Ole Hotty Toddy
Fansided

Ole Miss Baseball: No.5 Rebels Rally Past No.12 Aggies To Take Series

By Daniel Skipper

Omaha, NE - JUNE 26: Baseball fans gather outside TD Ameritrade Park prior to game one of the College World Series Championship Series, between the LSU Tigers and the Florida Gators on June 26, 2017 in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images)
Omaha, NE - JUNE 26: Baseball fans gather outside TD Ameritrade Park prior to game one of the College World Series Championship Series, between the LSU Tigers and the Florida Gators on June 26, 2017 in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

With the series tied against No.12 Texas A&M, No.5 Ole Miss baseball needed a big game-three to win their second SEC series in as many weeks.

After an exciting game-one win and a heartbreaking game-two loss No.5 Ole Miss baseball (22-3, 4-2) found itself in another shootout with Texas A&M (19-6, 2-4) Saturday. Both teams wanted the game-three rubber match to maintain their positions in both the SEC West and national rankings. Of course, Blue Bell Park is never an easy place to play and even harder to eek out wins. However, the Rebels came prepared for a tough battle.

After a scoreless top the Aggies struck first with a run in the bottom of the 1st to take a 1-0 lead. The Rebels answered in the top of the 2nd to make the game 1-1 headed into bottom of the 2nd. The Aggies then added another run to take the 2-1 lead after two innings. The Aggies then added 2 more runs in the bottom of the 4th to extend the lead to 4-1.

The Rebels didn’t waste anytime responding and added 2 runs in the top of the 5th to cut the lead to 4-3. The Rebels then added 2 more runs in the top of the 5th to take a 5-4 lead but the Aggies responded with a lone run in the bottom of the 5th. However, with the game tied 5-5 entering the top of the 7th the Rebels added 2 more runs to recapture the 7-5 lead. The Aggies attempted a rally in the bottom of the 9th but only salvaged 1 run and the Rebels won the 7-6 decision.

Of course, the win was huge for No.5 Ole Miss baseball. Picking up an SEC series on the road is very hard in this league and Ole Miss stepped up when they needed to and secured the win. Let’s look at the numbers.

By The Numbers

More from Ole Miss Baseball

Coach Mike Bianco used 6 pitchers who combined to allow 6 earned runs on 13 hits. They also combined for 6 Ks against a good Aggies batting order. Junior right-hander James McArthur (3-0, 1.93) took the mound as the regular starter and went 1.1 innings. McArthur allowed 2 earned runs on 3 hits.

Bianco made the call in the second and freshman lefty Jordan Fowler (3-0, 1.93) entered and went 0.2 innings on the hill. Fowler allowed 2 earned runs on 2 hits and had 1 BB. Mike Bianco once again went to the pen in the 3rd and sophomore right-hander Greer Holston (0-0, 3.97) took the hill. Holston went 2.0 innings and allowed 1 earned run on 3 hits with 2 Ks.

Once more Mike Bianco made a call to the pen and junior right-hander Dallas Woolfolk (1-0, 0.84, 6 svs) entered. Woolfolk went for 2.0 innings and allowed 0 runs on 3 hits. Sophomore right-hander Will Ethridge (1-0, 1.62) entered in the 7th and went 2.0 inning allowing no hits. Ethridge had 2 Ks. Sophomore right-hander Parker Caracci (2-0, 1.15, 3 svs) entered in the 9th and finished out the Ole Miss pitching staff’s night. Caracci allowed 1 earned run on 2 hits and had 2 Ks. Caracci picked up the save while Dallas Woolfolk earned the win.

At The Plate

Against a strong Aggies pitching staff the Rebels hit very well. A total of 7 Rebels combined for 14 hits. In the game-three win 5 Rebels had multiple hit games and 2 had home-runs. Leading all Rebels at the plate was freshman Tyler Keenan (.267, 2 HR) who went 3 for 4 (HR) with 2 RBI.

Senior Will Golsan (.250) went 3 for 5 and had 2 RBI. Sophomore Cole Zabowski (.311, 5 HR) went 2 for 5 (HR) with 2 RBI while junior Chase Cockrell (.434, 3 HR) went 2 for 5 with 1 RBI. Junior Ryan Olenek (.322,1 HR) also went 2 for 5. Sophomores Thomas Dillard (.330, 6 HR) went 1 for 4 and Grae Kessinger (.355, 1 HR) went 1 for 5.

We have long known Ole Miss baseball has great pitching. Now we can also say Ole Miss baseball is tough at the plate. (We added the batting averages for the naysayers from TSBU.) This team has proven the doubters wrong with the great improvement at the plate this season. We can expect to see the Rebels be competitive in every game as long as they continue to hit well.

Next: Better Than Expected...

Up Next

Of course, there are a lot of us who have been cautiously optimistic when it comes to this team. However, after the Rebels began to move thru the polls and rack up win after win we have become huge believers. The new D1 College Baseball poll came out earlier today and the Rebels moved up a spot to No.4. This team faced its first test with No.12 TAMU.

Now they have to look forward to No.5 Arkansas after a midweek game against No.14 Southern Miss (17-5, 4-2 C-USA). Of course, USM swept State College earlier this season. First pitch for the in-state rival match-up is set for 6:30pm CT Tuesday night at Swayze Field. The game will be televised on SEC Network+. Good luck to coach Mike Bianco and the Rebels. BEAT USM! Hotty Toddy!

Home/Ole Miss Baseball