After dropping a midweek contest against South Alabama in Mobile, Ala., the Rebels hosted No. 3 Arkansas at Swayze Field from March 14-16 and lost two of three games.
Game one (won 10-6)
Hunter Elliot struggled the week before against Jacksonville State but was saved by the Rebels offense. Despite a shaky start on Friday, he was back to his best in the series opener against the Hogs. Elliot went five innings and surrendered just two runs against a high-powered Razorback offense. Elliot struck out eight batters.
Much like the week before, Ole Miss started the scoring early. The Rebels plated seven runs in the first four innings and scored in every inning except the seventh and eighth. Freshman phenom Hayden Federico blasted a leadoff homer to get things started on the first SEC pitch he saw in the first inning.
Mason Morris came on in relief of Elliot and nearly finished the game before being pulled in the ninth. Morris gave way to closer Connor Spencer, who slammed the door on the Hogs comeback and sealed the Rebels’ first conference win of the year, 10-6.
Game two (loss 12-3)
Much like game one, Ole Miss took an early lead in Saturday’s game. However, this was after the Razorbacks jumped ahead in the top of the first inning via a sacrifice fly.
The Rebels responded in the bottom half of the inning by loading the bases. A hit-by-pitch and wild pitch scored two runs and gave Ole Miss the lead.
Ole Miss only scratched the two runs across and stranded the bases loaded with one out. This was a costly moment, as they needed all the runs they could get in this one.
Arkansas’ offense was relatively quiet after scoring in the first. Riley Maddox did a great job at keeping the Razorbacks off the board and worked out of some jams. A Charles Davalan two-run shot in the fifth put Arkansas back on top and ended Maddox’s day.
The fifth quickly got away from the Rebels, as the Aloy brothers, Wehiwa and Kuhio, followed Davalan’s act and made back-to-back homers. Arkansas scored eight runs on seven hits in the fifth and took a commanding 9-2 lead.
From there, the Rebels had no answers at the plate. An Austin Fawley bomb in the sixth was the only other run Ole Miss scored the rest of the way. Arkansas added three more in the ninth and took game two in an emphatic fashion, 12-3.
Game three (loss 12-9)
The Sunday rubber match between the two divisional rivals certainly lived up to the billing. The Rebels took a commanding 4-0 lead on the back of a couple two-run shots, with Luke Hill in the first and Judd Utermark in the fourth.
Arkansas did not go quietly, though. The Razorbacks responded with one run in the fourth, two in the fifth and four in the sixth inning to take a 7-4 lead. Like Maddox, Rebel starter Mason Nichols cruised through the first four innings before running into trouble in the fifth.
Similar to their counterparts, the Rebels showed some serious grit and toughness after falling behind by three runs. Ole Miss started the bottom half of the seventh trailing 8-5 with a very talented Arkansas bullpen looming in front of them.
Mitchell Sanford cut the lead to two with a solo homer to lead off the inning. Utermark followed with a single, and Will Furniss walked. A sac bunt and a few plays later, Ole Miss knotted it up at eight.
An eventful top half of the eighth saw the closer Spencer work out of a jam and keep the game tied to give the offense a chance to go ahead in the bottom half. Sanford walked and Furniss singled to left-center to score Sanford all the way from first, which gave Ole Miss a 9-8 lead.
Ultimately, the lead and comeback was short lived. An error by freshman shortstop Owen Paino followed by a bloop single had two on the for Hogs. Spencer would get to two outs with a sac bunt and a strikeout, only to give up a game-tying RBI single to the red-hot Charles Davalan.
The very next at bat, Wehiwa Aloy sent his second homer of the day into right field and gave Arkansas a 12-9 lead.
That lead was enough to win the game and the series for the Razorbacks as the Rebels dropped their first series of the year.
What’s Next?
The Rebels look to bounce back in midweek action against Southern Miss for round two of their in-state rivalry, this time at a neutral site in Pearl, Miss. Following their Governor’s Cup meeting with the Golden Eagles, the Rebels travel to Columbia to take on the Missouri Tigers.
