Ole Miss Baseball swept by State in weekend series

No. 18 Ole Miss Baseball lost all three games against No. 6 Mississippi State at Swayze Field from Friday, March 27, to Sunday, March 29. The Rebels lost the series on Saturday with a 6-1 defeat in game two and State completed the sweep with a 7-1 win on Sunday. 

Game one was the Rebels’  best shot to get a win in the series, but they lost the lead in the ninth. Situational hitting eluded Ole Miss all weekend. 

Game one

Catcher Austin Fawley’s seventh inning three-run home run gave the Rebels a late lead on Friday night, but they were unable to hold on in the ninth inning.

Ole Miss ace Hunter Elliott got the start. He struck out two batters and walked one in a quick first inning. 

State sent left hander Charlie Foster to the mound after the Bulldogs’ usual Friday starter, Ryan McPherson, was diagnosed with a mild forearm strain. 

Neither offense could get anything going through three innings. Third baseman Ace Reese nearly had the first hit of the ball game in the fourth, but right fielder Tristan Bissetta made a sliding grab for the out. 

Elliott got his fifth strikeout later in the inning to complete another clean frame. Third baseman Judd Utermark got the Rebels on the board with a home run to right center field. The homer marked the first hit of the ball game and the first Ole Miss batter to reach base.

After another Elliott strikeout, Bulldog left fielder Bryce Chance got his team’s first hit of the night in the fifth, but a double play from the next batter ended the frame. 

First baseman Will Furniss got Ole Miss’ second hit with a bullet to right for a double. Left fielder Tate Sirmans popped out on a bunt attempt and Decker flew out to center. 

State brought in reliever Jack Gleason to face Fawley, who struck a pitch to left field, but hit it right into the wind to end the inning. 

Bulldog second baseman Drew Wyers got State’s second hit on a knock up the middle with one out in the sixth. Elliott walked the next better after a questionable ball four call to put runners on first and second.

Reese put State on the board with a single to left and tied the game up. The Bulldogs took a 2-1 lead with an RBI double down the left field line and ended Elliott’s night. 

The lefty pitched 5 ⅓ innings, gave up four hits, allowed three earned runs, walked two and struck out seven on 92 pitches. He left the game responsible for two runners on the bases.

“I just thought he (Hunter Elliott) really commanded it well, maybe his best command day of the year, and a good mix with (all four pitches),” Bianco said in a postgame interview. “He did a really good job. I thought Joel (Mangrum) did a great job calling the game early on.”

Reliever Taylor Rabe came into the game and walked the first batter he faced. The next batter hit an infield single to make it 3-1 with only one out. Rabe retired the next two batters to end the bases loaded jam. 

State made two pitching changes in the seventh inning. Ole Miss worked back-to-back walks with two outs to put a runner in scoring position.

Fawley came up with a clutch 3-run bomb to make it 4-3. The ball beat the wind and just snuck between the foul pole and the bullpen. 

It began to rain when Rabe came back out for the ninth and he gave up a single to begin the inning. The next batter hit a double off the third base bag to put runners on second and third with no outs. 

Walker Hooks came into the game. He got the first out on a grounder, but the runner scored from third to tie it up. Pinch hitter Chone James hit an RBI triple to take a 5-4 lead. The ball rolled all the way to the wall after Bissetta slipped, which allowed James to reach third.

Furniss got the second out at home, then Hooks struck Reese out to end the frame. Ole Miss went down quietly in the ninth to end the game.

Game two

Hudson Calhoun got his second straight start. He pitched in place of Cade Townsend against Kentucky last week. This time, head coach Mike Bianco took Wil Libbert out of the starting rotation and pushed Townsend’s start to Sunday, paving the way for Calhoun to get the nod in game two.

Calhoun gave up a hit in the first, but Fawley caught the runner stealing to end the frame.

State starter Tomas Valincius came into the game with an earned run average around one and was dominant on Saturday.

“He (Valincius) had the sinker working in, and then the slider working off that away, really good slider,” second baseman Dom Decker said in a postgame interview. “He just threw a lot of pitches where he wanted to and didn’t give us free bases and made it tough on us.”

