The bats were ice cold for the Ole Miss Rebels in the first two games against the Sooners this weekend, as they quickly dropped the series. They were only able to muster three runs in the first two games. The Rebels were able to respond on Sunday and picked up a big salvage victory before departing from Oklahoma.
However, with the Series loss, the Rebels are at 13-11 and 17th in the RPI. They are currently on the outside looking in for a hosting slot, but they are not out of the fight yet. It will most likely take them winning each of the last two series. Both of the upcoming series will be against red-hot teams. First is a trip to Starkville to take on the Bulldogs this weekend, who are coming off a sweep and have been playing great baseball following the firing of their head coach. After that, the regular season finale at the top 10 Auburn comes to Oxford.
The Rebels struggled against a top ace. Oklahoma's Witherspoon was dominant on Friday night. It has become a problem for the offense, and something will have to change, especially if they match up against a top arm in the first game of a regional.
Hunter Elliott was much better this weekend and looked much closer to form than in recent weeks. However, inning, two lead off walks came around to bite the Rebels, and the Sooners would score both of their runs. Elliott has shown that he will likely not be a dominant ace, but he will keep you in every game and give you a shot to win. Will McCausland was fantastic in relief, and his development into a viable bridge option for Ole Miss is a welcome development.
Maddox and Nichols both had their starts blow up. Maddox probably provides the best chance for a dominant start like he showed against Vanderbilt, but moving him to Sunday would be much better. Nichols continues to show that he is not a great option for SEC starts. Moving him to the bullpen and allowing him to serve as a two-inning bridge would unlock more options for this team. Mason Morris relieved Nichols in just the second inning on Sunday, and even without his dominant stuff, hewas good.
It seems that things are trending toward Morris entering the rotation, potentially as soon as this weekend, giving him and the staff time to sort things out. If I had to predict, Hunter remains on Fridays, Morris will start on Sunday, and then Maddox will slide to Sunday. In my opinion, this change to the starting rotation would give the Rebels a better chance of reaching their top potential.
In a positive for this team, Catcher Austin Fawley continues to rake absolutely. I was calling Fawley an unsung addition for this team early, and he has arguably been the biggest of them all. He has steadied the ship defensively and been perhaps the best hitter on the team in SEC play. He hit two more home runs this weekend, improving his team-leading total to 15. He has now homered 9 times in his last 14 games.