No.4 Ole Miss baseball was back in action as they had to face the Auburn Tigers for the second time in the SEC Tournament.
It was Friday in Hoover and No.4 Ole Miss baseball was back in action in the SEC Tourney. Thursday the Rebels defeated Georgia to advance to Friday’s game with Auburn. This would be the 2nd time the Reels would face the Tigers in the tourney and the 5th since regular season began. The Tigers had defeated the Rebels in the 2nd round of the SEC Tourney forcing Ole Miss to play their way out of the losers bracket in Hoover.
After three scoreless innings the Rebels jumped on the board first with 2 runs in the top of the 4th. With a 2-0 lead the Rebels added 2 more runs in the top of the 6th to take the 4-0 lead. The Rebels weren’t done scoring and added 1 run in the top of the 7th to extend the lead to 5-0. The Rebels added 2 more insurance runs in the top of the 9th to take the 7-0 lead which ultimately gave the Rebels the 7-0 win over the Auburn Tigers.
FINAL | 🚨 Rebs WIN! 🚨
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) May 26, 2018
Ole Miss tops Auburn 7-0 and moves on to the #SECTourney semifinals. #RebsBSB will take on Texas A&M tomorrow at noon with a spot in the SEC title game on the line. 👊 pic.twitter.com/nVIZFc8zXE
Of course, the Rebels bats showed back up in Hoover on Friday and behind great pitching the Rebels were able to get the shutout victory. The win was huge for the Rebels as it allows them to advance into the semifinals. Lets look at the Rebels win by the numbers.
By The Numbers
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Junior right-hander James McArthur (6-0, 4.10) took the start on the hill for the Rebels. McArthur went for 5.1 innings and allowed no earned runs on 5 hits. McArthur had 6 Ks and 1 BB. Coach Mike Bianco made the call in the 6th and freshman right-hander Max Cioffi (2.14) entered. Cioffi went for 3.0 innings and allowed no hits. Cioffi hade 1 K and 1 BB. Bianco went to the pen again in the 9th and sophomore right-hander Austin Miller (4.02) took the hill to finish out the game for the Rebels. Miller went for 0.2 innings and allowed no hits while chalking up 2 Ks.
At The Plate
On the day there were 8 Rebels who combined for 10 hits with 2 Rebels having multiple hit games. Leading all Rebels at the plate were junior Nick Fortes (.302, 11 HR) and sophomore Cole Zabowski (.312, 9 HR) who both went 2 for 5. Fortes and Zabowski each had 1 RBI.
Sophomore Thomas Dillard (.314, 13 HR) went 1 for 3 (HR) at the plate with 2 RBI. Juniors Chase Cockrell (.335, 9 HR) and Jacob Adams (.244, 3 HR) both went 1 for 4 (HR) and each had 1 RBI. Seniors Will Golsan (.289, 4 HR) and Tim Rowe (.296, 1 HR) also went 1 for 4. Rowe had 1 RBI. Junior Ryan Olenek also went 1 for 4 at the plate for the Rebels.
Up Next
No.4 Ole Miss baseball will be back in action Saturday in a semifinals game against Texas A&M. First pitch from Hoover is set for 12pm CT and will be televised via the SEC Network. Good luck to coach Mike Bianco and the Rebels as they continue their SEC Tourney run! Hotty Toddy!