TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The No. 4 Ole Miss baseball team will kick off its final regular-season series at 6 p.m. Thursday when it takes on Alabama in a three-game, Southeastern Conference set at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.
Game 2 will be at 6 p.m. Friday. Game 3 will be at 1 p.m. Fans can catch all three games on SEC Network+.
No. 4 Ole Miss (40-13) blasted Arkansas State 15-8 on Tuesday to become the fastest team in program history to 40 wins. The Rebels tied the team record for regular-season wins and recorded their best record in mid-week games at 13-1.
Ole Miss is one of six teams in the nation with 40 regular-season wins in at least three of the last five season.
Left-hander Ryan Rolison (7-4, 4.03 earned run average) is scheduled for start for Ole Miss against right-hander Sam Finnerty (4-3, 4.43).
On Friday, Alabama will honor seniors Tyler Adams, Hunter Alexander, Chandler Avant, Cody Henry, Connor Short and Jake Walters as part of “Senior Night” at The Joe.
The Crimson Tide will offer the “Family Four Pack” promotion on Friday. Fans can get four or more tickets for $5 each by going to RollTide.com. These packages also include a Domino’s coupon that can be picked up at the marketing table located inside Gate 3 (packages are limited).
Friday’s matchup will also feature a 16-ounce Alabama glass giveaway to fans coming through Gate 2 of Sewell-Thomas Stadium.
Saturday’s game will be the final T-shirt jersey giveaway at The Joe. The first 300 fans can get their red “Alabama” top T-shirt jersey at the gates. The season finale on Saturday will also be “Kid’s Day” at The Joe, with $5 tickets for kids. Following the final out, kids 12-and-under can head to the field to run the bases and get autographs from the Crimson Tide players. Alabama baseball will also welcome back all of its youth teams on Saturday as part of “Youth League Day”.
Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Alabama place players SEC Community Service Team
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Mississippi State’s Hunter Vansau, Ole Miss’ Thomas Dillard, and Alabama’s Cobie Vance were named Wednesday to the Southeastern Conference’s Community Service Team for baseball.
Vansau, a redshirt junior, has volunteered many hours since the start of the 2017 fall semester. He also has spent time as a classroom assistant at MSU’s TK Martin Center for Technology and Disability.
Vansau is also an active Student-Athlete Advisory Committee member, along with being involved in Mississippi State’s M-Club (community service club for MSU varsity letter winners).
A recent graduate of MSU with a degree in finance, Vansau is MSU’s 2018 Newsom Award recipient for baseball, an award that honors academic excellence, personal development, community service and athletic success.
Dillard, a sophomore, performed a variety of community service activities throughout his first year on campus. He was a leader in the Adopt-A-Basket program, working with Interfaith Compassion Ministries to provide a total of 50 Thanksgiving baskets from the Ole Miss Athletics Department to those in the Lafayette and Oxford communities.
Dillard also went to local elementary schools to read books to students as part of the Reading with the Rebels program. Dillard joined in the nationwide Read Across America program, encouraging kids to read on a more consistent basis. Using his talents on the diamond, he volunteered at the Bats and Balls Clinic in coordination with the Junior Auxiliary of Oxford.
On campus, Dillard represents his fellow student-athletes on the Ole Miss Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), meeting throughout the year with athletic department administration. He joined other Ole Miss students to participate in RebelTHON, a fundraising event for the Children’s Miracle Network Hospital. In the fall, Dillard and the Rebels helped Shriners Hospitals for Children throw a surprise birthday for a young Ole Miss fan at Swayze Field.
Vance has been one of the team’s most active members in the community during his time in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The junior has put in double-digit volunteer hours in his three seasons and has taken part in many different community service initiatives, highlighted by his work with local schools. He has devoted his time to speaking with and reading to children while also taking part in special holiday celebrations at various schools.
Vance also has been an annual participant in the Alabama Athletics Department’s “Halloween Extravaganza” inside the Hank Crisp Indoor Facility. Each academic year, UA Athletics hosts the event to allow youth to interact with the University’s student-athletes from all sports and take part in sport-specific mini-games while also trick-or-treating in a safe and controlled environment.
Perhaps one of the most significant volunteer opportunities for him was his time helping out the High Socks for Hope charity during Thanksgiving. Vance, the son of a retired United States Army Sergeant Major, along with other members of the baseball team packed boxes of food for Thanksgiving meals that were delivered to local veterans during the holiday.
No. 18 Southern Mississippi wraps up regular season at Marshall
BECKLEY, W. Va. — The No. 18 Southern Mississippi baseball team will take on Marshall at 2 p.m. Thursday in Game 1 of a three-game, Conference USA weekend series at Linda K. Eppling Field.
The game will be Southern Miss’ first at the facility.
Game 2 will be at 1 p.m. Friday. Game 3 will be at 9:30 a.m. Saturday.
Southern Miss (36-15, 20-6 C-USA) will look to bounce back after losing back-to-back games for the first time this season,
Southern Miss remains in first place in the league standings by two-and-a-half games against Louisiana Tech and Florida Atlantic with three regular-season conference games left for each school.
Junior right-hander Nick Sandlin (7-0) will get the call in the opener. Sandlin has 114 strikeouts in 12 starts.
Sophomore Walker Powell will get the call Friday. Coach Scott Berry is still undecided on the pitcher for the final game.
Following the series, Southern Miss travel to Biloxi for the Conference USA Baseball Championship on May 23-27 at MGM Park. The team will open play in a yet to be determined time on Wednesday.
Ole Miss’ Feigl wins Golden Spikes Performance of the Week
DURHAM, N.C. — Ole Miss pitcher Brady Feigl delivered one of the best pitching performances of his career last week to earn Golden Spikes Performance of the Week honors from USA Baseball.
The junior right-hander tied his career-high by going eight innings and striking out a career-high 12 against Auburn. He
allowed three runs and walked one in an 8-3 win that was part of a series sweep.
The outing earned Feigl a spot in the @USAGoldenSpikes Performance of the Week poll on Twitter, where he was set against Trevor Boone from Oklahoma State, Joe Wainhouse out of Washington and Will Watson from Maryland.
Feigl earned 58 percent of the 3,000-plus votes.
ICC beats No. 14 Meridian Community College in NJCAA Region 23 tournament
EUNICE, La. — The Itawamba Community College scored a run in the top of the ninth inning Wednesday to defeat No. 14 Meridian C.C. 4-3 in its first game of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region 23 tournament.
Houston Harding (9-3) earned the win. Kyle Crigger earned his fifth save.
Drew Thomas had multiple hits for the Indians (33-15), while Justin Medlin had a double as part of the nine-hit attack.
Russell Bunch’s sacrifice fly scored Kyle Weaver, who entered to run for Drew Thomas (Nesbit) after he was hit by a pitch. Weaver advanced to third base on two passed balls.
ICC will face No. 1 LSU-Eunice (51-5), which defeated Hinds C.C. 10-0 in four-and-a-half innings Wednesday, at 6 p.m. Thursday. The game will be available on LetsGoICCTV.com/RED.
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