Mississippi’s Josh Laxer reacts at the end of an NCAA college baseball tournament super regional game against Louisiana Lafayette in Lafayette, La., Monday, June 9, 2014. Mississippi won 10-4. (Photo/Thomas Graning)
Ole Miss finally got the postseason monkey off their backs and advance to Omaha for the first time in 42 years with a 10-4 win over Louisiana-Lafayette.
“I’m so proud of our guys as was noted last night,” Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco said. “As I told my guys, the road to Omaha is windy and bumpy and to be honest with you, I did not think it would take this long. When you go, you got to have a special group and this group is certainly all of that. When we got them together in August, you started to see that.”
The score says Ole Miss won by six runs, but the game was a lot closer than the scoreboard said.
Louisiana-Lafayette scored the first run of the game in the third inning with a sacrifice fly to take the lead 1-0.
In the fourth inning, senior Austin Anderson put the Rebels on the board with a two-run homer to give the Rebels the 2-1 lead. Junior Sikes Orvis would follow up two batters later with a solo homer to extend the lead to 3-1.
“Obviously I think it’s a pretty big moment,” Anderson said on his home run. “In the first two innings, we didn’t do much offensively and then in the third Boz (Austin Bousfield) getting on. I was just trying to move him and I got a pitch that was elevated and I put a good swing on it. Watching it go over was a great feeling obviously, but it was a big momentum swing because we went from losing to winning and the momentum shifted.”
Louisiana-Lafayette would tie the game in the bottom of the fourth with a ground out and an RBI double.
The Rebels would add two more runs, one in the fifth and one in the sixth to take the 5-3 lead.
One of the big plays in the game cam from freshman shortstop Errol Robinson and senior catcher Will Allen. Seth Harrison of Louisiana-Lafayette hit a double down left field to score one run, but the second runner was tagged out at home by Allen covering home and securing the ball after a perfect relay throw from Robinson to maintain a 5-4 lead.
“We saw the ball go down the line, kind of a similar play as last night,” Allen said. “Braxton (Lee) being as quick as he is getting to the ball and just getting it in. It was a tremendous job by Errol (Robinson) just giving me the opportunity to get a tag on the guy and had a little more time to catch the ball and make a tag on it. Obviously after that, getting the tag and the call is a huge momentum swing for us, preserving the lead.”
Ole Miss would add an insurance run in the eighth with a sacrifice fly by junior Braxton Lee to make it 6-4.
The insurance runs would not stop there. The Rebels would add four more runs in the ninth with a three RBI double from pinch hitter sophomore Holt Perdzock to clear the bases and make it 9-4. Freshman J.B. Woodman would follow up later with a sacrifice fly to make it 10-4 to seal the trip to Omaha.
Junior right-hander Josh Laxer closed out the game for the Rebels, pitching 3.1 innings, one run (none earned), two hits with a walk and three strikeouts.
“Honestly being out there in a close game is something I’ve been prepared for all year,” Laxer said. “With the run support I got towards the end of my outing and to put up 10 runs against a team with the pitching they have, it really helped with my confidence out there and at that point, Coach B (Bianco) preaches about filling up the strike-zone and that’s what I did. Getting that last out is a college baseball players dream.”
It’s been a long road for Mike Bianco and the Diamond Rebels when it comes to getting to Omaha and playing in the College World Series.
Getting the opportunity for the first time in Bianco’s head coaching career and for Ole Miss, the first time in 42 years is something that will last forever.
“I told the boys out in right field afterwards that when I left LSU as an assistant coach we went to Omaha four out of five times and won three national championships in those five years,” Bianco said. “Starting as a young coach at McNeese State and was there for three years you felt that with your team you would coach them up and go to Omaha. I didn’t think it would take 17 years. It’s been great. We’ve had a great run. We’ve had great teams that should’ve went to Omaha. I’m very thankful, but I’m very happy for this group and this university and these fans, this fan base. They’ve been unbelievable, second to none.
“One of the constants has been the support from the fans and the administration. They’ve wanted to win in baseball and for 14 years they’ve been terrific. This is really for everyone. As a university, they deserve this. They deserve to go to Omaha.”
