16 strikeouts to
  date.
• For his career, Wahl now holds a 10-6 record and is making his 22nd start of his career this weekend.
• With the junior's shutout of No. 12 TCU in the season opener, Wahl has been a part of six shutouts in
  his career.
• Wahl did not pitch against Lipscomb his freshman season when the Bisons visited Oxford in 2011.

SATURDAY, 1:30 PM
LU - Davey Hacket, Sr., RHP
Ole Miss - Mike Mayers, Jr., RHP
NOTING MAYERS:
• Mayers makes his fourth start of the season and 20th of his career against the Bisons this weekend.
• He is coming off a win at FIU with a season-long 7.0 IP with no runs on six hits, two walks and six
  strikeouts.
• The right-hander is holding batters to a .197 batting average against and has allowed four runs on 12
  hits.
• Mayers has not pitched against Lipscomb in his career, despite the Rebels facing the Bisons in 2011.

SUNDAY, 1:30 PM
LU - Will Blalock, Soph., RHP
Ole Miss - Sam Smith, Soph., RHP
NOTING SMITH:
• Smith makes his fourth start of the season and second straight weekend start against Lipscomb on Sunday.
• He starts in place of sophomore RHP Chris Ellis for the second straight weekend as Ellis rehabs an ab
  strain.
• Smith is coming off a win at FIU with a season-long 6.0 IP with an unearned run and five strikeouts.
• The win gave the Rebels a sweep of the FIU Panthers as Smith tied a career-long innings pitched in a
  start.
• Smith holds a 1.46 ERA through 13.1 innings of work with 11 strikeouts and only five walks to date this
  season.

REBELS vs. LIPSCOMB
Ole Miss and Lipscomb will face off against each other for only the second time ever when the Rebels host the Bisons in a three-game series this weekend. The two teams first met in the 2011 season when Ole Miss also hosted Lipscomb in a three-game series in Oxford, sweeping the series 8-0, 3-0 and 5-1.
• Lipscomb holds a 6-7 record and is coming off a midweek win over Middle Tennessee on Wednesday
  night.
• The Bisons are hitting at a .273 clip and are led by Aaron Sandoval with a .413 average on the
  season.
• The Lipscomb pitching staff holds a 4.88 ERA and have allowed 87 walks to 91 strikeouts so far this
  season.
• Teams are hitting at a .268 clip against the Bisons and have scored 96 runs - 64 of them earned.

PROMOTIONS ABOUND AT SWAYZE FIELD IN 2013
Visitors to Oxford-University Stadium this season will have plenty to look forward to besides just some of the most exciting baseball in the country. Ole Miss Marketing has gameday promotions lined up throughout the course of the season that are sure to please the crowds. This weekend's promotions include Will Allen poster night on Friday night at Swayze Field, while Saturday afternoon's game will feature an Ole Miss pennant giveaway.

MULTIPLE-HIT AND MULTIPLE-RBI GAMES
Stuart Turner does a little bit of everything for the Rebels and currently leads the team in multiple-hit games and multiple-RBI games. To date, Turner has posted eight multiple-hit games and six multiple-RBI games. Ten Rebels have posted multiple-hit games in 2012, while eight different Rebels have posted multiple-RBI games this season. Austin Anderson is right behind Turner with six multiple-hit games, while Auston Bousfield has added five multiple-hit games this season.

STREAKING REBELS TO WATCH
Eight Rebels hold active hit streaks heading into the weekend series with Lipscomb, led by Stuart Turner's nine game hit streak. Austin Anderson is right behind him with an eight game hit streak, while Auston Bousfield's two-game streak is the only other active streak longer than a single game.

TOP OF THE REBEL COACHING RANKS
While he is closing in on the 500 win mark at Ole Miss, Bianco will hit another milestone on his way to the 500-win mark. With his 484 wins, Bianco is two wins away from taking over the top spot as winningest coach in Ole Miss baseball history. Jake Gibbs (1972-1990) is the current leader with 485 career victories. Bianco can tie Gibbs with a win on Friday night against Lipscomb.

REBELS ENJOY HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE UNDER BIANCO
Ole Miss has enjoyed success on the home field under head coach Mike Bianco over the course of 13 seasons. The excitement and energy generated by Rebel fans has helped the squad post a record of 318-117-1 at Swayze Field for a .731 winning percentage in that time.

TURNER DOMINANT BEHIND THE PLATE
Opposing base runners have had trouble stealing bases with Stuart Turner behind the plate this season, as the junior college transfer has thrown out 11-of-15 base runners on steal attempts this season. Turner started the season 7-for-7 on catching base stealers. Of the four successful steal attempts against Turner, the junior catcher did not attempt a throw on the play on two of them.