Furniss led off the bottom of the second with a groundout, then left fielder Topher Jones was hit by a pitch. Decker hit a bloop single to put runners on the corners, but Fawley and shortstop Brayden Randle struck out to end the threat.  

State catcher Kevin Milewski put the Bulldogs ahead with a homer in the third. 

Calhoun allowed the first three batters of the fourth to reach base, two via walks. Bianco pulled him with the bases loaded and no outs. 

Libbert came into pitch and got a ground ball double play, but one run scored to make it 2-0. A third run came off a single to center to make it 3-0.

The Rebels only got one hit through three innings. Jones reached on a hard hit single that the second baseman could not come up with and Decker worked a walk to set up Fawley in the fourth, but Ole Miss managed to not score in the inning.

State put runners on the corners with one away in fifth, but Libbert remained in the game. He got the Bulldogs to roll into another double play to end the frame with no damage done. 

Ole Miss had no answer for Valincius. They put themselves in good scoring positions a few times, but could not cash in. While the wind was noticeable on Saturday, the Rebels did not make good enough contact for it to affect their performance. 

“Last night we talked about some good fortune. Where balls found holes for them (State),” Bianco said in a postgame interview. “We didn’t give ourselves that opportunity when we got to second base.”

State hit a 2-run home run in the sixth, then followed it up with a solo shot to make it 6-0.

Decker got Ole Miss on the board with an RBI single up the middle in the bottom of the inning. The Rebels threatened in the seventh, but designated hitter Collin Reuter struck out to end the inning.

Owen Hancock had a great outing in relief of Libbert. He pitched 3 ⅔ innings, did not give up a hit, walked one and struck out five. 

With Saturday’s loss, Ole Miss dropped the series. The Rebels were 3-for-19 with runners on base and struck out 14 times, including six looking.

Game three

The Rebels fell in game three 7-1. State hit four homers to complete the sweep.

“That was a disappointing weekend obviously. We didn’t play well enough to win. They played well on the other side,” Bianco said in a postgame interview. “When you don’t play well at home against your arch rival that’s really disappointing.”

Townsend got the start for Ole Miss in game three, marking his first appearance since he left game two against Texas on March 14 early with a shoulder injury.

State center fielder got things started with a double in the first and Reese followed it up with a 2-run homer to put the Bulldogs ahead 2-0. Townsend got the next three batters out, two with strikeouts, to end the frame. 

In the bottom of the inning, Utermark drew a one-out walk and advanced to third on a Bissetta line out to center. Reuter drove him in to make it 2-1 with a single to left. Furniss walked to put runners on first and second. 

Brett Moseley got the start in center field over Hayden Federico and had the chance to even things up. He dropped a perfect bunt to load the bases for left fielder Daniel Pacella who struck out on three pitches to end the frame. 

Townsend worked around State’s third extra base hit in the second to keep the score 2-1. 

Bissetta and Reuter worked back-to-back walks with one away in the third. Furniss stepped up to the plate and moved everybody up 90 feet with a single to left. 

Moseley struck out and Pacella flew out to left with the bases loaded. Ole Miss continued to fail in big moments. 

After the third, as part of Stand Up to Cancer Day, everyone in the crowd stood up and held a moment of silence with signs to honor those who have been affected by cancer. 

After striking out five straight, Townsend gave up another home run to make it 3-1 in the fourth. Ole Miss should have been out of the inning on a grounder to first, but, upon review, Townsend did not touch the bag after the toss from Furniss and the inning continued. The next batter hit a 2-run home run to make it 5-1. 

JP Robertson replaced Townsend in the fifth. Townsend pitched four innings, allowed five hits (all extra bases), gave up five runs and struck out eight. State beat the shift with two outs and tacked on another run, 6-1. 

Ole Miss loaded the bases in the sixth, but Utermark flew out to end the inning. Utermark came up to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs in the eighth. This time he struck out to end the threat.

Hooks was solid out of the bullpen. He allowed one hit and struck out four in three innings. 

Landon Waters got the final three outs in the ninth, but not before giving up a solo home run to make it 7-1. 

What’s next?

Ole Miss welcomes Little Rock to Oxford on Tuesday, March 31 at 11 a.m. The Rebels travel to Gainesville, Fla., to take on the Gators from Thursday, April 2 to Saturday, April 4. SEC Network+ will broadcast the games.