Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco walks off the field at Trustmark Park during the 2026 Governor's Cup in Pearl, Miss. | Andy Hodges, HottyToddy.com Images
Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco walks off the field at Trustmark Park during the 2026 Governor's Cup in Pearl, Miss. | Andy Hodges, HottyToddy.com Images

No. 17 Ole Miss At No. 22 Arkansas: How To Watch, Pitching Matchup, Weather

BY Taylor Hodges

Ole Miss is down to its final three SEC weekends, and the margin for error is getting thin.

The league race is a traffic jam, with 10 teams stacked within three games of each other, and every night seems to shuffle the board again.

The NCAA Tournament picture hangs over all of it. The Rebels have hovered around that 15‑16 SEC win mark as the rough cutoff for hosting a regional, and with nine conference games left, the math is still doable. It just isn’t easy.

That’s what makes this trip to Arkansas interesting. The Razorbacks aren’t having the kind of season we’re used to seeing from them, and on paper, this is the most manageable series left on Ole Miss’ schedule. If the Rebels are going to make a real push, this is where it starts.

Here’s how to watch the weekend and what to know heading into the opener.

The Opponent: No. 22 Arkansas

Arkansas sits pretty much in the middle of the SEC in most categories. Nothing jumps off the page, but they do a couple of things well.

They’re third in the league with 23 sacrifice flies, and they’ve already thrown five shutouts, which ranks 11th nationally. A lot of that comes from a solid strikeout‑to‑walk ratio of 2.92.

That’s good for 14th in the country, though only eighth in the SEC, which tells you what kind of league this is.

Hunter Dietz and Cole Gibler get the ball Friday and Saturday. Gibler has the best ERA on the staff at 2.91, but Dietz is the headliner. He leads the SEC with 92 strikeouts and sits sixth in the country. Arkansas also has Colin Fisher, a former SEC Pitcher of the Week who’s already thrown a complete game this season.

Offensively, Camden Kozeal and Ryder Helfrick carry most of the load. They’re the only two players who have started at least 45 games.

Helfrick leads the team with 14 home runs, Kozeal has 12, and Kozeal also leads the Razorbacks with 50 RBI. Carter Rutenbar owns the top batting average at .330, and Damian Ruiz isn’t far behind at .310.

Starting Pitchers

LHP Hunter Elliott vs. LHP Hunter Dietz

  • Elliott: 4-1, 4.82 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 56 IP, 52 H, 31 R, 30 ER, 28 BB, 75 SO, .248 Opp. BA
  • Dietz: 5-2, 3.62 ERA, 59.2 IP, 49 H, 28 R, 24 ER, 19 BB, 92 SO, .218 Opp. BA

Ole Miss Batting Lineup

  1. Hayden Federico, CF
  2. Tristan Bissetta, RF
  3. Judd Utermark, 3B
  4. Will Furniss, 1B
  5. Collin Reuter, DH
  6. Topher Jones, LF
  7. Dom Decker, 2B
  8. Austin Fawley, C
  9. Owen Paino, SS

Arkansas Batting Lineup

TBA

Weather Forecast

While Mississippi is spending most of Friday covered in rain clouds, the Rebels are getting much better weather conditions in Fayetteville. The National Weather Service forecast for Friday is “partly sunny, with a high near 66. North wind around 10 mph,” during the day and “partly cloudy, with a low around 43. North wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening,” at night.

How to Watch: No. 17 Ole Miss at No. 22 Arkansas

Student-Athlete Availability Report

Ole Miss

Out

  • P #17 Marko Sipila
  • P #29 Grayson Gibson

Arkansas

Out

  • IF #18 Reese Robinett
  • P #44 Carson Wiggins

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