How are Ole Miss veterans hitting compared to past seasons?

Ole Miss has struggled offensively this season, scoring three runs or fewer in 15 of the last 21 games and falling in the lower half in every offensive category among Southeastern Conference teams.

The Rebels (17-12) have No. 14 SEC rankings in hits, runs, total bases, slugging, doubles and triples. Ole Miss is 13th in batting average and on-base percentage.

Ole Miss, which is hitting .268 against righties and .184 against lefties, routinely has five newcomers in its offensive lineup, and there have been first-year troubles for those players. Past that, though, many of the returners are having seasons similar to their career averages. The biggest thing missing is a major improvement from a veteran.

Last season, Henri Lartigue hit .353 after hitting .225 in 2015 and JB Woodman went from a .274 average and seven home runs his sophomore season to .323 and 14 home runs as a junior.

What's going on with Ole Miss' returners? We take a player-by-player look.

Blackman's batting average is down 49 points from last season, but he's hitting .321 -- basically the same as 2016 -- following a 2-for-21 start to the season. He also struck out seven times during that awful beginning stretch, so while Ole Miss has stumbled offensively since Wilmington, Blackman has been solid to successful while his teammates have had less positives.

He's already doubled his stolen bases from last season and is walking or getting hit by a pitch in 16 percent of his plate appearances. That was 13 percent in 2016. The slugging percentage is down somewhat considerably, and that is a key factor, but the percentage of at-bats with an extra base hit is only down from 7.8 to 6.

Bortles is a having a very similar season to Blackman, where doubles are way down, but other offensive numbers closely mirror past seasons. He's ahead of last year's home run pace but after hitting 21 doubles in 2016 he'd only be at 9.44 doubles on this current pace for the same number of at-bats as 2016.

Bortles has raised his average to .280 despite starting the season 1-for-19. He's hitting .338 since the second game of the UNC Wilmington series and is close to his career high in on-base percentage. Bortles has tied his career high already in sacrifice flies for the season and is on the same pace as prior years in walks. The strikeout rate is also the same as last season.

Golsan's slash line is similar to last season, though he's fallen in batting average during each year. He's walking more and striking out less than 2016 -- and is also on pace to steal more bases. The negative is his play since the time that Bortles and Blackman have heated up. Golsan was 12-of-30 (.400) to begin the year but is 17-of-81 (.209) since then. Four of his six doubles and the lone home run were also in those first 30 at-bats.

While Olenek has tailed off some since the first couple weeks of the season -- when he started 8-of-24 -- he's avoided the wild swings in his numbers. Compared to his freshman season, Olenek is equal to or ahead of pace in almost every category. It's a notable and impressive season considering the increase in responsibility.

In 2016 Olenek was a complement to Woodman, Lartigue and others, but this year he's charged with providing opportunities and being an offensive mainstay. That's been a struggle for a lot of players in their second seasons. He's way short of last year's pace in runs scored, but that's not on him. He also has 12 free bases and only 15 strikeouts. He's hitting .273 with runners in scoring position.

Just from the numbers there's a regression with Watson offensively as a junior, but the numbers are very similar to his sophomore season prior to a torrid stretch in the postseason when he was one of the Rebels' most productive hitters.

With Watson's speed the strikeout total being up (29 percent to 24 percent) is the most concerning stat because he can affect things positively for Ole Miss with his legs.

Fortes didn't get many opportunities in 2016 as a true freshman, and his offensive totals are nearly identical this season. However, he looks more comfortable at the plate and he's getting chances in more high-pressure situations He's certainly improved and is a candidate to continue his progression throughout his career.

It's impossible to make any valid theories about 25 at-bats. It's not enough of a sample size. He's used primarily against left-handed pitching, and he's hitting .143 in 25 plate appearances against that side. He has a .500 average in five plate appearances against right-handers.