After a weird start to the 2024 season, Ole Miss looks to welcome the Kentucky Wildcats to the Magnolia state for a highly anticipated weekend of the Southeastern Conference Baseball at Swayze Field. Ole Miss comes into the Kentucky series starting on Friday looking to find their identity after opening SEC play with a massive series win over South Carolina two weeks ago before hitting the road to Knoxville and getting embarrassed by Tony Vitello and the Tennessee Volunteers.

Like its counterparts in Starkville, Ole Miss has struggled to find its identity as a baseball program since winning the National Championship in 2022. Ole Miss has the talent on the roster to be an NCAA Tournament team come early June, but the Rebels have yet to find what works best for them in 2024.

Pitching has been the Rebels’ Achilles heel in 2024, with the three-weekend starters having ERAs well over the 4.0 mark. Ole Miss will face a Kentucky team that takes advantage of pitchers who struggle against small ball teams. Ole Miss will need dominant starts from Riley Maddox on Friday night, Liam Doyle on Saturday, and Gunnar Dennis on Sunday to win two out of three from the Kentucky Wildcats. Relying on the bullpen is scary for the Rebels, as the bullpen has been more consistent than the starters have to this point in the season. Ole Miss comes into the Kentucky series with an overall record of 18-8 while maintaining an SEC record of 3-3.

For Kentucky, this weekend in Oxford is another big chance for the Wildcats to make some noise in the Southeastern Conference standings before getting into the thick of it with teams like Auburn, Tennessee, Alabama, South Carolina, Arkansas, Florida, and Vanderbilt. A series win over Ole Miss would give the Wildcats another notch in their belt as they race towards the end goal of reaching the 2024 College World Series for the first time in school history.

Kentucky is an intriguing matchup for Ole Miss because the Wildcats do so many things well. They have outstanding pitching, timely hitting, steal bases and an all-around complete baseball team. Kentucky will roll out the infamous TBD on Friday, LHP Dominic Niman on Saturday night, while RHP Mason Moore gets the mound on Sunday afternoon in Oxford.

With perfect baseball weather in the forecast, Swayze Field will be rocking for all three games between the Wildcats and Rebels beginning Friday night.