Ole Miss Baseball: No.6 Rebels Take Series In SEC Opening Weekend

No.6 Ole Miss baseball entered the Sunday series finale with Tennessee needing a win to capture the series and stay above .500 in SEC play.

Ole Miss baseball (19-2, 2-1) had momentum as they headed into the Sunday game-3 match-up with Tennessee (13-8, 1-2) at Swayze Field in Oxford. The Rebels were coming off a huge 7-1 game-two win with which they tied the series after losing game-one in a 8-6 heart-breaker Friday night. A win would give Ole Miss the series and keep them above .500 in the conference.

Sundays game was moved up to a 12pm CT start because of impending weather. Luckily the bad  weather held off and the only precipitation were the beer showers in the outfield. The Rebels wasted no time getting started with a Jacob Adams solo shot in the bottom of the 1st.

The Rebels maintained the 1-0 lead thru the top of the top of the 5th and added 1 run in the bottom of the frame. Leading 2-0 in the bottom of the 6th Cole Zabowski added his own solo shot to extend the lead to 3-0. Later in the 8th Thomas Dillard finished off the Rebels scoring with his own 2 run shot. Behind strong pitching Ole Miss shut out the Vols in the 9th and took the 5-0 win and the series.

It’s always great to get series sweeps but in baseball sometimes you have to fight for the series. That’s just what Ole Miss baseball did this weekend with Tennessee. After a very strange loss to the Vols Friday night, the Rebels had to scrap for the series and they won it. That is the sign of a competitive and talented team. This is a team which can put together a real run for the SEC this season and Omaha. Of course, before we get too far ahead of ourselves let’s just look at today’s game.

By The Numbers

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The Rebels regular Sunday starter junior right-hander James McArthur took the mound against the Vols. McArthur went 6.0 solid innings allowing no runs on just 2 hits. McArthur had 4 Ks and 3 BB. Red-shirt sophomore Parker Caracci entered in the 7th and was lights out. Caracci went 3.0 innings finishing out the day for the Rebels pitching staff. Caracci allowed no runs on only 2 hits while hammering out 7 Ks. This was a one-two punch which absolutely overwhelmed the Vols.

Offensively the Rebels were very powerful at the plate on Sunday with 3 HRs in the game. However, the line-up as a whole was still very efficient in the absence of Grae Kessinger who was out of the game. Junior Jacob Adams stepped into the lead-off role and went 1 for 4 (HR) with a RBI and 2 runs scored.

However, junior Ryan Olenek led all Rebels going 2 for 4 with 1 RBI. Freshman Anthony Servideo went 1 for 3 while sophomore Cole Zabowski went 1 for 4 (HR) and had 1 RBI. Sophomore Thomas Dillard went 1 for 4 (HR) with 2 RBI while junior Nick Fortes and senior Tim Rowe both had 1 for 4 days at the plate. The Rebels are hitting the ball really good right now and should continue to crank up some more power hitting.

Next: Season Predictions!

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No.6 Ole Miss baseball will be back in action this week as the Rebels will face New Orleans Tuesday at Swayze Field. First pitch for the midweek match-up is set for 11am CT and the game will be televised via SEC Network+. Good luck to coach Mike Bianco and the Rebels. Hotty Toddy!