Freshman Ryan Olenek hits during the final game against LSU. The Rebels went on to win 8-2, claiming the series. Photo by: Evan Turner
Ole Miss earned its biggest SEC series win of the year over the weekend by taking two of three from LSU for the first time since 2010.
With the SEC standings getting tighter as it enters the final month of the regular season, and everything that was on the line in terms of hosting a regional, Ole Miss answered the call across the board.
One of the knocks on this team was its inability to hit good pitching. It scored 21 runs on 31 hits against the likes of LSU’s Jared Poche, Alex Lang and John Valek III.
It didn’t have a third starter who could consistently give Ole Miss a chance to win on Sundays. James McArthur pitched 3.1 shutout innings and extended a streak of surrendering just one earned run in his last 28 innings pitched.
It did not really have a catalyst in the lineup that was capable of carrying a team over the course of a series. J.B. Woodman had six hits, including three home runs and eight RBIs, on the weekend.
This team answered a lot of its criticism this weekend, and if there was a point in the season to turn the corner, it would be following a series like this.
Offensive MVP: J.B. Woodman
Junior J.B. Woodman slides into home during the game against LSU on Saturday. Photo by: Evan Turner
Woodman had the best individual weekend performance of anyone this season, and arguably the last couple of years. The junior hit three home runs, and was responsible for eight of Ole Miss’ 21 runs on the weekend.
“I just thought my swing was really short,” Woodman said. “I got to every pitch all over the plate.”
“In every phase of the game he was tremendous, and was an impact in every game,” Ole Miss Head Coach Mike Bianco said. “I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a position player for three games in a row just play so well and be so impactful in each game.”
Woodman’s presence wasn’t just felt against the LSU pitching in the middle of an Ole Miss lineup that tallied 31 hits this weekend, but also on the field.
He had three assists to home plate this weekend, two of which came in a one-run 7-6 Thursday night win. The first one kept the game tied at four in the fourth inning, and the second kept Brennan Breaux from crossing home plate in the eighth inning that would have been the game-tying run.
“It’s fun,” Woodman said. “I take pride in throwing guys out, and it’s a big play that saves a run.”
LSU came into the series as the most aggressive base-running team in the SEC. It had attempted 94 steals on the season, and opts to go for the extra base more times than not. Woodman’s three assists in the first two games neutralized that aggression, and it helped Ole Miss in game three.
“Some weren’t even the assists or the home runs. I think at times he kind of shut their down their aggressiveness on the bases,” Bianco said after Saturday’s series clinching win. “You saw a team that’s super aggressive on the bases, that always takes the extra base, today didn’t.”
Woodman’s performance had his teammates making superhero references.
“Golly man, he was like Superman out there,” James McArthur said when asked about Woodman’s performance. “He’s been seeing it so well, and defensively too. He’s a great guy to have on the team.”
Pitching: James McArthur
You probably could not have chosen a bigger game this season for McArthur to make his SEC debut than in the rubber game of a late-April series against LSU with both conference standing and hosting position on the line, and the freshman stood tall.
McArthur helped Ole Miss earn its 12th SEC win behind eight runs of support from the Rebel offense that helped clinch the series for Ole Miss
“It’s tough as a freshman to walk out there in the SEC and start,“ Bianco said of McArthur’s performance. “He hung in there and he made pitches.”
“It was a lot of fun out there, and a lot of competition. I went out there and tried to compete as best I could and attack the strike zone,” McArthur said. “We have a great offense and we know they’re going to swing it, but when they go out there and put it on them early, it kind of relieves you.”
McArthur not only battled an LSU lineup that is third in the SEC in overall batting, but Mother Nature as well. He overcame a 40-minute rain delay and was able to come back and get to the fifth inning to earn his first SEC win.
Ole Miss has been looking for an answer in the form of a game three starter and it appears, for now at least, they may have found it in McArthur.
This series win pulled Ole Miss into second place in the SEC West and just two games back of Texas A&M with nine conference games remaining. A team that was on the outside looking in in terms of earning a bid to host a regional has now flipped that script and is in position to do just that.
“We needed this one in the sense that we needed to beat a team that is right there with us,” Bianco said on Saturday. “We haven’t done that. We’ve had a great year, but we haven’t played our best ball against the best teams.”
Will Stokes pitches during the final game of the LSU series. Photo by: Evan Turner
Ole Miss has gone 10-3 in the SEC since starting 2-6. It appears to have found its answer at the back end of the rotation, and its lineup has come to life, even beyond Woodman. Errol Robinson had a hit in each game and a multi-hit game. Colby Bortles swung it well. Tate Blackman had two three-hit games.
It appears as if this team is beginning to hit its stride and it could not have come at at better time.
