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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Friday, May 1
Fayetteville, Ark.
6 PM
Ole Miss
at
Arkansas
No. 17 Baseball Heads to Fayetteville for Clash With No. 22 Arkansas
4/30/2026 | Baseball
OXFORD, Miss. – No. 17 Ole Miss Baseball (31-15, 11-10 SEC) opens the month of May this weekend in Fayetteville, Arkansas with a three-game series against the No. 22 Razorbacks (30-16, 11-10 SEC). First pitch on Friday is set for 6 p.m. with Saturday and Sunday set for 2 p.m.
LEADING OFF
Friday: LHP Hunter Elliott (4-1, 4.82 ERA) vs. LHP Hunter Dietz (5-2, 3.62 ERA)
Saturday: RHP Cade Townsend (4-1, 2.33 ERA) vs. LHP Cole Gibler (4-1, 2.91 ERA)
Sunday: RHP Taylor Rabe (3-3, 4.24 ERA) vs. TBA
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Friday and Saturday's games will be streamed live on SEC Network+ with on the call. Sunday's game will be broadcast on SEC Network with Tom Hart (PxP) and Chris Burke (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
Legendary NCAA baseball coach Dave Van Horn is in his 33rd year as a skipper, and in his 24th with Arkansas. He's earned over 1,300 career wins and is approaching 1,000 with the Razorbacks. In his tenure, he's led Arkansas to eight College World Series appearances, including a runner-up finish in 2018, as well as three SEC overall titles and one SEC Tournament championship.
Arkansas ranks near the middle in most SEC statistical categories. They excel best at scoring on sacrifice flies, sitting third in the conference with 23 this season. Its pitching staff has also been keen on throwing shutouts, ranking 11th in the country with five this season so far. Part of that success has been its strikeout-to-walk ratio of 2.92, which is 14th in the country but just eighth in the SEC.
Hunter Dietz and Cole Gibler will get the starts on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Gibler leads the team with a 2.91 ERA, but Dietz is has shown to be one of the best pitchers in the SEC by leading the conference strikeouts with 92. He ranks sixth nationally in that category. Arkansas also has former SEC Pitcher of the Week Colin Fisher, who had a complete game earlier this season.
At the plate, Camden Kozeal and Ryder Helfrick lead the way as the only players to start at least 45 games this season. Helfrick leads the team with 14 home runs while Kozeal is just behind with 12, but the latter paced the Razorbacks with 50 RBI. Carter Rutenbar has the team's highest batting average at .330, and Damian Ruiz is also north of a .300 batting average at .310.
HOOK 'EM
Walker Hooks has earned three wins, five saves, and pitched to a 1.14 ERA over his last 11 appearances out of the bullpen. He has struck out 26 batters and walked just four over 23.2 innings of work.
Hooks has allowed more than one earned run just twice this season over 17 appearances and has emerged as the team's best closing option. He has converted a save in four of his last five outings. He tied with Texas' Sam Cozart and Texas A&M's Clayton Freshcorn for the most saves in conference play with five.
APRIL SHOWERS
After a month of March in which they hit .231, the Ole Miss offense bloomed in the month of April, hitting .268 with 118 runs scored, 28 home runs, and 23 doubles as a unit. They slugged .468 with an on base percentage of .396 over their 16 games.
Hayden Federico hit .383 with 13 RBI and an OPS of 1.127 in the month of April. Will Furniss hit .351 with three home runs, 18 RBI, and an OPS of 1.072 in the month of April.
FED STAYS HOT
Over his last 17 games, Hayden Federico has hit .396 (19-for-48) with 12 walks, four HBPs, 13 RBI, and 10 runs scored. He has struck out just five times during that stretch. The sophomore switch hitter is hitting .343 in conference play with 12 RBI and 11 runs scored.
KING OF NEW YORK
After only appearing in 13 games to start the season, Owen Paino has appeared in 15 of Ole Miss' last 16 games getting starts at DH, shortstop, and third base. During that time, the sophomore is hitting .289 (13-for-45) with an OPS of 1.002. He has hit three home runs, three doubles, driven in 12 runs, and scored 14 times with 10 walks and a stolen base.
SEC PLAYER OF THE WEEK (x2)
Tristan Bissetta was named SEC Co-Player of the Week and Cade Townsend was named SEC Co-Pitcher of the Week after the two led the Rebels to wins over Southern Miss and Tennessee in week ten.
