Ole Miss Baseball: No.3 Rebels Drop Game-One At South Carolina

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)

No.3 Ole Miss baseball was back in action Friday night as they traveled to Columbia South Carolina to face the Gamecocks.

No.3 Ole Miss baseball (35-12, 12-10) hit the road this weekend for a three-game series with South Carolina (27-18, 12-10) which began Friday night in Columbia. Ole Miss entered the series coming off a midweek win against Arkansas-Pine Bluff while the Gamecocks entered the series taking a series win last weekend over Vanderbilt.

Ole Miss baseball got on the board first with a Ryan Olenek home-run to take the early 1-0 lead. However, the Gamecocks answered with 3 runs in the bottom of the frame to lead 3-1 after the 1st. Ole Miss added a run in the top of the 3rd but the Gamecocks turned up the heat scoring 4 runs in the bottom of the inning to extend the lead to 7-2.

The Gamecocks then added 5 runs in the bottom of the 4th to push the lead to 12-2. Ole Miss added 2 runs in the top of the 5th and 1 run in the 6th to cut into the lead at 12-5. South Carolina added 1 more run in the bottom of the 6th to extend the lead to 13-5 and ultimately secure the game-one win over the Rebels.

So far the Rebels have struggled in the first games of series this season, but they still have fought back to win series. While this isn’t uncharted territory for the Rebels they will have their hands full the rest of this weekend. Of course. for now we look at this game by the numbers.

By The Numbers

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Sophomore left-hander Ryan Rolison (6-4, 3.26) made his regular game-one start on the mound for the Rebels. Rolison went for 3.1 inngs and allowed 8 earned runs on 11 hits. Rolison had 3 Ks and 3 BB. Coach Mike Bianco made the call in the 4th and freshman right-hander Max Cioffi (1.84) took the hill. Cioffi went for 2.1 innings and allowed 2 earned runs on 4 hits. Bianco once again went to the bullpen and sophomore right-hander Austin Miller (2.31) entered the game. Miller went for 2.1 innings and allowed just 1 hit. Miller had 2 Ks.

At The Plate

In game-one 8 Rebels combined for 12 hits while 2 Rebels had multiple hit games. Junior Ryan Olenek  (.398, 3 HR) led all Rebels at the plate going 4 for 5 (HR) with 3 RBI. Sophomore Cole Zabowski (.299, 7 HR) went 2 for 3 with 1 RBI.

Sophomore Cooper Johnson (.194, 2 HR) and freshman Anthony Servideo (.188, 1 HR) both went 1 for 1 while junior Chase Cockrell (.342, 5 HR) went 1 for 2. Junior Jacob Adams (.267, 2 HR) went 1 for 3 while sophomore Thomas Dillard (.309, 10 HR) went 1 for 4. Sophomore Grae Kessinger  (.311, 4HR) went 1 for 5 HR with 1 RBI.

Next: Better Than Expected...

Up Next

No.3 Ole Miss baseball will be back in action Saturday afternoon as they face South Carolina in game-two of the weekend SEC series. First pitch from Columbia is set for 3pm CT and the game will be televised via SEC Network+. Good luck to coach Mike Bianco and the Rebels! Hotty Toddy!