Ole Miss Preview

Ole Miss Rebels (37-24, 15-15, 5-5)

Ole Miss vs. Mizzzou

hitting-.297 which is good for 8th in conference .301(MIZZ)
pitching-4.00 ERA which is good for 3rd in conference 4.54 (MIZZ)
defense-.966 fielding percentage, 78 errors in 61 games .967, 71 errors in 57 games(MIZZ)

Just from looking at this teams offensive stats, it seems as if the pitching carries this team to most of its victories. The SEC is loaded with good pitching and teams, seeing as nine teams made the NCAA tournament. Some key stats to point out for this Ole Miss team is they are 10th in slugging at .451, last in conference with a .373 on base pct, and 10th in walks taken with 214. They are in the middle of the conference in most other offensive statistics, so according to SEC standards they are an average offensive team. The pitching on the other hand for Ole Miss seems to be pretty good. Key stats for pitching are a .253 opponents batting average which is tops in the SEC. The pitching staff is also second in the conference in innings pitched, first in batters struck out (575), third in hits allowed (528). The strike outs are the stat that stands out the most because even in four less games, Mizzou's pitching staff struck out 466 hitters, which is a difference of 109.

latest line up

Jordan Henry rf (14-17 SB-ATT)
Fuller Smith dh
Logan Power lf
Cody Overbeck 3b (15HR 53RBI, .608 SLG%)
Michael Guerrero cf
Matt Smith 1b (14HR, 39RBI, .538SLG%, leads team with 72SO)
Zach Miller 2b
Tim Ferguson ss (leads team with 9 errors)
Brett Basham c


Pitching

#1 Lance Lynn (7-3, 4.21, 103SO in 84.1 IP)
Closer- Scott Bittle (6-1, 26APP, 8 SV, 118SO in 66.1IP)

Bittle is fourth on the team in innings pitched, so it is clear that they rely on him heavily once they get leads. Lynn just based on the games started and innings pitched is averaging about six innings pitched. Bittle definitely seems to be the eight and ninth inning guys. Mizzou will have to get ahead early and hope the bullpen can hold a lead to avoid seeing Bittle.

If anyone would like a better look at these stats, they can look at these two links

http://secsports.com/new/sports/bbc/08stats/lgteams.htm
http://www.olemisssports.com/SportSelect.dbml?SPSID=13045&SPID=748&DB_OEM_ID=2600