March 10, 2024. Photo by Antonella Rescigno
The Ole Miss Baseball team traveled to Knoxville, Tenn., to take on No. 8 Tennessee in another SEC showdown. The three-game series ran from Friday, March 22, to Sunday, March 24.
The last time Ole Miss and Tennessee met was in Oxford, where the Volunteers took the series in a clean sweep. After last weekend’s opening SEC series win against South Carolina, the Rebels were looking to take home another series win to improve to 2-0 in SEC play. However, those dreams were stifled quickly, as Tennessee strung together two high-voltage games to secure the 2-1 series win.
Game one (lost 15-3)
Game one of the series was a painful watch for all Rebels fans, as Tennessee took the game in a 15-3 win by way of a seventh-inning run rule. Despite the score, and the fact that the two teams had to deal with on and off rain, pitcher Gunnar Dennis pitched a flawless first inning with two strikeouts and no runs, but this would be the only scoreless inning for the red-hot Volunteers.
Freshman infielder Brayden Randle put the Rebels on the scoreboard, hitting his first career home run and adding two RBI’s; shortstop Luke Hill added an RBI of his own.
Rebel Runs were attributed to Randle, Will Furniss and Jackson Ross.
The Volunteers soared through the rest of the game, securing 10 runs through three straight innings and capping it off with five more runs in the sixth inning to close out the Rebels in the seventh inning.
Game two (won 8-5)
In game two, the Rebels needed to come through with a win to even the series, and by the grace of Rebels infielder Andrew Fischer’s bat, Ole Miss found a pathway to a win. In a back-and-forth and slow-scoring game, the Rebels saw the light at the end of the tunnel and pulled a comeback win in the ninth inning beating the Volunteers 8-5, breaking Tennessee’s 18-game home win streak.
Pitcher Liam Doyle started on the mound for the Rebels, and he went on to strike out 10 straight batters for the second-straight game. Doyle would go on and finish his six innings of pitching, allowing four total runs and just one walk.
Fischer would put the Rebels on the scoreboard first with a fiery hit into right field to push Ole Miss up 1-0.
The Volunteers answered quickly in the second inning, securing two runs to keep themselves in the game and on the scoreboard. Randle continued to impress, hitting a solo shot home run to even the scoreboard 2-2; the game then progressed with scoreless fourth and fifth innings.
In the sixth inning, Fischer answered again, sending a hit over the scoreboard. Two singles from Ethan Groff and Ethan Lege put the Rebels in scoring position and helped them improve to 4-2 going into the seventh inning.
Tennessee came back to make things exciting, adding three more runs on the scoreboard to push past the Rebels 5-4 heading into the ninth inning.
At the top of the ninth inning, the Rebels were at bat, and infielder Bo Gatilin led off with a walk. Hits from infielders Judd Utermark and Ross put the score at 7-5, when outfielder Treyson Hughes secured one more RBI to solidify the Rebels score at 8-5 heading into the bottom of the inning.
Pitcher Mason Nichols helped strike out two batters before a Tennessee double. Pitcher Connor Spencer headed to the mound for the final out and secured his fifth save of the season.
Game three (lost 15-4)
Game three of the series would mirror Friday’s result, as Ole Miss dropped the series-defining win with a 15-4 loss in yet another seventh-inning run rule.
The Volunteers slaughtered the Rebels’ pitching staff with five home runs, giving Ole Miss virtually no chance of pulling off a series upset.
Tennessee started things off by scoring 2-0 in the first inning. After that, Ole Miss received singles from infielder Reagan Burford, catcher Campbell Smithwick and Hill, which helped the Rebels bring the score to 2-1.
The Volunteers kept their momentum, however, leaving the Rebels in the dust with a score of 7-1 at the end of the third inning. Ross’s two RBI home runs helped cut the lead down by four in the fourth inning, but that was it for the Rebels’ scoring.
Over the course of four innings, Tennessee piled on run after run, adding six more to top off play, as the Volunteers cut the game short in the seventh inning.
What’s next?
The Rebels look to rebound this week with a home game against Austin Peay on Tuesday, March 26, at 6:30 p.m. CT.
