Sam Smith releases a pitch during Sunday’s 9-2 win over UCF. Photo: Aditya Khare, The Daily Mississippian.
FRIDAY: OLE MISS 4, UCF 3
Senior second baseman John Gatlin hit a sharp ground ball in the bottom of the 13th inning to third base, and after having the ball bobbled a few times, beat out the throw to first for Ole Miss’ third-straight walk-off win, 4-3 over UCF.
“I saw it hop, and I saw him bobble it once,” Gatlin said. “I figured he must’ve bobbled it more than once for me to beat it out. I was just running as fast as I could. It’s been a while, but it felt good.”
Ole Miss (9-1) got seven innings from junior right-handed starter Chris Ellis on the mound, who gave up just one hit and a run, but was unable to hold on to the lead once he exited.
UCF (6-3) got on the board first with a sacrifice fly in the top of the fourth, but Ole Miss answered quickly with a run of its own in the bottom of the fifth with an RBI groundout from junior designated hitter Sikes Orvis.
The Knights would put up two runs in the top half of the eighth to push the lead to 3-1. A wild pitch from Ole Miss’ senior right-hander Aaron Greenwood allowed the first run to score, then another sacrifice fly plated a runner.
However, Ole Miss once again answered in the bottom of the eighth with an RBI double from freshman shortstop Errol Robinson and then Robinson coming home on an error, to tie things up at three. It took 13 innings, but eventually the Rebels were able to put it away on Gatlin’s infield single.
SATURDAY: OLE MISS 5, UCF 4
For the fourth time in five days the Ole Miss baseball team got a win on a walk-off. Saturday’s hero was senior catcher Will Allen. After going to extra innings for the second straight game against Central Florida (6-4), Allen belted a solo home run to straightaway center field to capture the win and clinch the series for the Rebels (10-1).
“I knew I hit it good,” Allen said of the home run. “I knew I was on time for it. I’ve seen a lot of well-hit balls that go to dead center and don’t go out. It carried well. I honestly didn’t know until I saw the beer showers and everybody started cheering.”
Allen said he was watching the ball the whole time as it left the park.
“I knew it would either be caught for an out or go out,” Allen said. “So I was watching it the whole time.”
UCF was able to get on the board first in the top of the first with an RBI single from junior Erik Barber, but until the fifth inning, both offenses were stagnant. The Knights would push the lead to 3-0 in the top half of the fifth behind a two-run home run from junior Tommy Williams, but the Rebel offense finally came to life in the bottom of the inning.
Senior third baseman Austin Anderson got the scoring started for Ole Miss on an RBI single followed by a two-run double from Allen, who finished the day with three RBIs, to tie the game at three. Then, senior first baseman Preston Overbey was able to drive in the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly and push the Ole Miss lead to 4-3.
Central Florida would answer with a run of its own in the eighth on an RBI groundout from junior James Vasquez, but that would cap the scoring for the Knights.
After throwing seven pitchers in Friday night’s win, Ole Miss needed a solid outing from sophomore left-hander Christian Trent, and it got one. Trent worked 7.1 innings and struck out a career-high seven batters, while giving up four runs on six hits.
At the plate, the Rebels had three guys record at least two hits and as a team were able to find the bats once again and put up 10 total hits. Junior center fielder Auston Bousfield went 3-for-5 and scored a run, Allen finished 2-for-4 and also scored two runs, and Overbey went 2-for-3 with a run batted in.
With the four walk-offs in a row, Bianco believes the team is building momentum early on this season but also recognizes that they know it is a different game each day.
“The good news is we’ve been on the right end of them,” Bianco said of the walk-off wins. “I’ve never seen this many in a row, not even close to this, but I’m proud of them. I’m proud of the toughness we showed and the confidence we showed. It seems like in these last four games, when it’s gotten down to it, we’ve played our best baseball.”
SUNDAY: OLE MISS 9, UCF 2 (SID)
There would be no need for extra-inning heroics on Sunday as the Rebels used a four-run first inning to propel No. 24 Ole Miss (11-1) to a 9-2 victory over UCF (6-5) and a sweep of the weekend series.
Sam Smith (2-0) picked up the win for the Rebels, working 6.0 scoreless innings, allowing four hits with two walks and four strikeouts. He was one of four pitchers on the afternoon for Ole Miss.
Robby Howell (0-1) took the loss for UCF, allowing seven runs on six hits with two walks and a strikeout in 3.1 innings of work.
“It was a much better game by us,” said Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco. “We talked so much about the walk-off wins and winning in extra innings, but today we played better. We were really clean defensively. Sam (Smith) was terrific as well as all the pitchers that pitched today. Offensively, we looked more like ourselves today. We were able to drive the ball to the gap and steal bases. The score reflected that.”
UCF looked to score first for the third straight game, loading the bases with one out in the first inning. Smith buckled down after giving up two of his four hits on the day and struck out the next two batters looking and get the Rebels out of the inning with no damage.
Ole Miss then answered in the home half of the first, pushing four runs home and taking the game firmly in hand.
Back-to-back singles and a hit batter loaded the bases before a sac fly from Will Allen got the first run home and left men at the corners. A wild pitch scored the second run. A walk put Sikes Orvis on base, keeping the rally going as Preston Overbey and Colby Bortles each delivered an RBI before the Knights would get out of the inning.
The Rebels would put another crooked number on the board in the fourth, bringing three runs home with RBI singles from Braxton Lee and Auston Bousfield before a sac fly from Austin Anderson took the Rebel lead out to 7-0.
Orvis scored again in the fifth inning, reaching when he was hit by a pitch to open the frame before moving around the bases to score on three wild pitches. The junior went hitless on the day, but reached base four times with three walks and the hit by pitch.
The Rebels capped the scoring for the home team in the sixth inning when pinch hitting Henri Lartigue delivered a sac fly to center to move Ole Miss on top 9-0.
UCF got on the board in the ninth, loading the bases with one out before an RBI single from Dylan Moore and a sac fly from JoMarcus Woods pushed two runs home. Scott Weathersby, who entered in relief in the ninth, struck out the final batter looking to end the game and secure the sweep.
Ole Miss will return to action on Wednesday, hosting the Memphis Tigers at Swayze Field. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m.
Ole Miss Sports Information contributed to this report.
For continuing coverage of Ole Miss baseball, follow @SigNewton_2 and @thedm_sports on Twitter.
— Matt Sigler
mcsigler@go.olemiss.edu
