OXFORD, Miss. – Ole Miss Baseball (15-2) heads south for a huge Tuesday matchup with No. 7 Southern Miss (14-2) before they begin SEC play this weekend. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. in Hattiesburg.
LEADING OFF
Ole Miss went 5-0 last week, picking up midweek wins over Memphis and North Alabama and sweeping the weekend series against Evansville.
Freshman Grayson Gibson earned the win over Memphis, working four hitless innings and striking out five while allowing just one baserunner.
Marko Sipila made his first start against North Alabama, striking out seven over three innings. The only baserunner he allowed came on a solo home run in the first inning.
Judd Utermark hit .412 with four home runs and 10 RBI last week. He now has 10 home runs on the season and is one of eight players in Division I with double digit home runs.
Utermark is ranked second in the SEC in home runs, third in home runs per game, third in runs scored, and fifth in total bases.
Dom Decker drew 11 walks over five games last week bringing his season total to 23.
Decker now leads the SEC in walks and walks per game and has reached base in all 17 games this season.
Ole Miss as a team has drawn 111 walks over 17 games, third in the SEC and sixth in the NCAA.
Ole Miss pitchers are now up to 213 total strikeouts on the season, tied for the most in the SEC and second highest in the NCAA.
The Rebel pitching staff is also ranked second in the SEC in K/9 (13.1), fourth in ERA (2.71), sixth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.87), and eighth in WHIP (1.14).
Cade Townsend owns a 0.48 ERA through four starts, third-lowest in the SEC. He is currently riding a 17-inning scoreless streak.
Ole Miss opens SEC play this weekend on the road in Austin against No. 2 Texas. This will be the Rebels’ first time playing in Austin since 1912.
PROJECTED PITCHING MATCHUP
RHP Taylor Rabe (2-0, 2.53 ERA) vs. RHP Thomas Crabtree (0-1, 4.32 ERA)
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Tomorrow’s game will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Jason Baker (PxP) and Cliff Russum (analyst) on the call.
Fans can listen to all Ole Miss Baseball games, home and away, on the Ole Miss Radio Network with David Kellum (PxP) and Brad Henderson (analyst) on the call.
SCOUTING REPORT
Head coach Christian Ostrander has revitalized Southern Miss’ baseball programs in his two seasons at the helm. Entering just his third season as head coach, Ostrander had garnered more wins than any of his predecessors over that time with 90 and is 2-for-2 in reaching NCAA Regional finals.
The Golden Eagles are 14-2 entering Tuesday’s match and are ranked as high as No. 6 in the nation, according to Perfect Game USA. Following a stunning loss in the season opener to UC Santa Barbara, Southern Miss rallied to win its next 11 games. In that span, it bested four Power Four teams, including Alabama and Mississippi State, run ruling the former in eight innings.
Southern Miss is coming off a three-game sweep of North Alabama, where it outscored its opponents, 24-7, in the three games.
Southern Miss boasts a quartet of plus-.300 batters going into week five of the 2026 season, fronted by senior outfielder Joey Urban. He’s batting .373 in 16 starts so far this season, his second year with the Golden Eagles after transferring in from Butler. Urban also is capable at hitting for power, sharing a team-high five home runs with Kyle Morrison, another batter hitting above .300. That duo has combined for 36 RBI so far this season. Davis Gillespie and Seth Smith are the other players hitting north of .300 this season.
Camden Sunstrom and Dylan Causey have been sharing midweek responsibilities so far this season. Both pitchers have appeared on Tuesday or Wednesday matchups for the Golden Eagles, as the team is 3-0 on Tuesdays but lost its only Wednesday game this season. Sunstrom is Southern Miss’ best statistical pitcher at this point of the season, holding a 1.00 ERA with 24 strikeouts. He’s performed best as a relief pitcher, making five appearances out of the bullpen. Causey has made two Tuesday starts, winning neither, but limiting damage with a 0.00 ERA.
