May 10, 2011

Game Notes in PDF Format

Ole Miss (27-21, 11-13 SEC) vs. Miss. State (30-18, 11-13 SEC)
Oxford, Miss. • O-U Stadium/Swayze Field
May 12-14 • 6:30 PM/7:00 PM/7:00 PM

Radio: Full Ole Miss Baseball Radio Network
Announcers: David Kellum & Keith Kessinger
Television: ESPNU - Thursday; SportSouth (Friday/Saturday - DirecTV - 649/650, 650-1 HD; Dish Network - 437; Cable - Find Your Channel Here)
Announcers: Dave Neal & Kyle Peterson - ESPNU; Dave Neal & Larry Conley - SportSouth
Internet Stats/Broadcasts: www.OleMissSports.com

THIS WEEK FOR OLE MISS:
Ole Miss will have the week off from midweek games this week before playing the final home series in Southeastern Conference play against in-state rival Mississippi State. The contest is set for a Thursday-Saturday series with Thursday night’s game being televised by ESPNU at 6:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday’s contests are both set for a 7 p.m. start and will be televised by SportSouth.

NEXT WEEK FOR THE REBELS:
Ole Miss will play their final home game of the regular season on Tuesday night against Southeast Missour State at 6:30 p.m. as a makeup game for one of the earlier rainouts this season. The Rebels will then hit the road to close out the regular season at #16 Arkansas beginning on Thursday at 6:35 p.m. Friday’s game is on CSS at 6 p.m. and Saturday is at 2 p.m.

PROBABLE PITCHING MATCH-UPS:
THURSDAY, 6:30 P.M. (ESPNU)
MSU - Luis Pollerano, Soph., LHP
OM - Matt Crouse, Jr., LHP
NOTING CROUSE: Junior left-hander Matt Crouse takes the mound on Thursday night making his second start for the Rebels in a game televised by ESPNU. It is Crouse’s 13th start of the season and the southpaw holds a 6-4 record with a 3.72 ERA through a team-leading 77.1 innings of work. In that time, Crouse has struck out 52 batters and walked only 14 while holding opponents to a .270 batting average. The junior has pitched two complete games this season, including a shutout of Lipscomb, one of two shutouts for the left-hander this year.

FRIDAY, 7:00 P.M. (SPORTSOUTH)
MSU - Nick Routt, Jr., LHP
OM - David Goforth, Jr., RHP
NOTING GOFORTH: Junior right-hander David Goforth takes to the mound in the second game of the series making his 13th start of the year. Fresh off a win over No. 1 South Carolina last weekend, Goforth has now posted wins in three of his last four starts and holds a 4-6 record with a team-leading 54 strikeouts. he was walked 25 batters in his 71.1 innings of work and combined for a shutout this year in a season-long 7.0 innings of work against Lipscomb. Like Crouse, he is also limiting opponents to a .270 batting average against.

SUNDAY, 7:00 P.M. (SPORTSOUTH)
MSU - Chris Stratton, Soph., RHP
OM - Austin Wright, Jr., LHP
NOTING WRIGHT: Junior left-hander Austin Wright looks to take the mound for the Rebels in the series finale on Saturday with an overall record of 4-4 in 60.1 innings of work. Wright makes will be making his 13th start of the season and holds a 4.92 ERA with 53 strikeouts and 21 walks on the season. The southpaw worked a season-long 8.0 innings of scoreless work at Tennessee to help the Rebels claim a series win over the Vols for his best outing of the season.

A LOOK AT MISSISSIPPI STATE:
The Bulldogs of Mississippi State enter the week with a Tuesday night matchup against in-state foe Mississippi Valley State and are coming off a series sweep at Tennessee last weekend. Prior to the contest with the Delta Devils, the Bulldogs hold a 29-18 record on the year with an identical 11-13 mark in SEC play as the Rebels. At the plate, the Bulldogs are hitting .290 and are led by Jarod Parks with a .419 average. Jonathan Ogden leads the power with seven home runs and a team-best 34 RBI. Luis Pollerona will be making only his second start on Thursday with a 6-3 record in 17 outings. He has 25 strikeouts and 12 walks in 32 innings of work.

OLE MISS VS. MISSISSIPPI STATE:
Ole Miss and Mississippi State have faced off 434 times with the Rebels trailing 200-229-5 in the all-time series. Under head coach Mike Bianco, the Rebels lead 24-21.

LAST TIME OUT VS. MISSISSIPPI STATE:
Ole Miss and Mississippi State met in the Governor’s Cup game earlier this year with the Rebels falling to the Bulldogs 6-1. Last season, the Rebels and Bulldogs met four times with the Rebels claiming all four games with a win in the Governor’s Cup game and a series sweep in Starkville.

SOME HAVE HIT STREAKS ON THE LINE:
Several players hold hit streaks heading into the contest with Mississippi State, led by sophomore OF Tanner Mathis. Mathis has hit safely in seven straight games after posting a 23 game hit streak earlier this season. Miles Hamblin and Alex Yarbrough have both hit safely in four straight games.

OTHERS KEEP REACHING BASE:
While Tanner Mathis saw his 23 game hit streak end at Auburn, the sophomore has reached base in more consecutive games. Mathis currently holds a streak of 37 straight games reaching base. Hamblin (6), Yarbrough (5), Snyder (4) and Newalu (4) are the only other players who have actively reached in more than two consecutive games.

REBELS ADD SEMO TO THE SCHEDULE:
Ole Miss has added a game to the schedule after losing two games to rain earlier this year. The SEMO Redhawks will come to Oxford on Tuesday, May 17 to face the Rebels in a 6:30 p.m. game.

RAZORBACKS - REBELS PICKED UP BY CSS:
The Rebels and Razorbacks will have a game added to the TV slate this year as CSS will carry the Friday ngiht game of the series (game two) as the Viewer’s Choice game. The game time has been moved to 6 p.m. at Baum Stadium.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Senior catcher/infielder Miles Hamblin was named the SEC Player of the Week on May 9 after helping the Rebels post a series win over No. 1 South Carolina and a midweek win at Arkansas State. Hamblin hit .429 for the week with a grand slam at ASU to tie the game and spark a rally before hitting .545 with a 1.111 slug percentage against the Gamecocks to help the Rebels grab the win. He came up with a one out single in the ninth inning to move Matt Tracy from first to third and set up the game-winning sac fly from Preston Overbey to clinch the series win.