Here’s how Ole Miss will line-up looking to avoid a sweep versus Vandy

If I heard it once I heard it hundreds of times Friday night while drinking cold beers, the Rebels just got a big wake up call through its first two SEC games.

Ole Miss (14-5, 0-2 SEC) has been outscored by Vanderbilt (15-5, 2-0 SEC) by 18 runs over two games, 20-2. The Rebels were shutout on Friday, and for Saturday’s finale in the series, coach Mike Bianco looks to be mixing things up a little bit in the batting order.

Xavier Rivas had his best start of the year last week, so it will be imperative he keeps that momentum going into Saturday. It’s very likely Vanderbilt will hold Ole Miss to less than five runs, but if the Rebels can strike early, it will go a long way to restoring some confidence.

Vanderbilt will be throwing another lefthanded starter, Devin Futrell, who had his worst start of the season last Sunday going 4.1 innings and giving up three earned runs in his only loss thus far. In his three starts, he has sat somewhere between 60-85 pitches, so Ole Miss certainly needs to work the counts as deep and often as possible to chase Futrell early.

The defending national champion Ole Miss Rebels have stumbled mightily on this road trip and now have a three game losing streak. It may take a trip back to Swayze Field to get right again but getting a win by any means Saturday would salvage what has been a terrible series.