Baseball Set to Open SEC Conference Play In Nashville

Thursday, March 16 6 p.m. CT	Friday, March 17 6 p.m. CT	Saturday, March 18 11 a.m. CT
PROJECTED STARTERS Ole Miss: RHP Jack Dougherty 2-1, 5.00 ERA, 21 K, 6 BB Vanderbilt: LHP Carter Holton 1-0, 2.21 ERA, 25 K, 7 BB	PROJECTED STARTERS Ole Miss: RHP Grayson Saunier 1-0, 5.74 ERA, 21 K, 13 BB Vanderbilt: LHP Hunter Owen 1-0, 3.20 ERA, 24 K, 8 BB	PROJECTED STARTERS Ole Miss: LHP Xavier Rivas 4-0, 5.40 ERA, 23 K, 11 BB Vanderbilt: LHP Devin Futrell 3-1, 2.87 ERA, 16 K, 8 BB
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LEADING OFF

• The Rebels open SEC conference play this weekend in Nashville with a three-game series against No. 6 Vanderbilt
• Ole Miss and Vanderbilt have not played a full series since May of 2021, when Ole Miss won 2-of-3 in Oxford
• The Commodores won the last matchup between the two teams, beating the Rebels 3-1 in the first round of the 2022 SEC Tournament
• This is the first time the Rebels have played in Nashville since 2018
• Ole Miss moved up in five of the six national polls this week, with their highest ranking coming at No. 2 from the NCBWA
• Over the weekend, Kemp Alderman and TJ McCants became the first pair of teammates to combine for six home runs in two-consecutive games since 1998
• The Rebels hit 3+ home runs in three-consecutive games last week for the first time since the 2019 Oxford Regional
• Last Saturday, Kemp Alderman gave Ole Miss their first true (9+ inning) walk-off since April 24, 2021 vs. LSU
• Ole Miss is ranked ninth in the NCAA in batting average, 10^th in fielding percentage, 13^th in slugging percentage, 18^th in home runs, and 19^th in on-base percentage
• Kemp Alderman is currently ranked top-five in the SEC in home runs, home runs per game, RBI, and RBI per game
• Jacob Gonzalez has reached base in all 17 games of the 2023 season so far and is one of four Rebels with active double-digit on-base streaks
• Mason Nichols has worked nine innings out of the bullpen for the Rebels, allowing just one earned run on three hits and earning two saves
• The Rebels went 8-1 against the Big Ten Conference over the first four weeks of play with three wins each over…