Ole Miss baseball closed out a three game series against SEC rival Mississippi State this Saturday with a 2-1 loss.
Offense seemed few and far between for both teams. The Rebels managed just four hits throughout the whole and their only run came in the first inning. Defense and pitching remained strength’s for Ole Miss, as they have been all season. Freshman starting pitcher Ryan Rolison’s outing was solid and equally adept relief pitching kept the Rebels in the game through the late innings. The Rebel defense was also good, committing zero errors through all nine innings.
In the bottom of the ninth, junior Tim Rowe came on to pinch hit with bases loaded. Rowe battled through the whole at bat before ripping a liner down the first base line. State junior Brent Rooker made an impressive play and caught the ball to close out the game and the series.
“I just wanted to settle down. At first I took a couple hacks trying to hurry up,” Rowe said. “When it got down to two strikes I tried to settle down and win the ball game.”
Throughout the season, the Rebels have fallen further and further into a hitting slum. Even with Colby Bortles and Tate Blackman, Ole Miss’ heavy hitting pair of captains, back, the bats have remained unimpressively quiet at Swayze Field as of late. Nevertheless, the team remains hopeful the lack of offense is only temporary.
“We’re just going to keep doing what we’re doing,” Rowe said. “We’re hitting the ball well, I believe, just wait until the baseball gods help us out and find a hole.”
Pitching, on the other hand, has been consistently strong for Ole Miss. Bianco had particularly nice things to say about freshman Ryan Rolison’s performance.
“We’ve used him in different roles all year and he’s come out and performed well,” Bianco said. “He’s pitching in front of eleven thousand people when your team is down 2-0 in the series you need a good performance out of him and he delivered”.
After the game, Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco had nothing but praise for State’s defense, which seemed to have an answer for every Ole Miss question.
“Terrific, their guy is so tough. His slider is so good, and he’s really good against left handers and unfortunately their guy is playing right down the line,” Bianco said. “He dives and make one heck of a play.”
Ole Miss’ record has now fallen to 16-12 overall and 3-6 in the SEC. Mississippi State’s record is improved to 19-10 overall and 6-3 in conference record. The Rebels now look forward to a single match against Southern Miss in Pearl, Mississippi on April, 4th.