Townsend was the first Rebel to earn Pitcher of the Week honors since Gunnar Hoglund in May of 2021. Bissetta was the first to be named Player of the Week since Issac Humphrey won it in March of last year.
Bissetta hit a home run in each game the Rebels played, hitting .500 with four home runs, three doubles, 10 RBI, and seven runs scored. He slugged 1.333 with an OPS of 1.883 and launched a 424-foot grand slam on Saturday to help clinch the series.
Townsend put together his third-consecutive quality start on Saturday against Tennessee, locking down the series win for the Rebels. The sophomore took a no-hit bid into the sixth inning and would leave the game after six shutout innings. He allowed just four baserunners while striking out seven.
CALIFORNIA DEALIN'
Cade Townsend put together three-consecutive quality starts from April 4 to April 18. He was the first Rebel to accomplish that feat since both Hunter Elliott and Dylan DeLucia did it in 2022.
Elliott did it twice his freshman season, including a stretch during the postseason starting in the super regional against Southern Miss and his next two starts in the College World Series against Arkansas and Oklahoma.
DeLucia did it in April of 2022 against South Carolina, Mississippi State, and Arkansas.
HIGH QUALITY
For the first time since 2019, all three Rebel starting pitchers in a series put together quality starts in Ole Miss' sweep of LSU. All three had very similar lines, working six innings, allowing two runs, and just one walk each.
Hunter Elliott worked six innings and allowed eight hits and two earned runs on Friday night. He struck out eight batters and issued just one walk. It was his second quality start of the season.
Cade Townsend worked six innings and allowed six hits and two earned runs on Saturday. He also struck out eight batters and issued just one walk. It was his second consecutive quality start of the season.
Taylor Rabe took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning on Sunday but did not record an out in the seventh giving him six innings with two earned runs. He struck out five batters while also issuing just one walk in what was the first quality start of his career.
RETURN OF TB
Transfer senior Tristan Bissetta comes into the weekend ranked third in the SEC in home runs (19), fifth in total bases (123), fifth in RBI (51), seventh in slugging percentage (.703), seventh in RBI per game (1.11), and 13th in runs scored (45).
The senior transfer leads the team in most offensive categories including batting average, slugging percentage, hits, RBI, home runs, and total bases. He has already set career highs in home runs, RBI, hits, doubles, walks, and total bases.
Bissetta has four multi-homer games under his belt, coming against Jackson State, Baylor, Austin Peay, and Kentucky. He had just one in his entire career before coming to Ole Miss.
He became the fastest Rebel to hit 13 home runs in a season, hitting his 13th home run on March 19, just 23 games into the year.
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.
MOVING ON UP
Hunter Elliott continues his campaign to become just the third pitcher in program history to reach the 300-strikeout mark.
Ole Miss Career Strikeout List
1. Drew Pomeranz 344
2. Lance Lynn 332
3. Hunter Elliott 291
4. Jeff Calhoun 282
5. Mark Holliman 281
6. Doug Nikhazy 259
7. Scott Bittle 257
8. Brett Bukvich 245
CLIMBING THE CHARTS
After homering twice against Murray State, Judd Utermark now sits at 46 career home runs which is two shy of the Ole Miss all-time record. He is currently tied with Ole Miss legend Tim Elko on the career list.
Utermark is just the seventh Rebel to hit 40 home runs in their career.
Ole Miss Career Home Run List
1. Kyle Gordon 48
2. Judd Utermark 46
2. Tim Elko 46
4. Matt Smith & Matt Snyder 41
5. Brad Henderson & Jacob Gonzalez 40
6. Kevin Graham 38
7. Burney Hutchinson & Stephen Head 37
8. David Dellucci & Michael Rosamond 36
CAPTAIN CLUTCH
Brayden Randle has had six game-winning or game-tying hits this season that have set up Ole Miss for wins down the line. Three of them have come in conference games in the month of April.
It started on February 17 against Arkansas State with a walk-off sacrifice fly to beat the Red Wolves 7-6. His next came on February 22 against Missouri State when he hit a game-winning RBI single in the eighth inning as Ole Miss defeated the Bears 3-2. On March 4 against North Alabama, Randle broke a 4-4 tie in the sixth inning with an RBI single to set up an 8-5 win over the Lions.
Following Judd Utermark's game-tying home run on April 4 against Florida, Randle broke the 2-2 tie in the ninth inning with a sacrifice fly to give Ole Miss a lead they would not relinquish.
