Ole Miss Baseball: No.2 Rebels Open Oxford-Regional With Win
No.2 Ole Miss baseball was back in action Saturday as they faced the St. Louis Billikens in their first game of the Oxford-Regional.
No.2 Ole Miss baseball entered their first game of the Oxford-Regional coming off a SEC Tourney Championship run. As the No.4 overall national seed they were selected to host the NCAA Oxford-Regional. The Rebels had solid momentum riding a 4 game win streak and would match-up first with St. Louis. Due to torrential rains in the Oxford area the game would be rescheduled for Saturday night.
St Louis got on the board first with 1 run in the top of the 1st inning. The Billikins would add another run in the top of the 2nd to take the 2-0 lead into the bottom of the 2nd. However, the Rebels exploded with 6 runs in the bottom of the 2nd to take the 6-2 lead. Ole Miss added 2 runs in the bottom of the 3rd to extend the lead to 8-2. The Rebels added another insurance run in the bottom of the 4th to push the lead to 9-2. Rebels pitching shut down the Billikens and Ole Miss got the 9-2 win.
FINAL | #RebsBSB wins it!
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) June 3, 2018
Ole Miss defeats Saint Louis 9-2. The Rebels will take on Tennessee Tech tomorrow at 4 p.m. in winner’s bracket of #OxfordRegional. #HottyToddy 🔵🔴 pic.twitter.com/1Gpd98GDNh
The win puts Ole Miss in the Sunday game against Tennessee Tech who won against Missouri State in the early game Saturday. The Billikens will face Missouri State in the first elimination game in the Oxford-regional. Of course, we look at the big win by the numbers.
By The Numbers
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Sophomore lefty Ryan Rolison (10-4, 3.70) took the start on the hill for the Rebels and was electric. Rolison went for 7.0 innings and allowed just 2 earned runs on 4 hits. Rolison had a career high 13 Ks and 3 BB. Freshman right-hander Max Cioffi (1.96) entered in the 8th and finished out the night on the mound. Cioffi went for 2.0 innings and allowed no hits. Cioffi had 2 Ks and 1 BB.
At The Plate
On the evening there were 7 Rebels who combined for 9 hits. Two Rebels had multiple hit games against good St. Louis pitching. Junior Ryan Olenek (.363, 3 HR) led all Rebels at the plate going 2 for 3 with 1 RBI. Junior Nick Fortes (.323. 11 HR) went 2 for 4.
Senior Will Golsan (.304, 4 HR) went 1 for 3 at the plate. Junior Jacob Adams (.245, 3 HR) also went 1 for 3 and had 1 RBI. Junior Chase Cockrell  (.325, 9 HR) went 1 for 4 with 1 RBI. Sophomore Cole Zabowski (.307, 10 HR) went 1 for 4 (HR) while freshman Tyler Keenan (.313, 9 HR) also went 1 for 4 (HR). Zabowski and Keenan had 2 RBI each. Sophomore Thomas Dillard (.305, 13 HR) had 1 RBI.
Up Next
No.2 Ole Miss baseball will be back in action Sunday as they face Tennessee Tech. First pitch from Swayze Field is set for 4pm CT. Good luck to coach Mike Bianco and the Rebels! Hotty Toddy!