No. 3 Ole Miss at Jacksonville St. 2023: First pitch, online streaming and open thread

Ole Miss will hit the road before its first conference game of the 2023 season and visit Jacksonville St. on Tuesday.

The Rebels (14-2) are on an eight game winning streak and have climbed to No. 2 or No. 3 nationally depending on which poll you prefer. The offense is humming right along and blasting through the non-conference schedule, and it should be expected to do the same Tuesday despite being on the road.

JSU (6-10) has a 1-4 record against SEC teams this season opening its season with an upset of Georgia in Athens. The Gamecocks won its last two games to visiting South Alabama over the weekend, so there might be a little momentum going into Tuesday’s game.

PROJECTED STARTERS

Ole Miss: RHP Jordan Vera - 0-0, 10.13 ERA

Jacksonville State: RHP Jake Peppers - 2-1, 5.40 ERA

Jordan Vera will take the mound and make his second start of the season on Tuesday after the usual midweek starter, JT Quinn, appeared in Sunday’s win over Purdue. Vera currently has the worst ERA on the team, but in fairness, he has entered games in generally less than ideal situations. Tuesday’s game should offer a good chance for a better outing especially if the Ole Miss offense can do what its been doing the first 16 games of 2023.

Nearly all of the regular starters are batting over .300 as the team batting average now sits at .343. Kemp Alderman leads nearly every offensive statistical category with a .390 average, eight home runs and 26 RBI. The Decatur, Miss. native will undoubtedly see less and less hittable pitches as the season wears on, but let’s enjoy his dickslapped dingers for as long as we can.

First pitch is set for 6 p.m. CT at JSU and will be streamed live on ESPN+.