He had two more clutch hits in the sweep over LSU, tying the game on April 11 with a single in the fourth inning and driving in the game-winning run on April 12 with a single that completed the sweep.
WORLD BASEBALL REBS
Ole Miss had two representatives in the recently completed World Baseball Classic, Dylan DeLucia and Josh Mallitz.
DeLucia pitched for Team Italy, making two appearances including a start against Great Britain. Over two outings for the Italians, DeLucia worked 7.2 innings with eight strikeouts and a 2.35 ERA. In the quarterfinals against Puerto Rico, DeLucia worked four scoreless innings and earned a hold for his efforts.
Mallitz made two appearances for Team Israel allowing just two baserunners over two innings of work.
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.
STAY CONNECTED
Get rewarded for attending events by joining Rebel Rewards powered by Coca-Cola, the official fan loyalty program of the Ole Miss Rebels. Download the Ole Miss Sports mobile app, sign up for a Rebel Rewards account, and start earning points immediately that can be redeemed for exclusive prizes and experiences.
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Rebels by following Ole Miss baseball on X at @OleMissBSB, on Facebook at Facebook.com/OleMissBaseball, on Instagram at Instagram.com/officialolemissbsb and on TikTok at @olemissbsb. Also, follow head coach Mike Bianco on X at @CoachMikeBianco.
LEADING OFF
- The Rebels have dropped three-straight games after losing the Governor's Cup game to No. 10 Mississippi State on Tuesday.
- Ole Miss took one of three last weekend against No. 5 Georgia, dropping the final two games of the series.
- The Rebels hit 14 home runs last week, five against Murray State on Tuesday and nine in the first two games against Georgia.
- Will Furniss hit three of those home runs, hitting .429 with six RBI and four walks last week.
- Ole Miss and Auburn are the only two teams in the SEC to have played or will play the four teams that currently occupy the top of the league standings.
- The Rebels come into this week ranked No. 17 by D1Baseball, No. 18 by both USA Today and the NCBWA, and No. 22 by both Perfect Game and Baseball America.
- Walker Hooks made two more appearances last weekend, picking up a save in game one against the Bulldogs. He now has a 1.14 ERA over his last 11 outings.
- Hooks is tied for the lead in saves (5) and has the second-lowest ERA (1.71) amongst qualified pitchers during SEC play.
- Owen Paino hit .385 with a home run, four RBI, and four runs scored last week.
- Over his last 17 games, Hayden Federico has hit .396 (19-for-48) with 12 walks, four HBPs, 13 RBI, and 10 runs scored.
- Judd Utermark and Tristan Bissetta have combined to hit 36 of Ole Miss' 78 (46%) home runs this season.
- Ole Miss now leads the SEC in walks drawn with 262 free passes. That is good enough for 10th in the NCAA. Dom Decker is tied for the SEC individual lead with 43 walks.
- Cade Townsend is now ranked sixth in ERA (2.33), fourth in WHIP (0.97), and third in strikeouts per nine innings (13.21) in the SEC.
- Taylor Rabe leads the SEC in strikeout-to-walk ratio during conference play, punching out 8.25 hitters for every walk he has issued.
- The Ole Miss pitching staff has struck out 515 batters, second-most in the SEC and fourth in the NCAA. Their K/9 of 11.5 is fourth in the SEC, their strikeout-to-walk ratio of 3.46 is fourth in the SEC and their ERA of 4.08 is fifth in the conference.
- Will Furniss played in his 200th game for Ole Miss in game one against Georgia, becoming just the 21st Rebel to reach that milestone.
Friday: LHP Hunter Elliott (4-1, 4.82 ERA) vs. LHP Hunter Dietz (5-2, 3.62 ERA)
Saturday: RHP Cade Townsend (4-1, 2.33 ERA) vs. LHP Cole Gibler (4-1, 2.91 ERA)
Sunday: RHP Taylor Rabe (3-3, 4.24 ERA) vs. TBA
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Friday and Saturday's games will be streamed live on SEC Network+ with on the call. Sunday's game will be broadcast on SEC Network with Tom Hart (PxP) and Chris Burke (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
Legendary NCAA baseball coach Dave Van Horn is in his 33rd year as a skipper, and in his 24th with Arkansas. He's earned over 1,300 career wins and is approaching 1,000 with the Razorbacks. In his tenure, he's led Arkansas to eight College World Series appearances, including a runner-up finish in 2018, as well as three SEC overall titles and one SEC Tournament championship.
