The Ole Miss Baseball team won Sunday’s game three matchup against Kentucky by a score of 10-1 to secure their second SEC road series of the year. The Rebels scored 10 runs on 13 hits while shutting down Kentucky offensively and cruised in a game that they really needed to win.
Thank you offense
The Ole Miss offense dominated game three after a string of very underwhelming performances in SEC play. After being all but shut down by the Tennessee pitching staff a weekend prior, the Rebels scored only two runs in each of their first two games against Kentucky and recorded just eight hits. The Rebel bats woke up when they needed to the most after suboptimal performances on Friday and Saturday and took the series-deciding game into their own hands. It was a tremendous sign to see success from the offense after their previous performances and it should give the team some much-needed confidence heading into next week. The Rebels will have a great opportunity to build on Sunday’s game as Alabama, whose pitching staff has struggled this year, comes to Oxford next weekend.
Hell yeah Jack Washburn
The transfer from Oregon State was given the nod to start on the mound for the Rebels in game three after head coach Mike Bianco decided to shake up the rotation after the Tennessee series. In just his second weekend appearance this season, Washburn did more than anyone could have asked of him and gave the Rebels more than a good chance to win. He allowed only one run in five innings pitched while striking out six to join in on the offense’s domination of Kentucky. Washburn looked comfortable and confident on the mound which is really impressive considering this was his first SEC action. Assuming the rotation looks the same next weekend, Washburn will finally be pitching meaningful innings for the Rebels after being the midweek starter to this point in the season.
Ole Miss really needed this series
The win improved the Rebel’s record to 19-8 and 4-5 in the SEC. Had they have dropped two games to the Wildcats, it would’ve dropped their record to 3-6 in conference play. The last time Ole Miss started out the conference slate that poorly it missed the NCAA tournament completely (2017). Needless to say, this was a very important game for the Rebels, not just for their record, but for themselves mentally. Bouncing back from a bad weekend at home against a pretty decent SEC team on the road is not an easy thing to do, and the Rebels showed some toughness in doing so. The Rebels have now won three series on the road against teams that will most likely make the NCAA tournament (UCF, Auburn, Kentucky), and their only series lost in the SEC came at the hands of a Tennessee team who is now 9-0 in conference play. Ole Miss is still in a pretty good place considering some of the struggles it has had so far this year, and the hope for them is that it will only get better as the pitching staff gets figured out and gets healthy.
