FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The Ole Miss baseball team will kick off a key three-game Southeastern Conference series against No. 16 Arkansas at 6 tonight (SEC Network) at Baum Stadium.
Ole Miss (25-16, 9-9 SEC) has won four of the past five series against Arkansas (33-10, 12-6), including a three-game sweep at Swayze Field last season. Ole Miss is coming off a 4-2 loss to No. 8 Mississippi State on Tuesday at Trustmark Park in Pearl.
Sophomore right-hander James McArthur (2-3, 3.43 earned run average) is scheduled to start for Ole Miss. Sophomore right-hander Blaine Knight (6-2, 3.13) is scheduled to start for Arkansas.
Ole Miss is the only SEC pitching staff with a sub-3.00 ERA. The Rebels lead the league in ERA (2.98), strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.39), and WHIP (1.14) They also rank in the top 10 nationally in all three categories as well as shutouts (six).
Arkansas is coming off a midweek victory against Kansas State. At 12-6 in conference play, Arkansas is one game behind MSU (13-5) in the SEC West.
Arkansas has won four of their six conference series. Last weekend, Arkansas dropped two-of-three from Auburn.
The series will resume at 6 p.m. Friday. Game 3 is scheduled for 4 p.m. Saturday.
n In related news, Ole Miss closer Dallas Woolfolk was named Wednesday to the midseason watch list for the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Stopper of the Year Award.
Woolfolk is one of 40 pitchers on the watch list for the award given annually to the top relief pitcher in NCAA Division I Baseball.
Woolfolk is the second Rebel to earn a spot on the midseason watch list in as many years. Last season, southpaw Wyatt Short made the list as the Rebels’ primary closer. Short is in the professional ranks with the World Series champion Chicago Cubs organization.
Woolfolk, who is from Southaven, is 3-1 with eight saves and a 1.26 ERA in a team-high 20 appearances. He had three walks and 33 strikeouts in 28 2/3 innings.
n Alabama will play host to No. 15 LSU: At Tuscaloosa, Alabama, the Alabama baseball team will look to bounce back from losing three SEC games to MSU last weekend when it kicks off a three-game SEC series against No. 15 LSU at 6:30 tonight (ESPN2) at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.
The series will continue at 6 p.m. Friday and at 2 p.m. Saturday.
The Crimson Tide and Tigers will meet for the 367th time in series history tonight. Alabama leads the series 201-162-3 and 115-66 in home games.
Alabama (15-26, 2-16) is coming off an 11-8 loss to Jacksonville State on Tuesday.
LSU (27-15, 10-8) have split their six conference series. LSU lost twice to Kentucky last weekend in Lexington, Kentucky. LSU is coming off a 9-6 loss to Tulane on Tuesday night in New Orleans.
Alabama is scheduled to start sophomore left-hander Dylan Duarte tonight. Senior right-hander Nick Eicholtz is scheduled to start Friday. LSU will counter with junior right-hander Alex Lange and senior left-hander Jared Poche. LSU will feature freshman right-hander Eric Walker in the series finale.
This is “Alumni Weekend” for Alabama baseball. The program welcomes back all Crimson Tide baseball alumni to be celebrated each game while the alumni and their families will also receive admission at a discounted ticket rate. The opener will be “’90s Night” with a throwback theme to the entire game-day experience. Crimson Chaos members will also receive a ’90s hat as part of the giveaway. The opener will double as “Greek Night” with all members of a sorority or fraternity receiving Greek points for their check in at Gate 6 and the Greek Life Council throwing out the game’s ceremonial first pitches.
Friday’s game will be the Tide’s “Crimson Out” with all fans asked to wear their Crimson in support of the Tide. That same night, fans coming through the gates of Sewell-Thomas Stadium will receive commemorative pennants celebrating the 125 years of Alabama baseball. The first 150 students through the gates Friday will also get an Alabama baseball T-shirt and free Chuy’s.
Friday’s game also will be “Alumni Association Night”. Students will also have the chance to enter to win a Yeti cooler.
On Saturday, Alabama will resume its “Saturday Entertainment Series” with the Voodoo Saints playing a pregame concert on the main concourse. Saturday will also feature first pitches by former Alabama softball great Haylie McCleney and Dan Chavers, who was a part of Alabama’s 1997 team that reached the College World Series in Omaha.
n Southern Mississippi’s Sandlin named to NCBWA Stopper of the Year Midseason Watch List: At Hattiesburg, Southern Mississippi right-handed relief pitcher Nick Sandlin earned one of 40 spots on the Midseason Watch List for the 13th annual National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Stopper of the Year Award, the association announced Wednesday.
In 17 appearances, Sandlin is 5-1 record with four saves and a 1.34 ERA. In 33 2/3 innings, Sandlin have given up 17 hits and 17 walks and struck out 54. Opponents are hitting .148 against him.
Junior Colleges
n Local players play key roles for Mississippi Delta C.C. in split with Itawamba C.C.: At Fulton, Wendell Rieves and Payton Lane had two hits in both games of a doubleheader in the Mississippi Delta Community College baseball team’s 12-8 loss to Itawamba C.C. and a 10-9 victory against ICC on Tuesday.
Rieves, a former standout at West Lowndes High School, and Lane, a former standout at New Hope High, were part of an 11-hit attack in Game 1. Former New Hope High standout Tyler Jones also had a double for the Trojans.
In Game 2, Rieves had a home run, one of five in the matchup Jones also had multiple hits, including a double for MDCC (25-15, 12-10 Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges).
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