Ole Miss Baseball: 4 Solos Seal Game 2 For Rebels, Rubber Game Today

For weeks now, Ole Miss baseball fans have been wondering what happened to the wood? Friday at Alex Box Stadium, in Baton Rouge, the Rebel bats came alive in a shock and awe performance. 4 solo HRs in the contest, and a strong pitching trio was all it would take to lock a 4-1 game-2 win against #8 LSU.

In baseball, the dreaded slump may sometimes happen. It’s no big secret, Ole Miss baseball has been dealing with one at the plate. Although many hitters have emerged from the line-up to show they are consistent hitters, there have been moments when hitting, or lack of, has made us look really bad as a baseball team. However, that wasn’t the case last night.

Friday night, as #8 LSU was celebrating the jersey retirement of legendary hitter Todd Walker, the Rebels committed long-ball brutality. Ole Miss hitters absolutely slammed LSU’s game-2 ace Poche for 4 solo shots. Despite a few defensive hiccups on the night, the Rebels were able to hang on and get the 4-1 win. Are the bats back? Well, we find out today. For now, lets look at last night.

On The Mound

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Why talk about pitching first? It’s simple. The defense was the big story on the night, in my opinion. I mean just look at the final of Game-1 and it kind of puts an exclamation point on the game-2 outcome.

It all started on the hill with Coach Mike Bianco’s game-2 starter, David Parkinson. Parkinson (5-2, 2.68) has emerged to be one of the toughest arms in the SEC. Of course, he continued Friday evening with another solid performance.

Parkinson went 6.1 innings, allowing only 1 earned-run on 6 hits while chalking up 3 Ks. Early in the 7th, after tallying 95 pitches and in a jam, Bianco made the call to the pen. Enter Will Ethridge. Ethridge (1-2, 2.67) pitched 1.1 innings of work on the hill. He would pitch out of the jam in the 7th and allow no hits.

In the 8th, facing another jam, Bianco made another call to the pen and brought in the very reliable closer Dallas Woolfolk. Woolfolk (1.01, 7 svs) also pitched 1.1 innings, allowing no hits while recording 3 Ks.

Despite, committing 3 errors on the night, the Rebels were able to rely on a strong pitching staff and good glove play, in order to secure the victory. Of course, it was a much-needed performance, after the embarrassing game-1 debacle.

In The Box

After all the Ole Miss hitters have struggled thru, it’s hard not to appreciate their performance Friday night. I mean the reason most people watch baseball is the long-ball. Hitters always go down in history and our memories. Well, Friday night was a historic night indeed.

Tate Blackman (.274) blew up the Tiger ace in the top of the 1st, leading off with a solo shot to give Ole Miss an early lead. Tate was 2 for 4 on the night, knocking in 2 RBIs and scoring 2 runs. Both of Blackman’s hits were solo shots, the second coming in the 6th.

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Of course, there were two other Rebels who went solo-yard on the night. Colby Bortles (.261) went 1 for 3 on the night and Nick Fortes (.316) was 1 for 4. Both delivering solo shots in the 4th. Also, two other Rebels who contributed hits Friday night were Ryan Olenek (.271) and Oxford native Grae Kessinger, who each were 1-fer at the plate.

On Deck

Game 3 of the huge SEC weekend series begins today at 2pm Red Stick time. The sensational freshman left-hander Ryan Rolison (4-1, 1.99) has become the reliable game-3 starter for Bianco and Co. Of course, this will be a huge game as the LSU starter is also a freshman.

I’m calling Ole Miss in this game with Rolison having another big day on the hill and team captains continuing to take control in the box.

Skip’s Score: OM 6 LSU 2

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