The Ole Miss baseball team was blown out by the Southeast Missouri Redhawks 13-3 in Tuesday’s game and were nearly run-ruled in the process.
Photo courtesy: Petre Thomas/Ole Miss Athletics.
The Rebels were uncompetitive against a mid-major school that should have been beaten. The Redhawks scored 13 runs on 12 hits while the Rebels were only able to score three on a 10-hit day. SEMO’s Austin Williams earned the win while Drew McDaniel was docked with the loss.
Here are takeaways from the game:
Sheesh
That’s one of the worst midweek losses in head coach Mike Bianco’s tenure at Ole Miss. The Rebels played very poorly in all three facets of the game and did not look like a team that wanted to be there. There was no energy or life in the dugout as the team put up zero fight.
Coming off a disappointing series loss at South Carolina, the Rebels needed to get back on the field and get that sour taste out of their mouths. Instead, they’ll head into a massive weekend with three straight losses and probably very little confidence.
Tywone Malone
To talk about something not depressing about Ole Miss baseball, freshman first-baseman and football defensive lineman Tywone Malone hit his second home run of the year in just his fourth at-bat.
He crushed a no-doubter to center field and had he not done that, the Rebels would have been run-ruled in the eighth inning. It was a nice treat for all the die-hard fans still watching whatever this Ole Miss baseball team is right now. If Malone gets more at-bats and those are successful, there’s a possibility that his role will get bigger as the year winds down.
Huge series ahead
If the Rebels don’t take two of three from the Mississippi State Bulldogs this weekend, you can go ahead and forget about this season. There’s still time for Ole Miss to make a run and play itself into the NCAA tournament, but it’s going to take nearly a miracle to make that happen, and it has to start with beating Mississippi State this weekend.
It’s hard to ask for such, but honestly what the team really needs is a sweep. If it can do that then it just needs to go .500 the rest of the way in conference play to make the tournament.
Again, hard to ask for, but that’s what needs to happen.
