Russ Eddins
Ole Miss Baseball is set to open SEC Tournament play tonight in Hoover, Ala., as the 12th seed in the tournament. Coming off of a five-game losing streak, the Rebels will square up against No. 5-seeded Mississippi State, marking the fifth time the rivals will meet this season.
Mississippi State is third in the SEC West with a 17-13 conference play record, coming off a 4-3 loss against Missouri.
Ole Miss missed out on the tournament last year, and with an overall 27-28 record, they narrowly made it this year. The Rebels were just two games better than Missouri and three games better than Auburn at the end of conference play.
In SEC play, Ethan Lege leads Ole Miss with a .945 OPS (on-base plus slugging). Although Andrew Fischer has played in nine more conference games than Lege, Fischer follows closely behind with a .943 OPS.
Although Campbell Smithwick has played in only 13 conference games, he has reached base at the highest rate among the Rebels against the SEC. Additionally, his .323 conference play average leads the team.
Ole Miss last played the Bulldogs on May 1. It was a competitive and thrilling game for both sides, but the Bulldogs pulled off a win late in the ninth.
Ole Miss is coming off an 0-3 record in Baton Rouge last weekend, as LSU took the series sweep to close out SEC play.
If the Rebels take game one and advance, they would reach double elimination and face No. 4 Texas A&M on Wednesday night.
The game will begin at approximately 8 p.m. Tuesday and will be broadcast on SEC Network.
