Sikes Orvis, left, is greeted by teammates John Gatlin, center, and Matt Denny, right, after scoring against Texas Tech on a single by Holt Perdzock during the seventh inning of an elimination baseball game at the NCAA College World Series in Omaha, Neb., Tuesday, June 17, 2014. (AP Photo/Eric Francis)
OMAHA, Neb. – The Diamond Rebels seem to have a thing for close games in Omaha, but this time it turns out in their favor with a 2-1 walk-off win over Texas Tech.
The bats were quiet once again for the Rebels with only two runs on five hits, but the fight and perseverance of the Rebels gives them another chance to continue their stay in Omaha.
“Just another low scoring, close baseball game here today,” Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco said. “I thought both (pitchers) were terrific, (Ryan) Moseley and of course Christian (Trent). Moseley, although we knew he would be good, I didn’t know he’d be that good. He’s tremendous. I remember looking up at some point, and we had three hits, and realized we had played like 15 innings here and only had four hits. Just one of those where you had to get the timely hit.”
In his biggest start of the season, Trent pitched arguably his best game of the season, going eight innings and giving up no runs on six hits with a walk and six strikeouts. Trent now has a perfect 10-0 overall record this season.
“I thought it was big for me,” Trent said. “It was all three pitches. Normally it takes a little while into the game to get my secondary’s going, but I felt early on my fastball command was good. Really got a good use of my slider and changeup. So I was able to keep them off balance and use those pitches in full effect.”
It was a quiet afternoon at TD Ameritrade Park for the first six innings of the game. The scoring started in the seventh inning when pinch hitter Holt Perdzock singled to left field to score Sikes Orvis from third to give the Rebels the late 1-0 lead.
It looked like the Rebels would not need to take the field for the bottom of the ninth inning, but Texas Tech would score a run in the top of the ninth with a sacrifice fly by pinch hitter Anthony Lyons to right field to score pinch runner Zach Davis. Two risky calls by Texas Tech head coach Tim Tadlock put Davis on third when he stole second and third base.
In the bottom of the ninth, pinch hitter John Gatlin hit a walk-off RBI single to shallow right field to keep the Rebels in Omaha for at least one more game.
“You know, that’s why this team is so special. We contribute in so many different ways, and when the game is on the line like that we’re each called upon in different situations,” Gatlin said. “Every one of us feels like we’re prepared for it and expected to get the job done. Then it just goes back to the toughness that we’ve been preaching all year.”
Bianco made aggressive moves throughout the game by using four pinch hitters. Both runs scored for the Rebels came from pinch hitters. The depth this team shows with every position player on the roster has been crucial all season long for the Rebels and it was shown today in the most pressured situation.
“We’ve done that throughout the entire season. One through 27 contributes each week in some form or fashion,” Gatlin said on the depth of the team. “Coach Bianco does a great job making sure late in the game when it’s getting tight like that, be swinging, get your legs loose and be ready to go. Like I said, we’re expected to get it done, and we’ve been pretty successful at it.”
It was an outstanding run for Texas Tech in their first College World Series appearance, but they went 0-2 in Omaha and it is a disappointing end to a successful season.
“Well, it’s what we all shoot for. It’s what you shoot for getting here,” Texas Tech head coach Tim Tadlock said. “At the same time, we’re all competitors. We line up to play, and we want to win. So right now it’s kind of an unusual feeling for me, because we did do something. I mean, these guys will hold forever. At the same time, we’re going to lay our head down every night and wake up every morning trying to get back.”
It has been a tough couple of days for Gatlin, having his grandmother pass away recently, but he would not miss Omaha for the world and came up big with the walk-off hit. This is just one of the many moments where the Rebels fight through tough situations and come out on top.
“Talking about the toughness and when bad things happen, our guys seem very composed coming back into the dugout in the bottom of the ninth,” Bianco said. “Just proud we’ve got a couple of freshmen off the bench with great at-bats, and then, of course, John Gatlin gets a base hit. We talked about this in the regional, but you know, it’s really neat, I think. One of the great things about this profession, about being a coach is to watch, I say kids a lot, but young men like John (Gatlin) that are just terrific representatives of the university, and when good things happen to good people.”
– Dylan Rubino
thedmsports@gmail.com
