The No. 1 ranked Ole Miss baseball team lost to Tennessee at home on Sunday 4-3 to finish off a brutal weekend for the Rebels. Here are my three takeaways from the disappointing outing.
Pitchers did their part
I’ve said time and time again that Ole Miss doesn’t need great pitching performances on Sunday due to the offense’s ability to mass-produce runs on Sundays, but this Sunday the pitchers did better than anyone could have asked of them as the stagnant Rebel offense just wasn’t able to perform as they normally do. Derek Diamond was able to make it through 4.2 innings while only giving up three runs, which is an improvement upon his previous performances. His outing was followed up by dominant outings from Riley Maddox and Brandon Johnson, who were able to hold the Vols to just one run for the rest of the game. When your pitching staff holds any team to just four runs on Sundays, you are supposed to win that game easily as Sundays are typically higher scoring games. This wasn’t the case as the Rebel offense had no answer for the Vols’ pitching all weekend. Hopefully, the pitching staff can build off their solid performance and continue to pitch well on Sundays.
At least this game was competitive
After being blown out in the first two games of the series, the Rebels were able to fight hard enough to keep this one within reach. After being held scoreless through seven innings, Hayden Dunhurst provided the only life Ole Miss had seen all weekend with a three-run homer to cut Tennessee’s lead to one run. Unfortunately for the Rebels, they weren’t able to score anymore but it was nice to see the team fight hard after an embarrassing Friday and Saturday at Swayze.
If the offense isn’t elite, then lower your expectations.
It’s certainly not fair to judge the team after one bad weekend, and I think the offense will bounce back and play the way they can. But it makes one think that maybe the offense isn’t as good as advertised, and if that is the case, then it’s not going to be a very fun year for this team. The offense is the bread and butter for this team, and in order for Ole Miss to make a postseason run the offense has to be nothing short of elite. The pitching staff isn’t very good, but the goal for them as a staff is simply to just keep the team in the game so the offense can win it. If the offense can’t perform to the highest of their ability then the pitching staff is not going to be able to keep Ole Miss in games. I don’t think this weekend means that Ole Miss isn’t really good offensively, but if it turns out that the offense is overrated then Ole Miss isn’t going very far this year. It’s up to them to bounce back and hit like they are capable of doing or this ship is going to sink.
