Three Strikes: Rebels chase school record start as SEC play begins

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Ole Miss opens Southeastern Conference play Friday with a home series against Tennessee. The Rebels have won nine in a row since losing its lone game to open the road series at Long Beach. Ole Miss is coming off a two-game sweep at Georgia State.

Here are three topics of discussion as the important part of the regular season is next up.

The Rebels ran their record to 17-1 Wednesday with a 16-2 beatdown of the Panthers and have a chance at tying the 2013 squad's school record 19-1 start. The 2004 Ole Miss team started its season 18-1, so that can be matched Friday at 7 p.m. against the Volunteers.

Oddly, neither of those teams kept up their play to the point of winning but one combined postseason game. The 2013 team bowed out in three games of the Raleigh Regional without playing the host following a 15-15 conference season, and the 2004 group was the first Rebel team to host a regional following an 18-12 league record but lost its first two games to Western Kentucky and Washington.

It's unclear if any of the nonconference series to this point are going to help the Rebels' RPI, so the gaudy record is an important and maybe necessary thing as Ole Miss chases postseason play in Oxford. The annual goal should be to win at least 20 nonconference games, and Ole Miss is well on its way with eight remaining.

The Rebels face Arkansas State twice, Southern Miss twice and New Orleans, Mississippi State, Memphis and Arkansas Pine Bluff once the rest of the way outside of conference play.

Ole Miss is as high as No. 6 nationally. That's the best national ranking since the 2016 team entered the postseason also at No. 6.

All the buildup to this season focused on the Ole Miss pitching staff's depth and potential star power. To this point, it's hard to argue that the group hasn't met expectations.

Entering the week, the Rebels were fourth in the SEC and top 15 nationally in team ERA and second in the SEC in total runs allowed. Ole Miss had issued the fewest walks in the conference and had the fifth most strikeouts while keeping opponents to a .221 batting average against.

The Rebels lead the country in strikeout-to-walk ratio at 4.29 strikeouts per walk. Stetson is second at 3.82, and Texas A&M is the next SEC team at 3.66. Ole Miss has 176 strikeouts and just 41 walks.

Brady Feigl is a big reason for that. The junior has 25 strikeouts and two walks on the year. That's good for 18th nationally. He was named the National Pitcher of the Month by NCBWA.

Ole Miss is also top 15 nationally in WHIP and No. 6 nationally in fewest walks per nine innings.

Dallas Woolfolk has six saves -- fourth nationally -- and hasn't allowed an earned run in 7.2 innings this season.

Ole Miss' three weekend starters -- Ryan Rolison, Feigl and James McArthur -- have given up only 13 earned runs in a combined 70.2 innings this season. That's a 1.66 ERA.

The other early storyline was sophomores and second-year players improving after tough rookie seasons at the SEC level. The opposing pitching to this point won't be mistaken for Casey Mize or Brady Singer, but the Rebels are averaging more than seven runs per game, 20th nationally, and those hitters are a big part of the reason. The Rebels are also 22nd nationally in slugging percentage.

Thomas Dillard is the everyday player with the biggest jump. He leads Ole Miss with 39 total bases and is hitting .350 on the season while having an OPS of 1.137. One oddity with Dillard is the switch hitter doesn't have a hit against left-handed pitching while hitting .462 with a 1.485 OPS in more than three times as many at-bats against right-handers. The sample size is small from the right side -- 16 at-bats-- against lefty pitching at the start of the week, but it's an interesting split nonetheless.

Chase Cockrell, the second-year JUCO transfer, has an .886 slugging percentage in 35 at-bats. Only seven at-bats have ended in something other than a hit or a strikeout. He started the year as a platoon player against left-handers, but he's actually hitting .611 against right-handers and only .385 against lefties entering the week.

Grae Kessinger is hitting .338 and reaching base 43 percent of the time despite being much more aggressive this season. He's struck out only eight times in 71 at-bats and also walked 11 times.

Cole Zabowski had eight runs scored and nine RBIs in 92 at-bats last season, but he's already at 13 RBIs and eight runs in 42 at-bats this year.

Cooper Johnson has only one strikeout in 40 plate appearances, so while he's hitting just .257 he's increased his quality-at-bat percentage and is moving runners much more often than last season. The sophomore has also added two home runs.