After having a tough time scoring runs in last weekend’s series at Florida, No. 17 Ole Miss continued to struggle at the plate, getting swept at home by No. 2 Vanderbilt. The Rebels will look to get back in the win column against in-state rival Mississippi State in the annual Governor’s Cup in Pearl on Tuesday.
Stuart Turner swings for the ball during the Rebels‘ games vs. Vanderbilt on Saturday. (Austin McAfee/The DM)
FRIDAY: NO. 2 VANDERBILT 3, NO. 17 OLE MISS 1
The No. 2 Vanderbilt Commodores captured the first win of the three-game series Friday night 3-1 over No. 17 Ole Miss. The loss was the Rebels’ third consecutive and dropped them to 23-7 overall and 4-6 in Southeastern Conference play.
“Just a tough game for us,” head coach Mike Bianco said. “It was one of those Friday night SEC wars where two aces locked up. I thought both guys (Kevin) Ziomek and (junior right-hander) Bobby (Wahl) both pitched great. Just disappointed we didn’t do enough to win the game.”
Wahl (6-0) went 6.2 innings for the Rebels on the mound and received a no-decision, giving up just one run and five hits and striking out eight, but walking six. Vanderbilt’s Ziomek (6-1) countered with 7.1 innings pitched, giving up one run on three hits and striking out three. Senior right-hander Tanner Bailey (1-1) took the loss out of the bullpen, giving up two runs on two hits in two innings of work.
Ole Miss got on the board first in the third inning on an RBI single from junior shortstop Austin Anderson, but it was the only run the Rebels were able to get across in the game. Vanderbilt (27-4, 9-1 SEC) answered with runs in the fifth, eighth and ninth to secure the win.
Bianco noted many missed opportunities in the game for the Rebels, who stranded nine runners in the contest, and said that if they had executed better, the result may have been different.
SATURDAY: NO. 2 VANDERBILT 2, NO. 17 OLE MISS 1
The No. 17 Diamond Rebels dropped their fourth game in a row, losing in game two to No. 2 Vanderbilt Saturday afternoon, 2-1. The win clinched the series for the Commodores (28-4, 10-1 SEC) and dropped the Rebels to 23-8 overall and 4-7 in Southeastern Conference play.
“Another tough day for us offensively,” Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco said. “We had a few opportunities with runners in scoring position, not many, but once again, we missed the big hit, all but (sophomore first baseman) Sikes Orvis’ hit. That is the thing we haven’t been getting.”
The Rebels left seven runners on base and only recorded five hits as opposed to Vanderbilt’s 10.
Junior right-hander Mike Mayers (2-4) took the loss after going 4.2 innings and giving up two runs, one earned, on six hits, six walks and five strikeouts. Sophomore right-hander Chris Ellis relieved Mayers and had 1.2 innings of work, and junior right-hander Aaron Greenwood closed out the game for the Rebels, going 2.2 innings.
“I thought pitching and defense were solid today,” Bianco said. “Chris pitched better today than he has pitched. Mike (Mayers) puts a lot on himself and certainly wasn’t his best today but gave us an opportunity to win. I thought Greenwood was tremendous at the end.”
Vanderbilt got on the board first in the third inning with an RBI single from center fielder Connor Harrell. They then added another run in the fifth on an RBI single from right fielder Mike Yastrzemski.
Ole Miss answered with a run of its own in the sixth when Orvis drove in junior shortstop Austin Anderson on a single, but the Rebels were unable to scratch across anything else the rest of the game. Offense has been scarce for Ole Miss, scoring only two runs in its past four games.
“Just stay with our approach,” Orvis said of the mindset of the team at the plate. “We know we are a very good offense and a very good team, and eventually, baseball is a funny game, so we’ll break it out and just start swinging the bats.”
SUNDAY: NO. 2 VANDERBILT 7, NO. 17 OLE MISS 6
It took two extra innings to get a winner in the final game of the three-game series between No. 17 Ole Miss and No. 2 Vanderbilt, but the Commodores (29-4, 11-1 Southeastern Conference) were able to pull out a 7-6 win on an errant throw to third base in the top of the eleventh to secure the win and the sweep of the series.
“It was a tough one,” head coach Mike Bianco said. “Obviously, we haven’t been playing very well, but today, we played much better. I think there is more in the tank. Certainly, I think we could pitch better, play better defense and hit better, but today was more of the team that played the first five weeks. We played hard, but against a very good team.”
The Rebels (23-9, 4-8 SEC) got three-plus innings of work from sophomore right-hander Sam Smith, who gave up four runs on six hits, then the bullpen carried the team the rest of the way, going eight innings and giving up only three runs. However, the Vanderbilt offense was too much, racking up 17 total hits on the day.
“You’ve got to credit them,” Bianco said. “Today they really swung well, 17 hits. A few less hits or maybe a few more plays by us, we win the game.”
Ole Miss jumped out to an early 3-1 lead after two innings on a sac fly from senior third baseman Andrew Mistone, an RBI double from junior designated hitter Will Allen and a successful squeeze play by junior right fielder Lance Wilson. The Commodores then answered with four runs of their own in the fourth, and each team put up a run in the fifth to bring the score to 6-4, with Vanderbilt in the lead.
Ole Miss was down to its final three outs in the ninth but was able to scratch two runs across when junior second baseman Preston Overbey grounded out, which allowed a run to score, and senior left fielder Tanner Mathis was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to bring in another run.
Despite the loss, the Rebels still have quite a few games left to turn things around in SEC play, and Bianco believes the team has to continue to play like it did Sunday to get things back on track.
“I think we have to play like we did today,” Bianco said. “We’ve got to be more like ourselves, like we were the first five weeks. You fall into slumps or whatever you want to call it, this happened to be ours. We’ve just got to get back on track and win some baseball games.”
The Rebels will resume play Tuesday in Pearl against in-state rival Mississippi State in the annual Governor’s Cup.
For continuing coverage of Ole Miss baseball, follow @SigNewton_2 and @thedm_sports on Twitter.
