Ole Miss (16-11, 1-8 SEC) took on Texas A&M (17-11, 3-6) in College Station for the third weekend of SEC play. Both teams were part of the eight programs to compete in the College World Series last season, but neither team has played as well as expected in conference play this season.
Unlike the past two weekends, the Rebels’ bats got started early. With Jack Dougherty on the mound Friday night, the Aggies were held to no runs in the first inning, and the Rebels came out with an early 2-0 lead thanks to a 440 ft home run by Jacob Gonzalez.
The lead didn’t last long though. By the end of the second, Texas A&M had tied it up and continued to put up everything the Rebels did.
In the top of the sixth, with the score tied 3-3, it looked like the Rebels had a chance to blow the game open. With two runners on base, Peyton Chatagnier doubled down the right-field line to score Anthony Calarco and put Ole Miss ahead.
The Rebels had two on base and no outs, but unfortunately, a pitching change by the Aggies sat the next three down in order.
Ole Miss kept the lead 4-3 until the delay came. With terrible storms and tornado watches back in Oxford, College Station was also experiencing some bad weather.
The game went into a lightning delay at 7:58 p.m. and was set back an hour and 27 minutes. They resumed the game at 9:25 p.m., beginning the seventh inning, and things started to take a turn for the worst for the Rebels.
Mitch Murrell came out of the bullpen to relieve the starting pitcher Dougherty after the delay, and the Rebels were no longer in sync.
After a single, a batter that reached off a throwing error and an intentional walk that loaded the bases, Murrell gave up a grand slam.
Even with only a one-run lead, it felt like Ole Miss had the game in its hands, and then Texas A&M took a 7-4 lead.
In the top of the eighth, the Rebel bats did not respond. Though the Aggie bats came back and did it again with another home run to center field.
Ole Miss fought in the ninth to stay in the game, with a single from Ethan Groff and a home run from Kemp Alderman to put two on the board, but it wasn’t enough.
The Aggies took Game 1 of the series 8-6.
Xavier Rivas got the start for Game 2 for the Rebels.
In the bottom of the second, an unlikely face got the ball rolling for Ole Miss. Reagan Burford, who is not a frequent starter for the Rebels, hit a two-run home run to left field to tie it up.
A&M retook the lead off of singles that scored walks given up by Rivas, and we started to see stolen bases come into play, but Ole Miss did not stay down long.
The Rebels scratched across five runs in the fourth to make the score 7-4. During the inning, Gonzalez picked up his 24th RBI of the season and Alderman got his 37th.
The next frame had everyone on the edge of their seats. With two runners on base, Hunter Haas, the Aggie batter, hit a home run down the left-field line to tie the game.
Head coach Mike Bianco of the Rebels decided to challenge it because he didn’t believe it was a fair ball, and after hearing back from the replay crew in Birmingham, the play was overturned.
There were still no outs, but Texas A&M did not get the three runs, and they all had to return to the bags. The Rebels received a game-changing call and had to act on it.
The Rebels had another electric frame in the fifth, where they put up three more runs, all with two outs. With three walks to load the bases, Texas A&M changed pitchers only to walk one in.
Alderman then came to the plate and hit a double to right field to score Calvin Harris and Groff. They stood their ground and held the score 10-5 in favor of the Rebels until the eighth.
At the top of the eighth, Texas A&M was struggling with pitching. After two walks and a HBP, Burford was hit by a pitch to score one. TJ McCants came through with a single that scored two more, making it 14-5.
The Aggies only secured two more runs, and the Rebels won their first conference game of the season 14-7.
This win marked a massive career accomplishment for Bianco. This game was his 870th career SEC win, which ties him for second all-time with Skip Bertman.
With the series tied 1-1, Sunday’s rubber match game will be a fight to see which team will get their first SEC series win.
Instead of the usual Sunday starter Grayson Saunier, JT Quinn had the start in the deciding game.
The Rebels struck first with doubles from Harris and Groff, resulting in a 2-0 lead. Quinn started hot for Ole Miss, giving up only one hit and two groundouts, one of which was a double play.
Quinn continued to get batters to swing in the bottom of the second, and the Rebel defense backed him up. The pitcher sat three down in order, getting another batter to fall into a Gonzalez-Chatagnier double play trap.
Harris hit his fourth home run of the season to widen the lead for Ole Miss, and while their bats continued to heat up like Rebel fans have been hoping for all season, the defense also stepped up.
A&M finally put one on the board in the bottom of the third off of a home run to right-center, but Quinn also picked up his first strikeout of the game and picked off the runner on first base.
The Aggies came back and tied it up 3-3 in the fourth with a two-run home run, but the freshman pitcher ended the inning with no more damage.
Looking to scratch across some runs, Ole Miss had bases loaded with Alderman up to bat. With only one out, the odds looked good until he grounded into the sixth double play of the game.
After two frames of both teams going three up, three down, Murrell made another appearance from the bullpen and took over for Quinn.
Mason Nichols took over for Murrell to get the final out and struck the batter out swinging. Unfortunately in the next frame, all three Rebel batters went down swinging as well.
It’s a one-run ballgame going into the eighth in favor of the Aggies, and Ole Miss was looking to get the bats going. With nothing added to the board, the Rebels hoped that Nichols could hold off the Texas A&M offense.
The pitcher did just what was needed of him, striking out three of the seven batters he has faced so far.
The Rebels tied the game up in the top of the ninth 4-4, off of a sac fly from Burford that brought in pinch-runner Judd Utermark. With no at-bats left in regulation play, they needed to hold off Texas A&M to take it into extra innings.
Nichols takes the mound again, and with a devastating turn for the Rebels, a home run to left center ends the game.
With a final score of 5-4, Texas A&M takes the series, but Ole Miss walks away with their first win of conference play.
The Rebels will head to Memphis to play the Tigers on Tuesday, April 4 at 6 p.m. on ESPN+.
