Brian Rippee:
Tate Blackman throws the ball to first base to get an out during a game against Memphis earlier this season. (Photo by: Cameron Brooks)
Ole Miss traveled to Conway, South Carolina this weekend for the Chanticleer Classic, and completed a 3-0 weekend by beating Ball State, No. 19 Coastal Carolina and Cincinnati to improve to 10-1 on the year.
Brady Bramlett (3-0), Chad Smith (1-1) and Sean Johnson (3-0) each picked up wins over the weekend.
Overall, it was probably the Rebels’ most complete weekend performance as a team. The entire pitching staff gave up a total of six runs over the weekend and just four earned runs. The offense tallied 22 runs on 31 hits.
Colby Bortles and Cam Dishon each hit their first home runs of the season in game one against Ball state. Bortles went 4-12 with five RBIs over the weekend, and Dishon also had four hits and a RBI. Sophomore second baseman Tate Blackman continued his fast start to the year as he had four RBIs over the weekend, including a 3-5 performance with three RBIs in game two. Sophomore infielder Ryan Olenek also recorded a three hit game in the finale against Cincinnati.
The Ole Miss bullpen has been strong this year, and is a large factor in the Rebels’ 10-1 start. The bullpen put together 10 innings this weekend, allowing just two unearned runs. Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco is growing more and more confident in some of the young arms in the pen as this season progresses.
If you mix that in with the veteran presence of closer Wyatt Short and sophomore Will Stokes, Ole Miss could have a pretty invaluable asset heading into conference play.
This team continues to pick up more momentum as it gets closer to conference play. It seems to be a different story every weekend— when the pitching is shaky, the offense picks up. When the bats go away, the pitching, particularly the bullpen, keeps them in the game. The Rebels have seven non-conference games before SEC play begins and already have three wins against ranked teams, just 11 games into the year.
After this weekend’s sweep, the Rebels return home for five games this coming week. Ole Miss plays host to Southeast Missouri State for two games on Tuesday and Wednesday before Grambling State comes to Oxford for a three-game series, beginning Friday.
Collin Brister:
Ole Miss did what it had to do this weekend. They dominated two opponents— Ball State and Cincinnati— and beat No. 18 Coastal Carolina on Saturday.
The Rebels had very solid starting pitching over the weekend. Brady Bramlett went six innings on Friday morning, only giving up two runs and striking out five. Bramlett got into the sixth inning for the first time this season, allowing the Rebels to save the bullpen for the rest of the weekend.
On Saturday, starting pitcher Chad Smith gave the Rebels five quality innings, only giving up two runs to a quality Coastal Carolina team. The junior pitcher looked sharp and located his secondary pitches very well.
Sunday was more of the same. Redshirt junior Sean Johnson dominated the Cincinnati Bearcats. Johnson ran into a little trouble in the first, but got out of it with a fly out and a Nick Fortes throw-out of a runner, attempting to steal second. Johnson then retired the next 15 hitters in order to get the Rebels to the seventh inning. Johnson only gave up one hit, a one-out single in the first inning.
Ole Miss hit particularly well this weekend, but the middle of the Rebel lineup produced extremely well. The normal 2-6 hitters (Will Golsan, J.B. Woodman, Colby Bortles, Tate Blackman and Henri Lartigue) hit .340 (18 of 53) this weekend with a home run and 13 RBIs. Colby Bortles hit his first home run of the season on Friday morning against Ball State, while Lartigue went 3-3 for the Rebels.
On Saturday against Coastal Carolina, Blackman went 3 for 5 with 3 RBIs to lead the Rebels. Golsan, Bortles and Woodman also recorded hits on the day.
The Rebels are also taking advantage of their opportunities on the young season. Ole Miss is 27 of 36 in scoring runners from third with less than two outs.
The Rebels’ bullpen continues to dominate as they went 10 innings and didn’t give up an earned run this weekend, and neither Wyatt Short nor Will Stokes threw for the Rebels this weekend.
The Rebels bullpen has an overall ERA of 1.58. The Rebels main six options out of the bullpen (Will Stokes, Wyatt Short, Andy Pagnozzi, Brady Feigl, Dallas Woolfolk and David Parkinson) have combined to throw 38 innings this year and have only given up five earned runs, good for a 1.18 ERA.
– Collin Brister, Brian Scott Rippee
