OXFORD- The Ole Miss Rebel Baseball Team (25-20, 9-12) is set to host a three game series against the number one nationally ranked South Carolina Gamecocks(36-8,17-4) this weekend at Swayze Field. The opening game of the series is set to start at 7:30 central time and will be televised by Fox Sports South. The Rebels won their midweek game last night as they knocked off the Arkansas State 11-9, but the Rebels will need much more firepower this weekend to hang with the power-hitting Gamecocks.
The Gamecocks are led by sophomore first baseman Christian Walker batting .386 and slugging nine home runs to lead the team on the season. Walker also won SEC player of the week for his phenomenal showing at Mississippi State last weekend batting an unbelievable .909 (10 for 11 at the plate), and also a 1.273 slugging percentage. Gamecock Coach, Ray Tanner, stated earlier this week, "I have never seen a hitting display as Christian put on last week. He was relentless at the plate." The Rebels must choose whether or not to pitch to this slugger, because one wrong move he will make you pay, and pay hard.
Rebel senior right fielder Matt Smith suffered a broken last night against Arkansas State, and will not be able to participate in the series this weekend. This a huge blow to the Rebels offensive and defensive scheme. Smith was fifth on the team in batting average with .305 and a steady hand in the field with a .977 fielding percentage. He will be out for two weeks with a broken metacarpal in his left hand. "This was a big blow to our team," stated Coach Bianco, "We are going to need this guy if we are going to hold that eight spot for the tournament."
If the season ended today the Rebels would hold the eighth and final seed in the SEC tournament in Hoover, Alabama (http://www.secdigitalnetwork.com/NEWS/tabid/473/Article/225236/sec-baseball-tournament-the-road-to-hoover.aspx). South Carolina would be the number one seed. The Rebels will need to make a serious push in the remaining games this season and a serious run in the tournament to advance into the National Tournament beginning at the end of the month.
The Gamecocks are looking to start their ace junior pitcher Michael Roth (9-1, 1.24 ERA). Roth's ERA is second in the league, and is tied with two other pitchers in the league for wins. Roth throttled the hard hitting SEC leaders in hitting Vanderbilt Commodores two weeks ago earning SEC Pitcher of the Week. The Rebels will start junior left-hander Matt Crouse (6-3, 3.41 ERA). As many know, the Rebels will need near perfect pitching by Crouse to knock off the mighty Gamecocks.
Rebel batting has been hot ass of late with 5 players batting over .300, and the Rebels will also need power hitting to be there on all cylinders in order to slow the hard throwing Roth. Sophomore infielder Alex Yarbrough leads the Rebels batting .350 and also pounded 28 RBIs for second on the team.
This is the last series off the school year, and the stands are for sure to be full of students and fans. Swayze Field is always loud but with the farewell of many of the students this year, and the number one Gamecocks flying in the place is for sure to be rowdy. Rebel Freshman, Ander Haick stated, "I am pumped for this weekend as I won't get to see the team in action live this summer at all, and hope they can pull it out even with all the firepower that the Gamecocks possess."
Sources:
http://www.olemisssports.com/sports/m-basebl/ole-m-basebl-body.html
http://gamecocksonline.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/050511aaa.html
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