No. 1 Ole Miss baseball starts SEC play on the Plains against Auburn tonig

A shocking mid-week loss to Southeastern Louisiana might have No. 1 Ole Miss searching for some answers offensively as it starts SEC play on the road against Auburn.

The Rebels (13-3) dropped a 5-1 game to the Lions (8-9) who took down Ole Miss just a day after it was ranked No. 1 in the nation by D1Baseball. This same SELA team has also notched wins against No. 25 Louisiana Tech and No. 3 Arkansas, so the sky isn’t completely falling though I don’t think many were expecting a loss on Tuesday.

But in baseball, players have to have a short memory and move on to the next at bat, game, series, etc. Now Ole Miss will walk into Plainsman Park, home of the Auburn Tigers (13-4) who posted an early season win against No. 12 Texas Tech, but most recently dropped a series to Middle Tennessee State... at home.

Auburn has six players of its usual starters batting over .300 and boast a team average of .306 while allowing opponents an average of .205. Ole Miss’ numbers almost exactly mirror these averages with the Rebels hitting at a .305 average and allowing a .206 average.

Missing from the Rebels for the time being is offensive star Kevin Graham who is out with a fractured wrist for at least another 2-3 weeks. Ole Miss has to find some offensive spark at Auburn after one of its lowest scoring games of the season in the mid-week.

There’s always a chance Rebel pitching could just absolutely dominate and carry through the series though right? Let’s see who is taking the mound.

Game 1

Thursday, 6pm CT (SECN)
Ole Miss: LHP John Gaddis, 2-0, 1.42 ERA
Auburn: RHP Mason Barnett, 1-0, 2.13 ERA

Game 2

Friday, 6pm CT (SECN+)
Ole Miss: RHP Derek Diamond, 3-0, 3.86 ERA
Auburn: TBA

Game 3

Saturday, 2pm CT (SECN+)
Ole Miss: TBA
Auburn: RHP Trace Bright, 2-0, 1.17 ERA

How to watch

Where: Plainsman Park (Auburn, Ala.)
Online streaming: WatchESPN