No. 4 Ole Miss Welcomes in Central Arkansas for a Mid-Week Tilt

By Adam Brown
Sports Editor
adam.brown@hottytoddy.com

No. 4 Ole Miss returns to Swayze on Tuesday as they play host to the Central Arkansas Bears in a midweek tilt. The first pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. on SEC Network+.

Ole Miss (16-4, 3-0 SEC) opened conference action with a sweep over the Auburn Tigers. The Rebels won their fifth straight SEC opening series and claimed the top spot in the SEC West.

This season, the Rebels have scored 151 runs which is 12th in the nation.

In the last seven games, Kevin Graham has gone 16-for-26 at the dish with two home runs, three doubles, eight runs scored and five RBI.

Central Arkansas comes into Oxford with a 7-8 overall record and a 4-4 mark in the Southland Conference on the season after splitting a four-game series with Lamar over the weekend.

The Bears are led at the plate on the young season by Coby Potvin with a .381 batting average with 11 RBI, tied with teammate Benny Ayala in the team-lead for RBI.

The probable pitching matchup will have right-hander Ryan Johnston for the Bears. Johnston is 1-2 on the season with a 7.36 ERA. Coach Mike Bianco will send to the mound right-hander Josh Mallitz for the Rebels. Mallitz comes in with a 1-1 record and a 4.50 ERA.

This will be the seventh all-time meeting between the two programs on the diamond. Ole leads the series 5-1. The Bears won the first meeting, a 4-3 final in 10 innings on March 18, 2008. Since then, Ole Miss has outscored UCA 45-10. The most recent contest came on April 21, 2015, an 18-4 win for the Rebels.

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