Rebel Roundabout: Ole Miss baseball closes out regular season at LSU

Ole Miss baseball closes out the regular season with a three-game set at LSU starting Thursday night. 

First pitch of Game 1 is set for 6 p.m. CT on SEC Network. RHP Riley Maddox will oppose LHP Gage Jump of LSU. Maddox is 3-6 with a 5.68 ERA and coming off one of the very best performances of his Ole Miss career in the series win over then-No. 2 Texas A&M last week. 

He’s struck out 42 and walked 22.

“Riley has been far better than his numbers,” Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco said. “Between defense and run support we’ve let him down.”

The Rebels are 27-25 (11-16 SEC) on the season following a 7-4 loss at No. 25 Southern Miss in the midweek. All three games at LSU (33-20, 10-17 SEC) are Quadrant 1 opportunities for the Rebels, whose postseason resume is currently lacking but does notably feature the nation’s No. 2 strength of schedule. 

Ole Miss has won back-to-back SEC series and four overall on the year. The Rebels last did that in 2022. Duke transfer slugger Andrew Fischer became just the fourth Rebel in program history to hit 20 home runs in a season in the loss at Southern Miss.

📍Alex Box Stadium pic.twitter.com/2F0xNFmgXM

— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) May 16, 2024

OLE MISS MEN’S GOLF FALLS IN HEARTBREAKER AT STANFORD REGIONAL

Ole Miss men’s golf fell just a single stroke short of the cut line for the NCAA Championship, with its season abruptly coming to an end, in the final round of the Stanford Regional on Wednesday.

The Rebels struggled in shooting a final-round 284 (+4). They finished in sixth place with an aggregate score of 831 (-9).

“Today was not our best,” Ole Miss head coach Chris Malloy said. “We’ve struggled at times this season getting off to poor starts. Again, it kind of jumped up and bit us today. We got off to a really rough start. 

“I’m proud of the way the guys hung in there. They fought. It stings right now, for sure.”

Ole Miss, UCLA, SMU and host Stanford all battled it out for the fifth spot. Two Cardinals birdied their final holes of the day to edge out hte Rebels. Cameron Tankersley, a sophomore, had the best round of any Rebel at 67 (-3).

THE LEADERBOARD

1. Illinois: 263-270-271—804 (-36)
2. Florida State: 267-267-278—812 (-28)
3. Texas A&M: 271-268-282—821 (-19)
T4. SMU: 285-265-280—830 (-10)
T4. Stanford: 269-284-277—830 (-10)

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

6. Ole Miss: 271-276-284—831 (-9)
7. UCLA: 277-280-278—835 (-5)
8. Augusta: 280-278-283—841 (+1)
9. UNLV: 281-277-289—847 (+7)
10. Missouri: 286-276-286—848 (+8)
11. Liberty: 286-286-281—853 (+13)
12. Fresno State: 286-282-290—858 (+18)
13. Sacramento State: 296-276-290—862 (+22)
14. Sienna College: 287-299-288—874 (+34)

Rebel Roundabout: Ole Miss women now know SEC road for fourth straight NCAA Tournament bid

OLE MISS WOMEN’S BASKETBALL CANADA BOUND FOR 2024 ATLANTIC SLAM

Ole Miss women’s basketball has earned an invite to the 2024 Atlantic Slam in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. 

The tournament will run November 22-24. The Rebels are one of four teams participating in the round-robin event. They’ll get in games against Georgetown, Charleston Southern and one at-large team.

Ole Miss is entering its seventh season under head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin. The Rebels will be vying for their fourth straight NCAA Tournament appearance. They return seven from last year’s team, which set a new school record with 12 SEC wins last season. 

Ole Miss has also added impact through the transfer portal in DeeDee Hagemann (Michigan State), Christeen Iwuala (UCLA) and Starr Jacobs (Arkansas-Pine Bluff).