Visiting Wright State took advantage of a lack of energy to put the game out of reach early on; leaving the series up for grabs in Sunday’s rubber match.
In game two of the Ole Miss baseball season, Wright State flipped the script from the series opener with an offensive outburst. Last year’s Horizon League winners won by a score of 9-5, using big innings in the third and fourth to keep the Rebels at bay. The blame for the loss can be shared with lackluster performances on the mound, in the field, and at the plate.
“I wish we could have helped (Zack) out,” Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco said. “The first four innings we did not play in any phase of the game.”
Starter Zack Phillips had a rocky debut. In his first inning, two errors and two singles led to the first run of the game for Wright State. Phillips struggled to find the base with his foot when covering first base, leading to the run. Coach Bianco’s first of two complaints to the umpires in the inning went unsuccessful. Phillips had to take some unlucky breaks, but he knows that happens in this sport.
“It was one of those days where the ball did not go my way,” Phillips said. “They found the holes, and that’s baseball.”
The Rebels were fortunate to limit the damage in the first inning when Chase Cockrell’s outfield assist was aided by a review to end the inning.
The game began to spiral when the Raiders added four runs in the top of the third inning. Phillips was not able to get out of the inning that included three walks, two doubles and a sacrifice fly. His relief was Taylor Broadway who only briefly stayed in the game, having to be pulled the next inning. Three runs by the visitors in the fourth stretched the lead to eight runs.
The bleeding halted there when Max Cioffi turned in a career performance. The sophomore posted a career high in innings pitched and strikeouts in one outing. He scattered two baserunners, a hit and a walk, over 3.2 innings pitched. His five strikeouts helped produce a scoreless outing.
The offense for Ole Miss stayed dormant for too long to start the game. Jacob Adams’ single accounted for the lone hit through the first four innings. Wright State starting pitcher Zane Collins kept the lineup off balance for five innings.
The fifth inning is where the Rebels showed life. Cooper Johnson’s RBI-single followed up Chase Cockrell’s to get the team on the scoreboard. Jacob Adams added another single before Ryan Olenek notched his first home run of the season, a two-run shot to the visitor’s bullpen.
Cockrell would produce again in the sixth inning by bringing home Thomas Dillard. The late offense continued with Thomas Dillard’s no-doubt home run to right field in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Kaleb Hill finished the last two innings on the mound for the Rebels in his debut. The freshman allowed a single run on one hit and two walks.
