Mississippi sophomore Colby Bortles bats at the baseball game Thursday April 15 (DM Photo | Kayla Beatty)
Coming off a series win on the road against top-ranked Vanderbilt, Ole Miss kept was able to keep the momentum going with a 11-1 win over Tennessee-Martin Wednesday afternoon.
The Rebels used a four-run second inning and a five-run fourth to quickly take control of the game.
Ole Miss took advantage of three infield singles and a throwing error by junior Skyhawk third-baseman Mike Murphy to plate four runs in the second inning to grab the early lead.
Senior right-hander Sam Smith took the mound for the Rebels on Wednesday. On his 50th career start and his third midweek start of the year, Smith was sharp, going six innings and allowing just one run on four hits, striking out four and allowing just one walk.
“I’ve kind of let all the stress off my back,” Smith said. “I was really pressuring myself early in the year to get off to a good start, and I’ve just kind of let all the pressure go.”
Smith continued his recent stint of quality outings as he picked up his second win of the season, improving his record to 2-4 on the year.
“I thought Sam was terrific,” head coach Mike Bianco said. “We need him if it’s midweek or on the weekend in relief. We need him, there’s no doubt. It’s going to be hard to have much success without him.”
Ole Miss again got the offense going in the fourth. After a leadoff single and two walks which loaded the bases, sophomore third baseman Colby Bortles continued his recent hot streak at the plate and broke the game open by hitting a grand slam over the left field wall extending the Rebels lead to 9-0. It was Bortles’ second grand slam in three games. Just two pitches later, senior first baseman Sikes Orvis launched a towering home run to right field which gave Orvis his eighth home run on the year.
UT-Martin got on the board in the sixth with a solo home run by senior outfielder Taylor Douglas, making it a 9-1 game.
Bortles continued his success at the plate with a solo home run to right field in the seventh as Ole Miss extended their lead to 10-1. It was Bortles’ second home run of the day and his sixth of the season. He led the Rebels offensively on the day with five RBI’s.
“I think it’s confidence,” Bortles said of his recent rise in performance. “I didn’t have much confidence in the early part of the season that I needed to have and gaining that confidence back from my teammates and everybody else has been the main thing.”
Senior left-hander Scott Ashford and freshman right-hander Drake Robison each pitched a scoreless inning of relief following Smith.
Ole Miss added another run in the seventh after sophomore outfielder Josh Watkins led the inning off with a double and later scored on a sacrifice fly by junior right-fielder Cameron Dishon.
Junior left-hander Matt Denny came on in the ninth and recorded the final three outs to secure the 11-1 win.
The win was the Rebel’s third in the last four games as they look to extend the three-game win streak and finish strong during the second half of the season.
“We just want to play well and put some games together. We haven’t done that all year,” Bianco said. “We’ve been up and down all year. We’re just trying to be consistent.”
With the win, Ole Miss improved to 19-18 on the season. The Rebels return to action Friday as they travel to Auburn for a weekend series. First pitch Friday is set for 6 p.m.
