No.5 Ole Miss baseball was back in action Thursday night as they hosted the No.16 Auburn Tigers at Swayze Field in Oxford.
As Ole Miss baseball winds down the regular season the Rebels are hosting Auburn in a three-game SEC West series which has definite implications. While Florida owns the SEC East the SEC West is wide open for the taking. Of course, this means the remaining two series in the regular season are very important.
Naturally we expected the Auburn Tigers to make it difficult for the Rebels and they did just that. After a scoreless first frame the Rebels got on the board first with 2 runs in the bottom of the 2nd to take the 2-0 lead. Ole Miss then added 1 run in the bottom of the 3rd and another run in the bottom of the 4th to extend the lead to 4-0.
Auburn finally got on the board with 1 run in the top of the 6th but the Rebels responded with 1 run in the bottom of the 6th to extend the lead to 5-1. Auburn rallied with 3 runs in the top of the 7th to cut the lead to 5-4 but thanks to shut-down pitching the Tigers couldn’t come back and the Rebels got the 5-4 win.
HIGHLIGHTS | Ole Miss defeats Auburn 5 - 4 (Game 1) 05/10/18 #WAOM #FinsUpRebels pic.twitter.com/qoyFxnBzfs
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) May 11, 2018
Of course, getting the game-one win is vital against a team like the Tigers. It gives Ole Miss a chance for the series win and also keeps them just behind the Razorbacks in the SEC West. The next two games will be vital for the Rebels if they hope for first place in the SEC West. For now we look at the Thursday night win by the numbers.
By The Numbers
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Sophomore lefty Ryan Rolison (7-4, 4.03) took the regular game-one start on the hill for the Rebels. Rolison went for 6.1 innings and allowed 2 earned runs on 5 hits. Rolison had 5 Ks and 4 BB. Mike Bianco made the call to the pen in the 7th and sophomore right-hander Houston Roth (5-0, 3.95) entered the game. Roth went 0.1 innings and had 1 K. Bianco once again went to his bull pen and sophomore closer Parker Caracci (3-2. 2.00, 9) took the mound. Caracci went 2.1 innings on the hill and allowed just 1 hit. Caracci had 4 Ks.
At The Plate
In game-one there were 6 Rebels who combined for 9 hits while there were 2 Rebels who went for multiple hit games at the plate. Leading all Rebels was sophomore Thomas Dillard (.305, 11 HR) who went 2 for 3. Senior Will Golsan (.289, 4 HR) went 2 for 4 (HR) at the plate with 3 RBI while sophomore Cole Zabowski (.309, 7 HR) also went 2 for 4. Freshman Tyler Keenan (.301, 5 HR) went 1 for 3 while sophomore Grae Kessinger (.303, 5 HR) went 1 for 4 at the plate. Junior Nick Fortes (.294, 11 HR) also went 1 for 4 (HR) with 1 RBI.
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Up Next
No.5 Ole Miss baseball will be back in action today. The Rebels will face No.16 Auburn in game-two of the weekend series. First pitch from Swayze Field is set for 6:30pm CT and the game will be televised via SEC Network+. Good luck to coach Mike Bianco and the Rebels as they attempt to capture the series. BEAT THE WEAGLES! Hotty Toddy!