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Ole Miss Baseball: No.4 Rebels Take Crazy Series Over No.5 Hogs

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) /
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With the series tied No.4 Ole Miss baseball knew it would have its hands full trying to win the series over the No.5 Razorbacks in game-three.

No.4 Ole Miss baseball (25-4, 6-3) was coming off a game-two win which evened the series with No.5 Arkansas (19-9, 5-4). Of course, the Hogs took game-one Thursday night which meant the Rebels would have their work cut out to get the series win. Fans of both sides expected this to be a great series and naturally game-three didn’t disappoint as it turned out to be a wild one.

After a scoreless 1st frame, the Hogs scored 1 run in the top of the 2nd to take the 1-0 lead. The Hogs maintained the 1-0 lead into the bottom of the 4th when Ole Miss finally got on the board to tie the game at 1-1. The Rebels exploded in the bottom of the 5th with 4 runs which began with a solo-shot from Cole Zabowski. With the score 5-1 headed into the top of the 6th the Hogs added 1 run to cut the Rebels lead to 5-2.

The Rebels responded in the bottom of the 6th with 3 more runs to stretch the lead to 8-2. The Hogs answered in the top of the 7th with 4 runs to cut the Rebels lead to 8-6 but the Rebels weren’t through scoring. In the bottom of the frame the Rebels got a 3-run shot from Tyler Keenan to extend the lead to 11-6. Of course, Arkansas didn’t go away quietly and scored 4 runs in the top of the 8th to cut the lead to 11-10. Of course, behind shutdown pitching by Parker Caracci the Rebels eked out the 11-10 win.

No.4 Ole Miss baseball couldn’t have asked for a better ending to very tough two-week stretch. Of course, we look forward to the new rankings. However, for now we look at the numbers.

By The Numbers

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Junior right-hander James McArthur (3-0. 1.93) took his normal game-3 start on the mound for the Rebels. McArthur went 6.0 innings and allowed 3 earned runs on 4 hits. McArthur had 2 Ks and 1 BB. After McArthur faced just 1 batter in the 7th, Bianco made the call to the pen for sophomore right-hander Will Ethridge (1-0, 1.86, 2). Ethridge lasted 0.2 innings and allowed 3 earned runs on 3 hits.

Coach Mike Bianco went to the bullpen again in the 7th and junior right-hander Dallas Woolfolk (1-0, .77, 6) entered. Woolfolk faced only 2 batters and allowed 1 hit and had 1 HBP. Bianco went to the pen once again in the 7th and senior right-hander Will Stokes (1-0, 4.22). Stokes went 0.2 innings and allowed 4 earned runs on 3 hits. Stokes had 1 BB. Of course, Mike Bianco once again made the call and ace sophomore right-hander Parker Caracci (2-0, 1.08, 4) took the mound. Caracci went 1.2 innings and allowed 1 hit. Caracci had 1 K.

At The Plate

On the afternoon 6 Rebels combined for 10 hits with 3 Rebels having multiple hit games. Leading all Rebels at the plate was freshman Tyler Keenan (.300, 2 HR) who went 3 for 4 (HR) at the plate. Junior Ryan Olenek (.337, 1 HR) went 2 for 4 with 2 RBI. Sophomore Cole Zabowski (.309, 6 HR) also went 2 for 4 (HR) at the plate and had 1 RBI.

Junior Chase Cockrell (.410, 3 HR) went 1 for 2 while senior Will Golsan (.240) went 1 for 4. Sophomore Thomas Dillard (.316, 7 HR) went 1 for 5 at the plate and had 1 RBI. Sophomore Grae Kessinger (.337, 1 HR) had 2 RBI while juniors Nick Fortes (.276, 5 HR) and Jacob Adams (.333, 2 HR) each had 1 RBI.

This was a very wild series and the Rebels played very good to have been down after game-one to come back and win the series. Of course, the series win places Ole Miss in sole possession of first-place in the SEC West at 6-3. The loss pushed Arkansas into a three-way tie for second with LSU and TAMU. However, all three teams sit at 5-4 in SEC play. The Rebels will not be able to slip up as the season goes forward because the SEC West is loaded.

Next: Better Than Expected...

Up Next

No.4 Ole Miss baseball will be back on the road for a midweek match-up with the Memphis Tigers (9-19). The Tuesday night game precedes the upcoming weekend SEC series at Starkville against instate rival Miss State (14-15, 2-7). First pitch from AutoZone Park against Memphis will be at 6:30pm CT. The game will be televised via Memphis Tiger Network PPV. Good luck to coach Mike Bianco and the Rebels! BEAT THE TIGERS! Hotty Toddy!

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