Closing out its first weekend series of the season, the Ole Miss baseball team ground out a 3-1 win to complete its sweep of Winthrop. Coach Mike Bianco’s team struggled to figure out Winthrop’s ace of a starting pitcher but found a way to close out the win.
After an offensive outburst of 15 runs over the series’ first two games, the Rebels had to rely on their pitchers to keep them in the game. Starter James McArthur struggled with his command early on, walking two batters and hitting another to load the bases in the first. His ability to produce clutch strikeouts, however, kept the Eagles from putting up big innings. The lone Winthrop run surrendered came from a throwing error by McArthur, overthrowing Tyler Keenan at third base. This was Winthrop’s first lead of the weekend and was later erased in the bottom half of the same inning.
McArthur’s high pitch count led to him being pulled after five innings of work. The bullpen came in and finished strong. Freshman lefthander Jordan Fowler impressed in his Rebel debut by striking out three hitters over two innings of work. Will Ethridge faced four batters and gave up no solid contact in the eighth inning. He set up closer Dallas Woolfolk to come in and finish the game with two strikeouts, earning himself the save. Bianco had high praise for his pitching staff, which gave up just a single run over the weekend.
“When you are on game three and Will Ethridge and Dallas Woolfolk have not thrown yet, it has been a pretty good weekend on the mound,” Bianco said. “There is nobody better than Dallas at the end. As a coach, it makes you feel good when you have a lead running him out there in the ninth.”
Sunday’s game was much different at the plate for Ole Miss. Winthrop’s hurler Nate Pawelczyk only gave up one hit and one earned run over his six innings on the mound. The Rebels did manage to produce baserunners by way of being patient, collecting bases from walks, hit-by-pitches and steals. Ryan Olenek’s sacrifice matched Winthrop’s run in the fourth inning. The game-winning play at-bat came courtesy of a Grae Kessinger infield single that scored two. Second baseman Jacob Adams made an acrobatic slide at the plate to ensure he scored.
“I knew it was going to be a close play,” Adams said. “Coach Clement sent me, and I went all out.”
Adams and Fowler were some of the few newcomers to make their presence felt on opening weekend. Tyler Keenan notched two runs-batted-in with his first career plate appearance in Friday’s win. Tim Elko, Michael Spears, Carl Gindl and Anthony Servideo all made crucial plays at the plate, in the field and on the base path.
“There are weekends when some new guys do well and some just hope for another day,” Bianco said. “Every new guy that batted this weekend got a hit. Jordan Fowler comes in and fills it up. Even though he didn’t get an at-bat, Gindl comes in and steals third to eventually score on a sacrifice fly. So many guys looked like they belonged.”
Bianco has to be happy with his team’s opening weekend performance. The Ole Miss offense proved it can score at will and produce timely at-bats. Its starting pitchers and bullpen all showed command of their pitches while limiting Winthrop’s opportunities. Sweeping the 2017 Big South Conference champions certainly has certainly got the Rebels’ 2018 campaign off to a good start.
Looking ahead, Ole Miss will host Memphis on Tuesday night before Tulane comes to town for a weekend series. Houston Roth will get the start on the mound against Memphis.
