Ole Miss is on pace to host an NCAA Regional.

It’s the halfway point of Southeastern Conference play, and the Rebels are 9-6 in the league and 27-10 overall with five weekends left in the regular season. Ole Miss is in a tie for sixth in the conference, buoyed by the sweep of hapless Missouri which is 0-15 to date against SEC competition.

The Rebels have lost two series – to No. 2 Arkansas and No. 4 Tennessee – with leads in the ninth inning of each rubber game. Ole Miss also took two of three at home against Florida and the same at Kentucky.

Ole Miss has avoided a throw-up weekend and beat up on the bad teams to generate the No. 16 RPI nationally despite a five-spot fall after the Tuesday loss to Little Rock.

Taking advantage of the schedule is again the chore this week with the Rebels at South Carolina starting tonight at 5:30 p.m. CT. The series continues at 3 p.m. CT on Friday and 1 p.m. CT on Saturday.

The Gamecocks are 21-17 overall and 2-13 in the SEC under first-year coach Paul Mainieri, who was at LSU from 2007-2021. Mainieri took the Tigers to the College World Series five times and won the national title in 2009.

South Carolina has won at least 13 SEC games every season but one since 1995, but USC hasn’t won more than 16 in the league since 2018. Getting to double-digit wins will be quite a task this season, and Carolina is coming off a gut-punch weekend in College Station.

Texas A&M swept the Gamecocks with a 17-0 win on Friday and a 10-run comeback on Saturday in the finale. Carolina led 12-2 before the Aggies chipped away and then hit two grand slams in the bottom of the ninth to win 15-12.

Offensively, in SEC games, South Carolina is only in the top half of the conference in batting average (8th) and strikeouts (8th). The Gamecocks walk the least in the conference and are 13th in on-base percentage and runs and 11th in total bases.

Ole Miss leads the SEC in offensive walks with 84, and the Gamecocks are last with 43 walks.

Carolina is even worse on the mound, statistically. The Gamecocks are 15th out of the 16 teams in ERA, batting average against, hits allowed and runs allowed and 14th in walks and least strikeouts. Missouri is the only team behind USC in those categories where Carolina is 15th in the league.

South Carolina lost two of three at Mississippi State and versus Oklahoma to go with sweeps at the hands of Arkansas, Tennessee and Texas A&M.

The Gamecocks are still without catcher Talmadge LeCroy. He has played in 173 career games but not since March 25 against North Carolina.

Game 1: LHP Hunter Elliott (5-1, 3.92 ERA) vs. RHP Brandon Stone (1-4, 5.73 ERA)

Game 2: RHP Riley Maddox (4-2, 5.75 ERA) vs. LHP Jake McCoy (3-3, 7.30 ERA)

Game 3: RHP Mason Nichols (2-0, 4.54 ERA) vs. TBA