May 10, 2012

Game Notes vs. Tennessee

#24 Ole Miss (31-18, 11-13 SEC) vs. Tennessee (24-24, 8-16 SEC)
Oxford, Miss. • Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field
May 11-13 • 6:30 PM/4:00 PM/1:30 PM

Radio: Full Ole Miss Network
Announcers: David Kellum & Keith Kessinger
Television: SportSouth (Saturday)
Announcers: Bob Kessling (Play-by-Play) & Rusty Ensor (Analyst)
Live Stats:Click Here
RebelVision/Audio:Click Here

THIS WEEK FOR OLE MISS:
Ole Miss will had the week off from midweek games because of finals, but the Rebels return to action with the final home series of the regular season this weekend. Ole Miss will play host to Tennessee in a three-game set that will begin on Friday night at 6:30 p.m. The Rebels will face the Vols at 4 p.m. on Saturday on SportSouth and then close out the series at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.

NEXT WEEK FOR THE REBELS:
Ole Miss will close out the regular season with four road games this week, beginning with a Tuesday night contest at Arkansas State. The Rebels will then travel to take on Vanderbilt in the final series of the regular season. Thursday night's game will begin at 7 p.m. and be televised by ESPNU, while Saturday's game will begin at 6 p.m. and Saturday's finale will begin at 1 p.m.

PROBABLE PITCHING MATCH-UPS:
FRIDAY, 6:30 P.M.
UT - Dalton Saberhagen, So., LHP
OM - Bobby Wahl, So., RHP
NOTING WAHL: Sophomore right-hander Bobby Wahl takes the mound on Friday night to open the series against Tennessee and makes his 13th start of the season. On the year, Wahl is 5-1 with a 2.14 ERA and has posted 73 strikeouts with 25 walks in his 67.1 innings of work. The sophomore is holding opponents to a .215 batting average against and has combined for three shutouts this season. He has picked up wins over #10 TCU, UNC-Wilmington, Houston, Auburn and #1 Florida. He has twice been named the SEC Pitcher of the Week, been tabbed as the National Pitcher of the Week, has been selected to compete for the USA Baseball National Team and was named to the Golden Spikes Player of the Year watch list and National Pitcher of the Year watch list.

SATURDAY, 4:00 P.M. (SportSouth)
UT - Nick Williams, So., RHP
OM- Mike Mayers, So., RHP
NOTING MAYERS: Sophomore right-hander Mike Mayers is set to make his 12th start of the season when he takes the mound against Tennessee on Saturday. The sophomore is 4-2 on the season with a 4.01 ERA and has posted 46 strikeouts with 21 walks in his 67.1 innings of work. This season, Mayers has posted wins over UNC-Wilmington, Houston, #1 Kentucky and #15 Arkansas. Mayers has combined for one shutout on the season, a 1-0 win over the Razorbacks where he allowed only two hits for the game. It will be the fifth Saturday start of the season for Mayers who has two wins and taken two no decisions in four Saturday starts. Ole Miss has won all four games Mayers has started on Saturday this season.

SUNDAY, 1:30 P.M.
UT -
OM - TBA

A LOOK AT TENNESSEE:
The Tennessee Volunteers enter the weekend series coming off a midweek win over Memphis in the Bluff City following a series loss to Vanderbilt last weekend. Tennessee is hitting .255 as a team and are led at the plate by Will Maddox. Maddox is hitting at a .306 clip and is the only Volunteer hitting above the .300 mark this season with more than 13 at bats. Drew Steckenrider leads the team with six home runs, while Chris Fitts has posted a team-best 26 RBI. The Tennessee pitching staff holds a 4.29 ERA and Friday night starter Dalton Saberhagen has a 5-1 record with one start and a 2.92 ERA through 24.2 innings of work. He has 12 strikeouts with 13 walks and opponents are hitting at a .213 clip against Saberhagen.

OLE MISS VS. TENNESSEE:
Ole Miss and Tennessee have faced each other 73 times with the Rebels holding a 38-34-1 lead in the all-time series. The two teams first met in 1907 with dropping the first series 1-2. After that first meeting, the two teams did not meet again until the 1923 season when Ole Miss lost the first game and tied in the second game.

LAST TIME OUT VS. TENNESSEE:
Ole Miss and Tennessee met last season in Knoxville with the Rebels picking up the series win with wins on Friday night and Sunday in the finale. Matt Crouse tossed a complete-game in the 6-1 win. Tennessee's lone run came on a solo shot in the seventh inning. Austin Wright and Bobby Wahl combined to shutout the Volunteers in the Sunday finale. Wright worked 8.0 scoreless innings and allowed only four hits while Wahl closed things out in the ninth. Tanner Mathis and Alex Yarbrough started all three games and both hit .500 for the weekend to help lead the Rebels. Yarbrough hit two home runs and a triple on the weekend and went 5-for-10, while Mathis was 7-for-14 on the weekend.

BIANCO VS. TENNESSEE:
Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco faced off against the Tennessee Volunteers 29 times, posting a 17-12 record in that time as head coach of the Rebels.

vs. TENNESSEE
in Oxford: 8-4
in Knoxville: 6-12
in SEC Tournament: 2-0
Series Wins: 5
Series Lost: 4
Series Sweeps: 2
Series Swept: 1

GAMES ON REBELVISION:
Fans of Ole Miss baseball who can't make it to Swayze Field can catch all the action live on the subscription based RebelVision or listen to the games online. Both features can be found at www.OleMissSports.com on any home game not carried live on television as a part of the Southeastern Conference's 2012 television package. Certain road games will be carried where an agreement has been reached with the host institution for a video share.

LISTEN TO THE GAMES ONLINE:
Rebel fans who can't make it to the game at Swayze Field have options for catching all the action with Rebel Baseballl. In addition to the RebelVision option for video and audio, fans can also download the Ole Miss App for their phone and receive live stats and streaming audio right in the palm of their hand.

HIT STREAKS ON THE LINE:
Five Rebels hold hit streaks of more than two games heading into the weekend series against Tennessee. John Gatlin holds a six-game hit streak heading into the series, while Auston Bousfield and Tanner Mathis hold four-game hit streaks. Austin Knight and Matt Snyder have both hit safely in three straight games.

THEY KEEP REACHING BASE:
Will Allen and Matt Snyder have reached base safely in seven straight games heading into the weekend series while John Gatlin is right behind them with six straight games reaching base. Auston Bousfield (4), Tanner Mathis (4) and Austin Knight (3) round out the list.

BEST WHEN SCORING FIRST:
Ole Miss has a stark contrast in its record when it comes to which team wins when scoring first. The Rebels are 26-3 this season when scoring first in a game, while Ole Miss is 5-15 this year when the opponent scores first.

NO PLACE LIKE HOME:
The home field has been kind to the Rebels during Bianco's tenure as Ole Miss has posted a 305-116-1 record within the friendly confines of O-U Stadium/Swayze Field for a  .724 winning percentage at home.