Ole Miss took two of three games from second-ranked Louisville to earn its second series win of the season. Brady Bramlett and Sean Johnson each picked up wins. Wyatt Short added two more saves, and Will Golsan hit his first career home run over the weekend.
J.B. Woodman hits during the first game of the Louisville series Friday evening. (Photo by: Evan Turner)
Offensive MVP: Will Golsan.
The sophomore first baseman provided the go-ahead sacrifice fly in the fifth inning of Ole Miss’ game three win. Then, three innings later, Golsan launched a two-run home run over the left field wall in the sixth inning that provided the Rebels a key insurance run in Sunday’s 4-2 series clinching win.
“It felt great,” Golsan said. “Just to get back in there, I’ve been hitting a few balls hard, and finally just to get one over their heads was a relief.”
Overall, it was a quiet weekend offensively for the Rebels. Louisville has one of the best pitching staffs in the country, and the Rebels saw that on Saturday in particular when sophomore left-hander Brendan McKay shut them out over nine innings in a complete game win. Ole Miss, however, was able to get Kyle Funkhouser out of the game relatively early on Friday, and manufactured enough runs on Sunday after falling behind 2-0 in the first inning.
“For the first time all weekend, we got the crowd into it a little bit,” head coach Mike Bianco said on Sunday. “We started looking a little more like ourselves offensively. They say hitting’s contagious, and it’s true.”
Pitching: Sean Johnson, Wyatt Short.
Wyatt Short recorded two five-out saves in both of the Rebel victories over the weekend. He preserved a one-run lead in the 6-5 win on Friday and a two-run lead in the win on Sunday, including forcing a 6-4-3 double play to end Sunday’s contest.
“You’ve gotta feel good with Wyatt on the mound with a lead,” Bianco said.
It was his third save of the season.
Johnson, who is pitching less than a year removed from Tommy John Surgery, picked up his second win of the season Sunday. After falling behind 2-0 in the first inning, Johnson settled in and pitched 4.1 scoreless innings, giving the Rebels a chance to take the lead.
“He really locked in after that and showed how tough he is. We’ve seen that in the inter-squad games where he just competes so hard,” Bianco said. “To put up another four zeros after that to give us a chance, because we haven’t been swinging it well. We needed somebody to put some zeros up.”
ANALYSIS:
The game was a really big series win for this team early in the year. Bianco talked all weekend long about how this series was a great test for a team that needed to grow up, and it certainly answered the bell.
“We got challenged in a lot of different areas this weekend,” Bianco said. “That’s a very good team we just played, and it was nice to play well here and finish off the weekend.”
The Rebel offense was somewhat stagnant, which was to be expected against the dominant pitching staff of Louisville, but Ole Miss matched the Cardinals pitching, and found just enough offense to be able to take this series.
“My team is extraordinary,” Johnson said. “We always have each other’s backs. When it comes down to it, when someone gets in trouble, the next guy steps up and makes the plays.”
The Rebel bullpen posted a 1.86 era over 9.2 innings against a pretty potent Louisville lineup.
It was Louisville’s first lost series in two years, and certainly one the Rebels will be able to hang their hats on when it comes time to be seeded for the NCAA tournament.
– Brian Scott Rippee
