On3 Things to Know: No. 4 Ole Miss baseball set for Arkansas State and first midweek test

The Ole Miss baseball team had a perfect start to its 2023 season and national title defense, sweeping Delaware in the opening weekend. Now the season is underway in earnest with the first midweek game of the season.

The No. 4 Rebels (3-0) host Arkansas State on Tuesday at 4 p.m. CT. in a game that has recently been a tough challenge for the defending champions.

Getting the start will be freshman JT Quinn, who made his Ole Miss debut on Friday in a relief role behind starter Hunter Elliott.

Beyond the three weekend starters of Elliott, Grayson Saunier and Xavier Rivas the pitching is still a work in progress. Veteran Jack Dougherty is also a known commodity in the Ole Miss bullpen but after him the depth is still getting worked out.

The first weekend series of the season was not much of a challenge for Ole Miss as it took care of the business it needed to. But for head coach Mike Bianco there were still some things he was hoping to learn and take away from the initial three-game set.

“I think the learning part is continuing to try and see who is going to be the guys,” Bianco said on Sunday. “I think we continue, especially with the pitchers, to kind of who are going to be the guys coming out of the bullpen. Not just the rotation. Everybody, and I get it, (wants to know) who’s the starting three, closer. But it’s so important, who’s the guy that comes in first? Who’s the guy when you have a lead will come in there and throw the ball into the strike zone that will help the rest of the bullpen. Those things, obviously, take time.”

Lets take a closer look at the matchup, with game notes provided by Ole Miss Athletics Media Relations.

LEADING OFF

• Ole Miss opened their 2023 season last weekend with a three-game sweep of the Delaware Blue Hens
• Ole Miss scored 35 total runs in the series against Delaware, their highest total on Opening Weekend since 2008
• Peyton Chatagnier went 5-for-8 (.625) on the weekend with an OPS of 2.042 and a slugging percentage of 1.375. He had five total RBI, scored four runs, and hit two home runs.
• Jacob Gonzalez set a new career-high in RBI on Sunday, driving in seven total runs
• Grayson Saunier made his highly anticipated collegiate debut on Saturday, allowing just one hit over four innings while striking out five batters
• In total, seven Rebel freshmen made their debuts throughout the weekend with Will Furniss and Judd Utermark each hitting home runs in their first at-bats
• Ole Miss leads the SEC and is No. 2 in the nation in strikeouts per nine innings, averaging 15.4 K/9.
• The Rebels have lost just six games since April 29, 2022 and are 22-6 during that stretch
• Ole Miss is now 21-2 in home openers under Mike Bianco
• Friday’s home opener saw 11,242 fans pack the stands at Swayze Field, the second-highest Opening Day attendance number in program history
• Tuesday’s matchup will be the 114^th all-time meeting between the two teams
• The Rebels moved up or stayed level in all of this week’s major polls, with their highest ranking coming at No. 4 from D1Baseball

OPEN AND SHUT

After the first weekend of games, Ole Miss leads the SEC in strikeouts per nine innings, averaging 15.4 K/9. The Rebels racked up 41 total strikeouts in just 24 innings of work against Delaware. That number is good enough for second in the nation, trailing only Wake Forest who sits at 15.9 K/9.

OFF AND RUNNING

The Rebel offense came out hot on Opening Weekend, scoring 35 total runs over their first three games. That mark is the highest for an Opening Weekend series since 2008 when they scored 45 runs against Minnesota.

WELCOME TO THE SHOW

In total, eight Ole Miss freshmen made their debuts over the weekend: Will Furniss, Will Plattner, JT Quinn, Grayson Saunier, Tim Simay, Sam Tookoian, Judd Utermark, and Jordan Vera.

Saunier made his collegiate debut on Saturday getting the start for game two. He allowed just one hit over four innings while striking out five batters. Furniss and Utermark each hit a home run in their first career at-bats. Quinn and Tookoian each had scoreless outings in their debuts out of the bullpen. Quinn will make his first career start on Tuesday against Arkansas State.

HOME SWEET HOME

Ole Miss has now won its home opener in 21 of 23 seasons during the Mike Bianco era and has won the opening home series of the season in 20 of Bianco’s 23 campaigns. The Rebels have lost a home opening series just once, losing two-of-three to UCF in 2021.

PACK ‘EM IN

Friday’s home opener saw 11,242 fans pack the stands at Swayze Field, the second-highest Opening Day attendance number in program history. It was also the 18^th highest single-game attendance number in the history of Swayze Field.

POLLING ALONG

Ole Miss moved up or stayed level in all of this week’s major polls, with their highest ranking coming at No. 4 from D1Baseball. They were also slotted at No. 5 by the NCBWA, No. 6 by Perfect Game, No. 9 by Baseball America, and No. 21 by Collegiate Baseball.