Ole Miss Baseball: Diamond Rebels Pick Up Midweek Blowout
Coach Mike Bianco and No.10 Ole Miss baseball were back in action Wednesday night as the Rebels hosted Arkansas State in Oxford.
After the Tuesday night game was cancelled coach Mike Bianco and Ole Miss baseball (2-1) took on Arkansas State (2-2) Wednesday night at Swayze Field in Oxford. The Rebels entered the midweek matchup coming off a season opening weekend which saw them split two games with a very good Wright State team.
Despite Arkansas State getting on the board with 2 runs in the first inning the Rebels wasted no time taking control of the game. The Rebels answered with 5 runs in the bottom of the frame to take the 5-2 lead into the second inning. Arkansas State answered with 1 run in the top of the second but that ended their scoring. Ole Miss added 5 runs in the fourth, 4 runs in the fifth and 1 run in the sixth to get the 15-3 win.
At The Plate
Ole Miss Rebels
On the night there were 8 Rebels who combined for 19 hits. Leading all Rebels at the plate was senior Ryan Olenek who went 4 for 5 with 2 RBI. Juniors Grae Kessinger and Cole Zabowski both went 3 for 4 with Zabowski knocking in 1 RBI. Sophomore Tyler Keenan went 3 for 5 at the plate with 5 RBI. Keenan had 1 HR in the game.
Junior Thomas Dillard went 2 for 4 with 3 RBI. Dillard also had 1 HR on the night. Sophomore Anthony Servideo also went 2 for 4 at the plate. Servideo had 2 RBI on the night. Senior Chase Cockrell and sophomore Carl Gindl both went 1 for 3 at the plate with Cockrell knocking in 1 RBI.
On The Mound
Freshman right-hander Gunnar Hoglund drew the start on the mound for the Rebels. Hoglund went 2.0 innings and allowed 3 earned runs on 4 hits. Hoglund had 3 Ks and 1 BB. Junior right-hander Houston Roth entered in the third and went for 2.0 innings. Roth allowed 0 earned runs on 1 hit with 4 Ks and 1 BB. Freshman left-hander Doug Nikhazy entered in the fifth and went 1.0 inning allowing 2 hits with 1 K.
Senior right-hander Connor Green entered in the sixth and went 2.0 innings allowing just 2 hits with 4 Ks. Sophomore left-hander Jordan Fowler entered in the eighth and went 1.0 inning allowing 0 hits with 1 K. Junior right-hander Tyler Myers entered in the ninth and finished the Rebels night on the mound. Myers allowed 1 hit with 2 Ks and 1 BB.
Observations
Its obvious when the Rebels are hot at the plate they are hard to beat. We watched as Tyler Keenan and Thomas Dillard went yard and piled runs on the board which has been expected. We have also seen sophomore Anthony Servideo improve at the plate from his freshman season. There is a learning curve at the plate which some freshman have a difficult time adjusting to. It’s good to see players who struggle in their freshman season improve in their next season.
Wednesday night we watched as coach Mike Bianco opened up his bullpen with six different pitchers on the mound. As expected Gunnar Hoglund is very good despite his first Rebels career start. Hoglund will get much better as he progresses thru the season. Houston Roth and Connor Green also looked very good. While Bianco may have weekend rotation issues to work out it looks like the midweek staff will be very good.
Next. The 2019 Diamond Rebels!. dark
Coach Mike Bianco and Ole Miss baseball will be back in action this weekend as they travel to New Orleans to face Tulane in a weekend series. First pitch in the series is set for 6:30pm CT Friday and the game can be viewed via Tulane All-Access Video.