Ole Miss' Tristan Bissetta watches a ball he hit during a game against Evansville at Swayze Field. | Dylan Cohron, HottyToddy.com Images
Ole Miss' Tristan Bissetta watches a ball he hit during a game against Evansville at Swayze Field. | Dylan Cohron, HottyToddy.com Images

Boom-or-Bust? Ole Miss Bats Face Tough Test in Austin

BY Taylor Hodges

Ole Miss has a baseball team built to put on a show.

The Rebels rank fourth nationally with 35 home runs, and three players already have five or more. Judd Utermark’s 10 homers put him inside the top five nationwide. Through XX games, Ole Miss has failed to hit a home run only once.

The pitching staff has been just as electric, piling up 213 strikeouts (13.1 K/9, third in the nation) and working out of trouble more often than not.

The problem is the offense goes quiet too often, like Tuesday night in a 2-1 loss to No. 7 Southern Miss. Ole Miss managed only three hits and one walk, with its lone run coming on a Tristan Bissetta solo shot in the fifth.

It wasted a strong pitching performance that held the Golden Eagles to six hits.

And this isn’t new. Missouri State held the Rebels to five hits. Coastal Carolina and Memphis allowed six each. North Alabama gave up eight.

Ole Miss won most of those games, but a big reason was the walks. The Rebels rank sixth nationally with 111 free passes, which helps turn solo homers into multi‑run swings.

When the hits aren’t falling and the walks aren’t coming, though, things get tight. That’s what happened against Coastal Carolina in Houston. Ole Miss had just six hits, three walks, and a little luck that one of those walks came before Dom Decker’s home run. It’s also what happened Tuesday: three hits, one walk, and nine strikeouts.

A home‑run‑heavy offense is fun when it’s clicking. When it’s not, the margin for error shrinks fast.

And that’s what makes this weekend’s SEC‑opening trip to No. 2 Texas tricky. The Longhorns’ pitching staff ranks third in ERA (2.30), fifth in hits allowed per nine (5.9), 10th in strikeout‑to‑walk ratio (3.72), sixth in strikeouts per nine (12.3) and seventh in WHIP (1.02).

The Rebels can’t afford for their bats to go quiet in Austin.

So yes, the home runs are fun. They always will be. But against a staff as good as Texas, Ole Miss can’t rely on waiting for the big swing to show up.

They’ll need baserunners, competitive at‑bats, and something more than the occasional solo shot.

If the bats don’t wake up in Austin, it’s going to be a long weekend.

HOTTYTODDY.COM HEADLINES