In what seemed like a marathon of a game, which included a 1 hour, 53 minute rain delay in the seventh inning, the Rebels defeated Washington 3-2 in 10 innings.
With the victory, the Rebels advanced to the NCAA Super Regionals for the first time since 2009.
“I sit here very proud,” Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco said. “They played so hard all year long. They’ve won all different types of games and we had to do that this weekend.”
Junior Sam Smith was the starting pitcher for the Rebels. He pitched 4.2 innings, giving up two runs on six hits with one walk and one strikeout. Redshirt junior Scott Weathersby came in for relief and pitched a gem, going 5.1 innings, giving up no runs on two hits with six strikeouts. The pitching performance from Weathersby was halted due to rain, but Bianco kept him in the game after the delay, which proved to be the right call as Weathersby closed out the game.
“I don’t know if I thought I would, but I always dreamed of it,” Weathersby said about closing out the regional. “I came to the ’09 regional and I saw these guys play. It was always a dream of mine to play here and to get the last out and win the regional. It’s more than I could ask for.”
Freshman Colby Bortles started the scoring for the Rebels with a solo homer to left field in the second inning to give them the early 1-0 lead. Washington followed up the next inning with a bases loaded single to tie the game at one in the third. The Huskies would get another run in with a sacrifice fly in the fifth to take the 2-1 lead. Bortles continued his stellar afternoon with an RBI double in the sixth to tie the game at two.
The game would go scoreless into extras, where junior Sikes Orvis, the MVP of the regional tournament, lined a triple down the right field line to score Will Allen from first to take the 3-2 lead in the tenth. It was Orvis’ first triple of the year.
“It’s crunch time. Its win or go home,” Orvis said about his performance over the weekend. “For me nothing changed much. I had to go out there, stay confident in my approach and try to put good swings off.”
The Swayze crazies have been waiting for an exciting Diamond Rebels team, but they finally have one this year as they showed their great support for the Rebels throughout the game.
“They’ve been unbelievable,” Bianco said. “I told the players in our meeting that I haven’t seen them like this since 2009, that Monday winner-take-all game where (Drew) Pomeranz struck out the 16 guys against Western Kentucky. You could feel the fans on the field, you could feel the fans in the dugout, you could feel the energy every time a pitch was made, not just a play or a hit.”
The Rebels started the Oxford regional with a 12-2 win over Jacksonville State Saturday. Junior right-hander Chris Ellis pitched his second complete game of the season by allowing two runs with eight strikeouts. The Rebels proved why they’re one of the best offensive teams in the country. All nine starters had a hit as the Rebels had 17 hits in the game.
Saturday, the Rebels defeated Washington 2-1 to advance to the regional championship game. Christian Trent pitched a quality start, going 6.1 innings and giving up one run on five hits with one walk and six strikeouts. Aaron Greenwood finished the rest of the way by pitching 2.2 innings, giving up no runs on one hit with four strikeouts.
The Rebels will travel to Louisiana-Lafayette to face the Ragin’ Cajuns in the Super Regional this weekend.