CALIFORNIA DEALIN’
Cade Townsend sports a 0.48 ERA after four starts, the third-lowest ERA among all qualified SEC pitchers. He has allowed just one earned run all season, coming on a sacrifice fly in his first start against Nevada. Since that second inning on February 14 against the Wolfpack, Townsend has thrown 17-straight scoreless innings.
The California native has struck out seven or more batters in each of his four starts and set a new career high of nine in a combined shutout against Ohio State. He has the fourth-highest K/9 (15.43) and the seventh-lowest WHIP (0.75) in the SEC heading into this weekend.
OUT FOR A WALK
Dom Decker currently leads the SEC in walks and walks per game. His 23 walks are the third-most nationally and his walk rate of 1.35 per game is the fifth best in the NCAA.
Decker has drawn 11 walks over his last five games and is currently on a 17-game on base streak, reaching base at least once in every game so far.
Ole Miss as a team is third in the SEC and sixth in the NCAA in walks, having drawn 111 walks over 17 games.
CLIMBING THE CHARTS
After hitting two more home runs over the weekend against Evansville, Judd Utermark now sits at 39 career home runs which is nine shy of the Ole Miss all-time record. He passed 2022 National Champion Kevin Graham in game two of last Friday’s doubleheader and now sits in sole possession of sixth place.
Ole Miss Career Home Run List
1. Kyle Gordon 48
2. Tim Elko 46
3. Matt Smith & Matt Snyder 41
5. Brad Henderson & Jacob Gonzalez 40
6. Judd Utermark 39
7. Kevin Graham 38
8. Burney Hutchinson & Stephen Head 37
10. David Dellucci & Michael Rosamond 36
EARLY LEAD
Ole Miss is outscoring opponents 82-24 over the first four innings. They have scored 28 runs in the first inning and scored at least once in the first inning in 12 of their 17 games. The Rebels are 12-0 when scoring in the first inning.
FRESH START
Tristan Bissetta is ranked in the Top 16 in multiple categories in the SEC in his first season in the conference. He is ranked fifth in hits, eighth in RBI, eighth in total bases 11th in home runs, 12th in hits per game, 13th in home runs per game, 13th in RBI per game, 16th in batting average, and 16th in slugging percentage.
Bissetta has two multi-homer games already under his belt, one against Jackson State and one against Baylor. He had never hit more than one home run in a game before coming to Ole Miss.
On February 18 against Jackson State, Bissetta hit two home runs in the third inning, becoming the first Rebel to accomplish the feat in almost a decade. Nick Fortes was the last Rebel to hit two home runs in the same inning, doing so in 2017 against ULM.
He has already surpassed both his home run and RBI totals from 2025.
WELCOME TO THE SHOW
Brett Moseley and Tate Sirmans each launched a home run for their first collegiate hit Opening Weekend against Nevada. Moseley hit a pinch-hit, two-RBI home run in the eighth inning of game one and Sirmans hit a solo shot in the fourth inning of game two. It was also Sirmans’ first career start.
Moseley and Sirmans join a decent sized list of Rebels who hit a home run for their first career hit. Will Furniss and Judd Utermark each hit a pinch-hit home run for their first hits in 2023 when they were freshmen. Austin Fawley also hit a home run for his first career hit as a redshirt freshman at Kentucky in 2024.
BIG GAME HUNTER
Hunter Elliott returns to the Ole Miss rotation as the most experienced pitcher on the staff. He turned in one of the best seasons in Rebel history last year, becoming just the fifth pitcher to record a 10-win, 100-strikeout season finishing with a 10-3 record and 102 punchouts. He also became just the fourth pitcher in program history to record 100+ strikeouts in two different seasons. His 2.94 ERA was the lowest by a Rebel starting pitcher since his freshman season when he finished with an ERA of 2.70.
Elliott is the only returning pitcher in the country to have earned 10+ wins and struck out 100+ hitters in 2025.
