Ole Miss Baseball: No.18 Rebels Suffer Midweek Loss To North Alabama

Coach Mike Bianco and No.18 Ole Miss baseball were back in action Tuesday morning as the Rebels hosted North Alabama for Kids Day at Swayze Field.

Coming off a huge SEC road series over No.8 Arkansas this past weekend where Ole Miss baseball (20-10) picked up the SEC series win coach Mike Bianco and the Rebels were back in action Tuesday morning. Celebrating Kids Day at Swayze Field the Rebels were playing hosts to North Alabama (6-21) and were looking to extend their two game win streak in the midweek matchup but hot hitting UNA would make sure it didn’t happen.

After a scoreless first frame North Alabama got on the board first in the midweek game with 2 runs in the top of the second to take the 2-0 lead. The Rebels answered with 2 runs in the bottom of the third to tie the game at 2-2. UNA responded with 3 runs in the top of the fourth to retake the lead at 5-2 but the Rebels answered with 2 runs in the bottom of the frame to cut into the UNA lead at 5-4.

North Alabama didn’t stop scoring and after a scoreless sixth added 2 runs to extend their lead to 7-4. After a scoreless seventh inning UNA added 3 more runs in the top of the eighth to push the lead to 10-4. The Rebels managed to put 2 runs on the bottom of the ninth but couldn’t rally back with North Alabama picking up the 10-6 midweek win. OHT looks at the disappointing midweek loss by the numbers and has some observations.

By The Numbers

Ole Miss Rebels

In the 10-6 midweek loss to North Alabama there were 8 Rebels who combined for 10 hits with two Rebels recording multiple hit games. Leading all Rebels at the plate were senior Jacob Adams and sophomore Tyler Keenan who each went 2 for 4 at the plate. Keenan had 1 RBI.

Following up was junior Cooper Johnson who went 1 for 1 as a PH late and freshman PH Kevin Graham (1HR) who went 1 for 2 with 2 RBI. Sophomore PH Anthony Servideo also went 1 for 2 late in the game.

Junior Grae Kessinger went 1 for 3 at the plate while juniors Thomas Dillard and Cole Zabowski each went 1 for 4. Dillard had 2 RBI and Zabowski recorded 1 RBI in the game.

On The Mound

On the mound it wasn’t pretty for the Ole Miss pitching staff. Sophomore right-hander Max Cioffi drew the start on the hill for Mike Bianco and the Rebels. Cioffi went for 3.2 innings allowing 2 earned runs on 6 hits with 4 Ks. Over the next 5.1 innings the Rebels pitching staff would see 6 more Rebels arms hit the hill. Entering in the fourth was senior right-hander Conner Green who went for 1.1 innings allowing 0 earned runs on 2 hits with 2 K.

Junior right-hander Houston Roth entered in the sixth and went for 1.1 innings allowing 2 earned runs on 3 hits with O Ks and 1 BB. Junior right-hander Taylor Broadway entered in the seventh and went for 1.1 innings allowing 2 earned runs on 3 hits with 1 K. Junior right-hander Tyler Myers entered in the eighth and went for 0.1 inning allowing 1 earned run with 3 BB. Junior left-hander Zack Phillips finished out the eighth inning allowing no hits. Senior Ryan Olenek entered in the ninth and went 1.0 inning allowing no hits with 1 BB.

Observations

The biggest key in the observations is the fact of North Alabama entering Oxford with  5-21 record and their lineup wrecked the Rebels pitching staff. The second major observation is Bianco’s lineup for the midweek loss. It’s understandable to have to rest specific players out of necessity but this line-up was questionable at best with three of the top hitters on the team out only to PH later in the game. If it works don’t fix it.

Bianco and the Rebels continue to deal with both pitching and hitting issues and it showed in both areas in the ugly 10-6 UNA loss. A continued problem is the number of Rebels who continue to be left on base. The Rebels had 15 runners stranded in the final game of the Arkansas series but it was overshadowed by the Rebels series win. The Rebels left 11 runners on base against North Alabama.

Coach Mike Bianco and No.18 Ole Miss baseball will be back in action this weekend as they host the No.16 Florida Gators in a SEC series. First pitch in game-one is set for 6:30pm CT this Friday from Swayze Field. The game can be seen via SECN+. Good luck to coach Bianco and the Rebels. Hotty Toddy!