No. 23 Ole Miss will be without one of its bullpen arms as the Rebels vie for a regional hosting spot in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.
Brayden Jones, a right-handed hurler from Madison, suffered an elbow injury during his midweek outing against Austin Peay. Prior to that stint on the mound, Jones had shown signs of a developing injury in his Saturday appearance versus then-No. 9 Vanderbilt.
“Brayden Jones tore his UCL on Tuesday during his outing against Austin Peay. He felt some pain in his elbow as he walked off the field after his outing and received an MRI on Wednesday morning, where it was determined that surgery will be required. He will be out for the remainder of the season,” a statement from the Ole Miss Athletics Department reads.
Jones, before his season ended, was up-and-down on the year with some good outings and others that did not reflect well on the stat sheet. The former Madison-Ridgeland Academy standout has posted a 5.50 ERA while striking out 30 batters and surrendering 11 earned runs.
The Rebels (32-13, 12-9 SEC) are currently projected to be a No. 2 seed come regional play, per D1Baseball. The outlet has Ole Miss traveling east to a regional hosted by NC State. The projection has sparked an uproar from fans of the red and blue, given Mike Bianco’s club has a 12-spot advantage in the NCAA’s RPI rankings.
Ole Miss will have the chance to boost its postseason résumé this weekend in a three-game series at No. 21 Oklahoma beginning Friday at 6:30 p.m. Game one will air on SEC Network+ and participating SuperTalk Mississippi stations.
