Following their third-straight conference series loss, the defending national champions find themselves second-to-last in the SEC West, above only in-state rival Mississippi State.
The Rebels have had some unfortunate injury woes to start the year with ace Hunter Elliott out as well as reliever Josh Mallitz. But the SEC is a grueling and unforgiving conference that takes pity on no one, even the champs.
While the start to conference play has been anything other than ideal, this team knows better than anyone that dwelling on your misfortunes will provide no benefit. And as we’ve seen before, getting hot at the right time can undo a month’s worth of failures.
The Rebels made the short journey to the Bluff City on Tuesday to take on long-time foe the Memphis Tigers. While the Tigers aren’t world-beaters in the classic sense of the word, they have proved to be a tough out for the Rebels in years prior. This game, however, was not as close.
Ole Miss opened its account early and often, scoring three runs in the first three innings before busting the game open with a four-run top of the fourth.
An impressive showing from the Rebel slugger Kemp Alderman saw him tally three RBIs on the day while going 2-for-3 at the dish. Rebel backstop Calvin Harris also had a multi-hit affair going 2-for-5 with two runs scored in the afternoon.
These midweek games that fall between SEC weekends can do wonders for a team’s and a player’s confidence. As has been the story so far this year, the Rebel pitching staff has struggled without Elliott.
True freshman Grayson Saunier has shown impressive stuff in his early days as a Rebel but has been burned by his inexperience so far.
Saunier had a good outing against the Tigers going five full innings and allowing only three hits and one run, something that he can build on going forward.
Relief appearances by Sam Tookoian, Cole Ketchum and Brayden Jones saw the Rebels close this victory out and improve to 17-11 on the year.
Another story that came out of Tuesday’s victory was that Mike Bianco earned his 871st win as head coach of the Rebels, surpassing his mentor Skip Bertman of LSU. With this win, Bianco moved into second all-time in the SEC for wins, short of Mississippi State legend Ron Polk at 1,218.
The Rebels will look to continue righting the ship this weekend as they host division rival Arkansas in what could be a tough series for both sides. If, and only if, the Rebels can pitch well, the offense will surely give them a chance to grab their first series win of the season.
First pitch of Game 1 is on Thursday, April 6, at 6:30 p.m. CDT on SEC Network+.