Arkansas ranks near the middle in most SEC statistical categories. They excel best at scoring on sacrifice flies, sitting third in the conference with 23 this season. Its pitching staff has also been keen on throwing shutouts, ranking 11th in the country with five this season so far. Part of that success has been its strikeout-to-walk ratio of 2.92, which is 14th in the country but just eighth in the SEC.
Hunter Dietz and Cole Gibler will get the starts on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Gibler leads the team with a 2.91 ERA, but Dietz is has shown to be one of the best pitchers in the SEC by leading the conference strikeouts with 92. He ranks sixth nationally in that category. Arkansas also has former SEC Pitcher of the Week Colin Fisher, who had a complete game earlier this season.
At the plate, Camden Kozeal and Ryder Helfrick lead the way as the only players to start at least 45 games this season. Helfrick leads the team with 14 home runs while Kozeal is just behind with 12, but the latter paced the Razorbacks with 50 RBI. Carter Rutenbar has the team's highest batting average at .330, and Damian Ruiz is also north of a .300 batting average at .310.
HOOK 'EM
Walker Hooks has earned three wins, five saves, and pitched to a 1.14 ERA over his last 11 appearances out of the bullpen. He has struck out 26 batters and walked just four over 23.2 innings of work.
Hooks has allowed more than one earned run just twice this season over 17 appearances and has emerged as the team's best closing option. He has converted a save in four of his last five outings. He tied with Texas' Sam Cozart and Texas A&M's Clayton Freshcorn for the most saves in conference play with five.
APRIL SHOWERS
After a month of March in which they hit .231, the Ole Miss offense bloomed in the month of April, hitting .268 with 118 runs scored, 28 home runs, and 23 doubles as a unit. They slugged .468 with an on base percentage of .396 over their 16 games.
Hayden Federico hit .383 with 13 RBI and an OPS of 1.127 in the month of April. Will Furniss hit .351 with three home runs, 18 RBI, and an OPS of 1.072 in the month of April.
FED STAYS HOT
Over his last 17 games, Hayden Federico has hit .396 (19-for-48) with 12 walks, four HBPs, 13 RBI, and 10 runs scored. He has struck out just five times during that stretch. The sophomore switch hitter is hitting .343 in conference play with 12 RBI and 11 runs scored.
KING OF NEW YORK
After only appearing in 13 games to start the season, Owen Paino has appeared in 15 of Ole Miss' last 16 games getting starts at DH, shortstop, and third base. During that time, the sophomore is hitting .289 (13-for-45) with an OPS of 1.002. He has hit three home runs, three doubles, driven in 12 runs, and scored 14 times with 10 walks and a stolen base.
SEC PLAYER OF THE WEEK (x2)
Tristan Bissetta was named SEC Co-Player of the Week and Cade Townsend was named SEC Co-Pitcher of the Week after the two led the Rebels to wins over Southern Miss and Tennessee in week ten.
Townsend was the first Rebel to earn Pitcher of the Week honors since Gunnar Hoglund in May of 2021. Bissetta was the first to be named Player of the Week since Issac Humphrey won it in March of last year.
Bissetta hit a home run in each game the Rebels played, hitting .500 with four home runs, three doubles, 10 RBI, and seven runs scored. He slugged 1.333 with an OPS of 1.883 and launched a 424-foot grand slam on Saturday to help clinch the series.
Townsend put together his third-consecutive quality start on Saturday against Tennessee, locking down the series win for the Rebels. The sophomore took a no-hit bid into the sixth inning and would leave the game after six shutout innings. He allowed just four baserunners while striking out seven.
CALIFORNIA DEALIN'
Cade Townsend put together three-consecutive quality starts from April 4 to April 18. He was the first Rebel to accomplish that feat since both Hunter Elliott and Dylan DeLucia did it in 2022.
Elliott did it twice his freshman season, including a stretch during the postseason starting in the super regional against Southern Miss and his next two starts in the College World Series against Arkansas and Oklahoma.
DeLucia did it in April of 2022 against South Carolina, Mississippi State, and Arkansas.
HIGH QUALITY
For the first time since 2019, all three Rebel starting pitchers in a series put together quality starts in Ole Miss' sweep of LSU. All three had very similar lines, working six innings, allowing two runs, and just one walk each.
