No. 25 Ole Miss hits the road this weekend for a series with Tennessee as both teams bring in win streaks and aspirations for hosting postseason baseball.
Ole Miss (27-11, 8-7 SEC) has won six games in a row and eight of its last nine games after what seemed to be a low point when it was swept by rival Mississippi State in Oxford. Tennessee (25-12, 7-8 SEC) is riding a five game win streak of its own including a sweep of MSU in Starkville last weekend.
This is two teams who have had very good to great
stretches of play and also very mediocre to bad stretches as well. Tennessee dropped a series to LSU at Lindsey Nelson Stadium just before it swept MSU and was swept by Vanderbilt in the series prior. The month of March was especially tough for the Rebels as it compiled a 10-9 record after a blazing hot start to the year.
The Volunteers have chosen for only the second time since its 2021 season to “Checker Lindsey Nelson” this weekend against Ole Miss. Fans will wear orange or white to mimic the traditional checkerboard pattern seen in Tennessee’s football endzones, and generally if you see it in person causes nausea and explosive diarrhea.
Good for them though hyping things up for a top 25 opponent. Without Tony “Lord Farquaad” Vitello, the Vols have proven it hasn’t just fallen off a cliff as a program. The new stadium renovations are a really solid upgrade, and this series looms large for the Rebels and Vols chances to host in the NCAA Tournament.
PROJECTED PITCHING MATCHUPS
Friday, 5:30 p.m. CT
- Ole Miss: LHP Hunter Elliott (3-1, 3.69 ERA)
- Tennessee: RHP Landon Mack (3-2, 3.75 ERA)
Saturday, 5 p.m. CT
- Ole Miss: RHP Cade Townsend (3-1, 2.02 ERA)
- Tennessee: RHP Tegan Kuhns (2-3, 3.77 ERA)
Sunday, 12 p.m. CT
- Ole Miss: RHP Taylor Rabe (3-1, 3.16 ERA)
- Tennesseee: LHP Evan Blanco (3-2, 3.67 ERA)
Just look at these numbers above on the starting pitching. Runs should be at a premium all weekend for both teams, and you take a peak at Tennessee’s pitching against MSU when it swept the Bulldogs and only allowed nine runs in those three games. It is eerily reminiscent to the Rebels pitching performance at Florida where Ole Miss only allowed eight runs all series in Gainesville.
I do think Tennessee has to win this series to keep its postseason hosting chances alive as it is clearly on the outside looking in there. The Rebels are in the hosting discussion anywhere from No. 12-16 depending on which projection you frequent on the world wide web. If Ole Miss takes two of three, it would give itself some room to breathe with some daunting series ahead against Georgia, Texas A&M, Alabama and Arkansas.
The Rebels do have to at least take one game this weekend in my opinion to stay in the top 25 and keep its standing in the top 16 regional host sites. But lets be honest sweep the hell out of Tennessee should always be the goal with the series win an expectation for the program.
It is going to be an edge of your seat series in my opinion based on where these teams are currently. A lot to play for, some very solid pitching and two offenses that have been boom or bust depending on which weekend you watch them play.
All three games will be streamed live on SEC Network+ and the Ole Miss radio network will have live broadcasts from Knoxville if you want to mute the streamcast.
