Arkansas Baseball: Ole Miss Series

By: Randall Slifer

Arkansas Baseball has been trending up in the final half of the season. The Georgia series was closer than game three made it look.  The team is playing with the fire that Arkansas fans had hoped to see earlier in the year. The adjustments Dave Van Horn made to the pitching rotation worked.  They are settling into their roles much better than the shaky lineup they once had.

Hunter Dietz and Cole Gibler are the bona fide two starters, and the bullpen is coming into its own. Relief pitchers like Parker Coil, Steele Eaves, and Tate McGuire have thrown good innings.  Also, Ethan McElvain is a clutch closer. Gabe Gaeckle is still working through his slump.  However, Dave Van Horn can get him ramped up for the upcoming postseason.

Games 1 and 2 of the Georgia game were really good indicators of how this team can play in the postseason. The game 1 win was impressive, as only a top-5 offense scored 3 runs, and the team played good ball all around. Game 2 was very similar to Game 1.  However, Georgia flipped the script and won 5-3. The ability to hold Georgia’s offense to only 8 runs in 2 games, when they average over 9 runs per game, shines a bright light.

Arkansas has 3 series left on the schedule until the SEC tournament begins.  Then the road to Omaha starts. This next matchup is the final top-25 matchup, and fortunately, it is played in Fayetteville. Let’s take a look at how Arkansas Baseball can take this series and stay hot for the remainder of the year and postseason:

Does Ole Miss Baseball’s ranking reflect its team?

Ole Miss is ranked 17^th in the country and 14^th in RPI. Ole Miss is better at home, boasting a 24-6 record while having a 7-10 record on the road or a neutral field. They have had quality wins against Tennessee, LSU, and Florida. Ole Miss has a duo of heavy hitters in Tristan Bissetta and Judd Utermark. They are both batting over .300 and have combined for 36 home runs and 91 RBI’s.

Cade Townsend is ramping back up after a month out with an injury. He is pitching with an ERA of 2.33 through 10 games. He is averaging 1.5 strikeouts per inning while only allowing 33 hits and 12 walks. Opponents are hitting just .192 against Townsend. They may start Hunter Elliot in game 1, with Townsend going in game 2.

After that, it can get dicey for Ole Miss pitching. Hunter Elliot is the next man up, with an ERA of 4.82. He has allowed 31 runs in 56 innings and walks a batter every other inning. Batters are hitting .248 off of Elliot, and have had 8 home runs hit off him as the starting pitcher.

Ole Miss does not have a designated 3rd starting pitcher, and it has rotated mainly between Wil Libbert and Taylor Rabe. Ole Miss is 3-4 in game 3 of SEC play, and Arkansas should look to take the series early.  Still, they have confidence in taking a rubber match game.

How can Arkansas Baseball take the series?

The biggest improvement (other than pitching) for Arkansas Baseball has been the consistency of their bats. Finally, no starting batter his hitting under .250.  Plus, runners in scoring position are getting to home plate more often. Zach Stewart has supplanted himself into the lineup over Christian Turner, accounting for 4 RBI’s last series vs Missouri. Kuhio Aloy is flirting with batting .300 again.  His bat may be the most important bat of the postseason.

Hunter Dietz will need to keep impressing Arkansas Baseball fans this weekend to help them take game 1. Ole Miss averages 7 runs a game, which can be stunted as shown in the Georgia series. They are ranked outside the top 75 in hits, slugging percentage, and batting average, but are in the top 25 in home runs. Hunter Dietz will need to keep the ball in the park and control his game. Ole Miss takes advantage of game 1 wins.  They are winning a lot of those series, even though they still went 3-4 in game threes.

Ole Miss will likely roll out with Cade Townsend to start, and Arkansas will need to get its bats going early. The catalyst for an Arkansas Baseball win this weekend is how the back half of the lineup holds up. If you can get good hitting out of Pompey, Niu, and Robinett, then the top half of the lineup can drive in those batters for a high-scoring weekend.

Arkansas Baseball can get the job done in a rubber match, but a quick series win will do more to benefit their rankings when deciding what happens in regional play to start the postseason. Arkansas Baseball may not want to be the 16^th team to host the regionals. UCLA is projected to be the No. 1 seed entering the postseason, and a regional series win would send them right to UCLA for the Super Regionals. The idea of squeezing into the middle of the brackets as a 2 seed in an away regional may be more enticing.

College Baseball has some of the most parity in its league.  So, see which teams filter out in the regionals and the super regionals.  Then, hope to end up with a favorable matchup come the College World Series. We all know that the LSU game last year, as game 1 of Omaha, was the most unfavorable.  So, maybe Arkansas gets a good path in 2026.

Arkansas Baseball takes on Ole Miss this weekend, Friday through Sunday, at Baum-Walker Stadium. The weather is favorable, with the wind pushing the ball out of the park on the first two days and keeping it in play on the 3^rd day. This series is pivotal for Arkansas Baseball to remain a 2-seed in the regionals and potentially earn a good 1-seed if the SEC tournament ends in their favor. As always, Go Hogs.