Hunter Elliott worked six innings and allowed eight hits and two earned runs on Friday night. He struck out eight batters and issued just one walk. It was his second quality start of the season.
Cade Townsend worked six innings and allowed six hits and two earned runs on Saturday. He also struck out eight batters and issued just one walk. It was his second consecutive quality start of the season.
Taylor Rabe took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning on Sunday but did not record an out in the seventh giving him six innings with two earned runs. He struck out five batters while also issuing just one walk in what was the first quality start of his career.
RETURN OF TB
Transfer senior Tristan Bissetta comes into the weekend ranked third in the SEC in home runs (19), fifth in total bases (123), fifth in RBI (51), seventh in slugging percentage (.703), seventh in RBI per game (1.11), and 13th in runs scored (45).
The senior transfer leads the team in most offensive categories including batting average, slugging percentage, hits, RBI, home runs, and total bases. He has already set career highs in home runs, RBI, hits, doubles, walks, and total bases.
Bissetta has four multi-homer games under his belt, coming against Jackson State, Baylor, Austin Peay, and Kentucky. He had just one in his entire career before coming to Ole Miss.
He became the fastest Rebel to hit 13 home runs in a season, hitting his 13th home run on March 19, just 23 games into the year.
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.
MOVING ON UP
Hunter Elliott continues his campaign to become just the third pitcher in program history to reach the 300-strikeout mark.
Ole Miss Career Strikeout List
1. Drew Pomeranz 344
2. Lance Lynn 332
3. Hunter Elliott 291
4. Jeff Calhoun 282
5. Mark Holliman 281
6. Doug Nikhazy 259
7. Scott Bittle 257
8. Brett Bukvich 245
CLIMBING THE CHARTS
After homering twice against Murray State, Judd Utermark now sits at 46 career home runs which is two shy of the Ole Miss all-time record. He is currently tied with Ole Miss legend Tim Elko on the career list.
Utermark is just the seventh Rebel to hit 40 home runs in their career.
Ole Miss Career Home Run List
1. Kyle Gordon 48
2. Judd Utermark 46
2. Tim Elko 46
4. Matt Smith & Matt Snyder 41
5. Brad Henderson & Jacob Gonzalez 40
6. Kevin Graham 38
7. Burney Hutchinson & Stephen Head 37
8. David Dellucci & Michael Rosamond 36
CAPTAIN CLUTCH
Brayden Randle has had six game-winning or game-tying hits this season that have set up Ole Miss for wins down the line. Three of them have come in conference games in the month of April.
It started on February 17 against Arkansas State with a walk-off sacrifice fly to beat the Red Wolves 7-6. His next came on February 22 against Missouri State when he hit a game-winning RBI single in the eighth inning as Ole Miss defeated the Bears 3-2. On March 4 against North Alabama, Randle broke a 4-4 tie in the sixth inning with an RBI single to set up an 8-5 win over the Lions.
Following Judd Utermark's game-tying home run on April 4 against Florida, Randle broke the 2-2 tie in the ninth inning with a sacrifice fly to give Ole Miss a lead they would not relinquish.
He had two more clutch hits in the sweep over LSU, tying the game on April 11 with a single in the fourth inning and driving in the game-winning run on April 12 with a single that completed the sweep.
WORLD BASEBALL REBS
Ole Miss had two representatives in the recently completed World Baseball Classic, Dylan DeLucia and Josh Mallitz.
DeLucia pitched for Team Italy, making two appearances including a start against Great Britain. Over two outings for the Italians, DeLucia worked 7.2 innings with eight strikeouts and a 2.35 ERA. In the quarterfinals against Puerto Rico, DeLucia worked four scoreless innings and earned a hold for his efforts.
Mallitz made two appearances for Team Israel allowing just two baserunners over two innings of work.
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.
STAY CONNECTED
Get rewarded for attending events by joining Rebel Rewards powered by Coca-Cola, the official fan loyalty program of the Ole Miss Rebels. Download the Ole Miss Sports mobile app, sign up for a Rebel Rewards account, and start earning points immediately that can be redeemed for exclusive prizes and experiences.
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Rebels by following Ole Miss baseball on X at @OleMissBSB, on Facebook at Facebook.com/OleMissBaseball, on Instagram at Instagram.com/officialolemissbsb and on TikTok at @olemissbsb. Also, follow head coach Mike Bianco on X at @CoachMikeBianco.
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