Ole Miss baseball: What we learned at the SEC tournament
By Randy Morgan
After disappointment in Hoover, Ole Miss baseball in line to host a regional.
Ole Miss baseball sadly bowed out in the semi-finals of the SEC tournament after a 12-8 defeat at the hands of Texas A&M. The Rebels started the game off strong, but could not finish due to a depleted and fatigued bullpen.
From the beginning of the game against the Aggies, things looked bleak for the Rebels pitching staff. Chad Smith struggled to find the strike zone from the get-go, and continued to struggle until he was pulled in the 5th inning.
Following Smith allowing five runs, Dallas Woolfolk gave the Rebels a solid 3.1 innings, allowing only one run. In the 8th inning, Woolfolk started to struggle and was replaced by shutdown closer Wyatt Short.
Short, who has pitched in every game except the South Carolina match-up, came out and allowed 6 runs in 0.2 innings of work. Short looked tired and struggled to find the strike zone from his first pitch. These are things that we, as Rebel fans, are not used to seeing from Short.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | |
| Rebels | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Falcons | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 12 |
What did we learn: Offense
Ole Miss is capable of out scoring any team. The Rebels offense was clicking from day one, scoring 35 runs in the 4 SEC tournament games they played. The whole lineup has produced in one game or another.
J.B. Woodman is raking. Woodman continued his hot streak in the SEC tournament, hitting nine home runs over the last 17 games.
Colby Bortles and Errol Robinson showed out on offense in tournament play, as well. Bortles has struggled most of the season, but his hot bat showed up this week. Bortles has driven in eight runs in the four games played. Robinson, who has been solid most of the season, was in a small slump recently, but broke out of it. Robinson’s coming out party was game 4, against A&M. Robinson went 4-for-6 and batting in four runs.
The back-end of the lineup also produced. Ryan Olenek and Kyle Watson were both been steady hitters last week, getting on base for the beginning of the lineup. Olenek has put in some very solid at-bats and made pitchers work to get past him. Watson’s defense and offense have made him an important player on this team.
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What did we learn: Pitching
The Rebels trotted Friday night starter Brady Bramlett out to face the Georgia Bulldogs on day one, but with a 60-pitch limit. Bramlett went four innings and allowed one run, scattering three hits. Bramlett was very effective, a good sign for the Rebels, who will need him to move on the NCAA tournament.
David Parkinson and James McArthur are very good second options. Both of these guys gave the Rebels five-plus innings of solid work, something Ole Miss has been looking for all season. If these guys can stay hot, the Rebels should be able to play deep into the NCAA’s.
The bullpen struggled. The Rebel pen has been solid all season, going undefeated when leading after six innings until Saturday. Ole Miss is 39-1 this season when leading after six innings. The first game, the bullpen was solid, throwing a collective four-hitter without allowing a run.
In the second game, against South Carolina, the bullpen was effective outside of Pagnozzi, who allowed one earned run on two hits.
In the third game, against Vanderbilt, the bullpen struggled. Connor Green and Brady Feigl allowed a combined five earned runs, while Pagnozzi and Short managed shutouts in their roles.
In the final game for Ole Miss, the bullpen was very rough. Woolfolk allowed one earned run, Short allowed six, while Green came in and pitched a shutout ninth inning. Woolfolk’s performance, over three innings, though. If he can throw as he did on Saturday going forward, the Ole Miss reliever depth just got better.
Mostlly the bullpen was depleted and tired. The only arms Bianco had yet to throw were Andrew Lowe, Sean Johnson, Matt Denny, and Brian Browning. Presumably, Bianco was saving Johnson to pitch the championship game if the Rebels advanced.
What did we learn: Fielding
Ole Miss committed five errors in four games played this week. One of the issues this week was how fast the field plays in Hoover. The compacted dirt sits in the hot Alabama sun and cooks. This causes infielders to miss balls and have balls sneak into gaps.
The fielding should be cleaner and have fewer errors once the Rebels get back to Oxford.
What now?
Well now we wait to find out if we host a regional, which we should be a lock for. The Rebels are also in the conversation for a national seed as well, which would mean the road to Omaha would go through Oxford.