Catcher Austin Knight returns the ball to the mound Thursday. DM Photo | Kayla Beatty
Game 1- Auburn 3, Ole Miss 1
After a two hour rain delay, Ole Miss fell in game one of the three-game series to Auburn by a score of 3-1.
Junior left-hander Christian Trent was on the mound for the Rebels Friday. Trent went six innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on nine hits and four walks in the loss.
Sophomore right-hander Cole Libscomb took the ball for Auburn and was dominant from the start. Libscomb threw a complete game for the first time in his Auburn career, giving up one run on seven hits while striking out 10 batters to earn the win.
Auburn scored a run in the second and third innings to take a 2-0 early advantage. The Tigers loaded the bases in the third with two outs and Trent forced a ground ball to get out of the jam, but an error allowed a run to cross the plate and kept the inning going. Auburn loaded the bases again in the fourth, but Trent was able to get out of the jam with no damage done.
The Tigers added another run in the fifth to extend their lead to 3-0 before Trent exited the game after the sixth.
Junior left-hander Mitchell Babb pitched the final two innings of relief for the Rebels. Babb kept Auburn off the scoreboard in each of the final two innings. Babb has not allowed a run in his last 12 innings of work, and also extended a streak of 23 innings without allowing a run by the Rebel bullpen.
Ole Miss attempted to mound a comeback in each of the final two innings. The Rebels got two runners on in the the eighth, but Libscomb was able to escape the inning without allowing a run. In the ninth, freshman second baseman Will Golsan and junior outfielder Connor Cloyd opened up the inning with back to back base hits, bringing the tying run to the plate. Golsan tied his career high with three hits on the night. Sohpomore catcher Henri Lartigue got a base hit to get the Rebels on the board as Ole Miss attemped a comeback, but Libscomb got a strike out to get out of the jam ending the Rebels’ rally and secured the win.
Game 2- Ole Miss 7, Auburn 2
The Rebels evened the series at one with Auburn after a 7-2 win in game one of a doubleheader on Saturday.
Senior catcher Austin night led the Rebels offensively. Knight knocked in a career-high four RBIs on the day. Ole Miss pounded out 13 hits in the win, including three from sophomore shortstop Errol Robinson and junior center-fielder JB Woodman.
The Rebels got on the board early, scoring a run in the first inning and two in the second. Woodman belted a one-out triple off of the right field wall and later scored on a Will Golsan RBI single in the first. Robisnson added to the Rebels lead with a ground-rule double that scored senior first baseman Sikes Orvis. Senior catcher Austin Knight followed up with another RBI double that extended the lead to 3-0.
“Coach Bianco said in the pre game meeting, when we score first and throw the first punch, usually we are going to have the momentum and carry it over the entire game.” Robinson said.
Junior right-hander Brady Bramlett was on the mound for Ole Miss in game two. Bramlett kept the Tigers off the scoreboard for the first four innings. Auburn got the first two runners on in the fifth and plated one run ending Bramlett’s day. Bramlett gave up just one run on three hits in 4.0 innings of work.
Senior reliever and Co-SEC pitcher of the week Scott Weathersby came on for Bramlett. Weathersby pitched 2.1 innings of relief, allowing one run and striking out three batters.
The run ended a streak of 25.1 innings without allowing a run by the Rebel bullpen. Sophomore closer Wyatt Short pitched the final two innings of relief and shut the door on the Tigers securing the win and earning his sixth save of the season.
The Tigers cut the deficit to 3-2 in the seventh but the Rebels quickly responded with a three run eighth inning. After three straight singles by Ole Miss, Bortles delivered with an RBI single followed by a two-RBI single by Knight that extended the Rebels lead to 6-2.
The Rebels added another insurance run in the ninth and cruised to the 7-2 victory after Short retired the Tigers in the ninth.
“We were able to extend the lead late once they got back into it,” Mike Bianco, head coach, said. “It was just a well played game by us.”
Game 3 – Auburn 14, Ole Miss 0
Auburn dominated from the start in the rubber game of the series.
The Tigers scored in four of the first five innings, including a five-run fourth inning and quickly broke open the game.
Freshman pitcher Will Stokes took the ball for Ole Miss in game three. Auburn was able to get to Stokes early as he exited the game after just 3.1 innings allowing six runs on ten hits.
Ole Miss used five pitchers in the game, each of them allowing at least one run with the exception of sophomore left hander Evan Anderson, who pitched a scoreless ninth inning in relief.
Ole Miss was never able to get in a rhythm, offensively scattering six hits, and were shut out for the second time this year.
Senior right-hander Rocky McCord was on the hill for the Tigers and earned his third win of the season and secured the series win. McCord threw 6.2 innings and scattered five hits and striking out six Rebel batters while allowing just two walks.
Connor Cloyd recorded a multi-hit game for Ole Miss, capping off a productive weekend at the plate by the junior outfielder. It was Cloyd’s fifth multi-hit game of the season. Sophomore shortstop Errol Robinson singled in the game and had four hits combined in the double header. Senior first baseman Sikes Orvis doubled in the game and recorded a doubleheader in each of the two games of the double header.
Offensively, Auburn was running on all cylinders in the final game. The Tigers recorded a season high 19 hits including four from shortstop Cody Nulph. Nulph went 4-4 and knocked in four RBIs leading the charge in the win.
Nine different Auburn batters recorded hits and seven knocked in runs on Sunday as the tigers were able to score at least three runs in three different innings.
Auburn added four more runs in the seventh inning extending an already big lead to 14-0 while also keeping the Rebels off of the scoreboard in the final three frames in the shutout win.
With the win Auburn improved to 25-16 on the year and 7-11 in conference play. Ole Miss fell to 20-20 for the season and 8-10 in conference play. The Rebels return to action Tuesday at home against Central Arkansas beginning a stretch of five games in six days. First pitch is slated for 6:30 p.m.
