Ole Miss, like most SEC teams this week, has some potential headaches this week with its pitching staff.
After getting swept by archrival No. 4 Mississippi State, the newly-unranked Rebels have only one day off before hosting Little Rock on Tuesday. As an extra wrinkle, first-pitch is set for 11 a.m. Excepting the starting time, all of that is normal.
Stronger together. https://t.co/QsNfRskjWB pic.twitter.com/zXiaOtVjQq
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) March 29, 2026
What’s not normal is having only one day off before the next SEC series.
Ole Miss will head to No. 21 Florida for its next SEC series on Thursday. The series being on the road for Ole Miss only makes the week more challenging.
All SEC series will start Thursday to give teams Easter Sunday off. It’s a nice gesture, but does put some strain on pitching staffs. It was at the back of the Rebels’ coaching staff’s minds during the weekend and was likely one of the first topic of conversations Monday.
The short turnaround gives Ole Miss pitchers less recovery time, which means some of the arms won’t be ready to go by Thursday. Or by Saturday, depending on how many pitchers are used Tuesday.
To help put this problem into better perspective, here’s all the pitchers Ole Miss used this weekend with the total number of pitches thrown (starters are in bold):
- Hunter Elliott, 92
- Taylor Rabe, 56
- Walker Hooks, 50 (20, 37)
- Hudson Calhoun, 68
- Wil Libbert, 44
- Owen Hancock, 44
- Cade Townsend, 62
- JP Robertson, 27
- Landon Waters, 9
The first question will be who’ll start Tuesday morning’s game against Little Rock.
No official announcement has been made, but Owen Kelly has started three of the last four midweek games for Ole Miss, including the last two against Memphis and Austin Peay.
The Rebels’ only midweek loss came last week against Memphis, with Kelly on the mound to start. But the blame for the loss isn’t laid at his feet. In 3.1 innings, Kelly gave up two earned runs on five hits and three strikeouts. He also hit two batters with pitches.
High speed look at the SK-SL from RHP Owen Kelly (@OleMissBSB)… https://t.co/WYvqCrew09 pic.twitter.com/A65pjXC0U2
— PG College Baseball (@PGCollegeBall) March 12, 2026
If the Rebels had gotten more than four total hits on offense, they might not have lost 6-2 to the Tigers. Kelly didn’t see any action against Mississippi State, so it won’t be surprising to see him announced as the starter for Tuesday.
Ole Miss doesn’t have much room to ease into the week, and Tuesday’s game will shape how the Rebels line things up in Gainesville.
They’ll sort out the pieces soon enough, but the next few days will tell them a lot about what this staff can handle on a tight turnaround.
