The No. 3 Florida Gators (22-4, 5-1 SEC) swept the No. 13 Ole Miss Rebels (15-9, 0-6) in a three-game series at Swayze Field.
There was a lot of back-and-forth action throughout the series but in the end, the Rebels couldn’t find a way to secure a victory.
Ole Miss had their struggles on both pitching and offense and the inconsistencies have really gone back to bite them. The Rebels remain winless in conference play and hope to get back on track as soon as possible.
Here are three takeaways from the series.
Rebels can’t find an answer for Jac Caglianone
It was a series to remember for Caglianone. The two-way pitcher absolutely demolished whatever the Rebels threw to him.
Although he struggled in Sunday’s start on the mound (3.2 innings pitched, one hit, two earned runs, eight walks, three strikeouts), it was heavily overshadowed by his performance in the batter’s box.
Caglianone leads the country in home runs, and his power with his bat was on full display during the three games in Oxford. Over the three-game series, Caglianone batted 7-for-13 (.538 BA), hit five RBIs and four home runs.
The native from Tampa has hit more home runs than singles this season, and that’s saying something.
Florida’s offense was too much for the Ole Miss pitching staff
The Gators unleashed their bats against the Rebels during the weekend series. Through three games, Florida was 32-for-113 (.283 BA), hit 29 RBIs and had a total of 10 home runs.
Looking through the Gator lineup, there’s no “easy” out. So the Rebels really had to step up their game if they wanted to have a chance to win.
What ended up biting the Rebel pitchers were the walks given up. Through three games, the Ole Miss pitching staff gave up 20 walks. And walks lead to runs.
“A lot of young pitchers gotta grow up and make more pitches,” head coach Mike Bianco said about the team’s pitching performance after Saturday’s double header. “It’s disappointing because they’re better than this, but at the end of the day, you are who you are and so, we’ve got to do better.”
Strikeouts continue to be an area of concern for the Rebel offense
The Rebels are dealing with the strikeout bug and it’s become fairly evident that it’s created a big problem for the offense.
The Ole Miss batters struck-out a total of 32 times over the weekend series and are up to 168 on the year. Sure, this lineup can be very dangerous, but they have to stay disciplined at the plate if they want to be able to win consistently.
There were multiple times when the batters went down on strikes on just three pitches and it’s important to figure out ways to work the count.
“They’re trying,” Bianco said after Game 3’s loss. “They’re showing up and they’re competing. But we’ve still got to continue to go…We’re getting close, but not enough to win one of these games.
Ole Miss heads to Pearl, Miss. on Tuesday, March 28 to play Southern Miss. First pitch is at 6 p.m. CDT.