BRING THE BOOM
The Ole Miss offense set a new program record for home runs in a season in 2025, crushing 124 home runs. It was just the second time in program history that an Ole Miss team has cracked the 100-home run mark.
The Rebels finished fifth nationally in total home runs, ninth nationally in home runs per game (1.94), and 13th nationally in walks drawn (345). They were one of just four programs in the country to have two 20+ home run hitters and one of six programs to finish with 100+ home runs, 100+ doubles, and 100+ hit by pitches.
There are only 16 returning players who hit 20 or more home runs in 2025 and three of them will be in Ole Miss’ Opening Day lineup: Judd Utermark, Austin Fawley, and Daniel Pacella.
BASH BROS
Judd Utermark and Austin Fawley both broke the 20-home run mark in 2025, becoming the first pair of Rebel teammates in program history to each hit 20+ home runs in a single season.
Utermark finished with 22 home runs, the second-most by a Rebel in a single season, just two shy of the program record of 24 set by Tim Elko in 2022.
The 2025 Rebels finished with three hitters with 15+ home runs for the first time in program history and six hitters with 10+ home runs, also for the first time in program history.
IMPROVEMENT ON THE MOUND
In the first season under pitching coach Joel Mangrum, the Ole Miss pitching staff finished sixth nationally in total strikeouts. They struck out 669 hitters, 127 more than their total from 2024, which was the largest increase in the country.
The staff also finished 12th nationally in strikeouts per nine innings, averaging 10.8 strikeouts per game.
D1BASEBALL PRESEASON PLAYER RANKINGS
Ole Miss was well represented in D1Baseball’s annual Preseason Player Rankings, placing at least one player at almost every position. Hunter Elliott was the highest ranked Rebel coming in at No. 5 on the list of Starting Pitchers. Cade Townsend also made the list at No. 117.
Austin Fawley was ranked as the No. 8 Catcher, Judd Utermark was ranked as the No. 10 Third Baseman, Dom Decker was ranked the No. 26 Second Baseman, and Will Furniss was ranked the No. 30 First Baseman. Daniel Pacella came in at No. 59 on the list of Outfielders and Landon Koenig (#51) and Owen Kelly (#78) each made the list of Relief Pitchers.
PRESEASON AWARDS
Hunter Elliott has been one of the most decorated players heading into the 2026 season. He was named to the 2026 Golden Spikes Award Watch List and earned Preseason All-America honors from the NCBWA, Perfect Game, D1Baseball, The Diamond Report, and Just Baseball Media. He was also named to the Preseason All-SEC Team that is voted on by the league’s head coaches.
Judd Utermark was named a Preseason All-American by the NCBWA and Will Furniss was named to the Preseason All-SEC Team at first base. Austin Fawley was one of 10 catchers in the country to make the 2026 Buster Posey Preseason Watch List.
NEW FACES IN THE DUGOUT
Ole Miss added 19 new faces to the roster for the 2026 season, 10 transfers and nine freshmen. With 21 overall letterwinners lost from the 2025 season, the newest Rebels will look to make an immediate impact on the field.
Daniel Pacella and Tristan Bissetta, both Division I transfers, will man the corner outfield positions in 2026. Pacella comes from Illinois State where he hit .310 with 48 home runs over 107 games for the Redbirds. He hit 20 home runs in 2025, the second-most in program history. Bissetta spent his first three seasons at Clemson, hitting .266 over 87 games. He hit .298 in 2024 before his 2025 season was cut short by an arm injury.
Dom Decker will be injected into the infield after having a breakout season with Murray State in 2025. He started in 60 games for the Racers, hitting .351 with an on-base percentage of .496 which was top 40 in the NCAA.
Wil Libbert opens the season as the third member of the weekend rotation after spending his two seasons at Missouri. He worked 53.2 innings over 11 starts in 2025, striking out 55 hitters and posting a record of 3-4.
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