Ole Miss and Arkansas meet for the first time since the 2019 Fayetteville Super Regional beginning Friday at 6 p.m. (SEC Network) The series continues at 4 p.m. Saturday and 1:30 p.m. Sunday.

There’s a chance of thunderstorms on Friday afternoon, but the weather looks clear the rest of the weekend for what’s expected to be the largest Swayze Field crown since the start of the pandemic.

The Rebels have won four straight series over Arkansas in Oxford.

Here are a few storylines for the weekend.

Baseball America earlier this year tabbed Mississippi State as Ole Miss’ biggest baseball rival, and while it’s an easy and arguable view from 10,000 feet, Arkansas is the answer for the Rebels over most of the Mike Bianco era.

The matchups often have some elevated chippiness, and more importantly, the stakes have been consistent and of note over the past decade and a half. Obviously the most recent series, one where Arkansas took two of three to advance to the College World Series, is the most significant, but these two teams have often chased each other in the standings.

They tied for the SEC West title in 2018, with Ole Miss winning two one-run games in Oxford that ended up deciding the higher seed in the conference tournament. The Rebels swept Arkansas in Fayetteville in 2005 to win the SEC West and again in 2009 to win the SEC title.

Arkansas beat Ole Miss two of three in 2007 to clip the Rebels for the West on the final weekend, and in 2011, Arkansas’ final-day doubleheader sweep gave the Hogs the outright West win and kept Ole Miss from a share of the division title and likely a spot in the postseason.

Both are ranked in the top three nationally for the series this weekend, and in a way, with the stakes and the crowds, it is a defining moment in the quest to return to normalcy.

Ole Miss team captain Tim Elko tore his ACL on Monday against UNA and will miss at least two to four weeks and potentially the rest of the season.

Elko is rehabbing the right knee and taking anti-inflammatories until the swelling subsides. Then, they will decide if he may can play to some extent with a knee brace or if he will go ahead with the surgery — which will be required during or after after the season.

Elko led the SEC in RBIs at the time of his injury and topped Ole Miss in doubles, home runs and total bases. There’s no easy answer on how to fill his spot in the lineup, but this first SEC series without him should provide clues on how Mike Bianco wants to approach it.

Cael Baker and Trey LaFleur are the options if the only switch is a one-for-one move at first base, but both are coming off weeks of missed time with a hamate bone injury and mononucleosis, respectively, and have struggled offensively so far this season. Baker is hitting .195 with 20 strikeouts in 41 at-bats and LaFleur is hitting .167 in only 24 at-bats.

With limited right-handed hitting options, Elko’s injury could also move Kevin Graham back to first base more and increase playing time for John Rhys Plumlee in the outfield.

Arkansas is going with sophomore Peyton Pallette instead of Zebulon Vermillion in game two of the series.

Vermillion lasted eight innings and allowed one run and one hit against Alabama but hasn’t gotten through the fourth innings his two latest starts against Mississippi State and Auburn, giving up a combined seven runs in six innings.

Pallette started the SEC opener against Alabama, but after a scoreless first inning, he gave up four runs on two hits as part of a 10-run Tide inning. Pallette has 39 strikeouts and 12 walks in 27.2 innings this season. Pallette’s SEC ERA is 5.79.

The Razorbacks do an excellent job getting into bullpens and capitalizing late in games, but they’ve struggled with early run support which could stress starting pitchers. Arkansas has scored 30 runs from the sixth inning on in its nine SEC games but have only scored six total runs in the first three innings of its SEC games.

FRIDAY

Ole Miss: RHP Gunnar Hoglund 3-1, 2.47 ERA, 70 K, 11 BB

Arkansas: LHP Patrick Wicklander 1-1, 2.13 ERA, 25 K, 9 BB

SATURDAY

Ole Miss: LHP Doug Nikhazy 1-1, 4.15 ERA, 22 K, 7 BB

Arkansas: RHP Payton Pallette 1-1, 3.25 ERA, 39 K, 12 BB

SUNDAY

Ole Miss: RHP Derek Diamond 2-2, 3.96 ERA, 29 K, 6 BB

Arkansas: LHP Lael Lockheart 1-1, 3.41 ERA, 34 K, 613BB