The No. 18 Ole Miss Baseball team hosted the No. 6 Mississippi State Bulldogs this past weekend in an SEC series at Swayze Field. The Rebels lost all three games by a combined 12 runs.
Paired with the Rebels’ 2-6 loss to Memphis on Tuesday, March 24, Ole Miss’ losing streak extended to four games — only a few days after the Rebels won the series against then-No. 15 Kentucky on March 19-21.
The runners in scoring position slump continued
For most of the season, the Rebels got on base without much trouble but then struggled to drive these runners in. In three SEC series, the Rebels have had plenty of runners in scoring position but have only scored 37 runs.
The Rebels average 8.2 hits per game and have a .260 team batting average this season, so they usually have little problem getting on base. Their efficiency plummets, however, when there are runners in scoring position. Ole Miss went 7-of-36 with runners in scoring position against Texas, 3-of-20 against Kentucky and 6-of-27 last weekend against Mississippi State.
On Sunday, the Rebels loaded the bases four times but failed to drive in any of those runs. Even though the Rebels beat Kentucky last weekend, leaving baserunners stranded was an apparent issue in that series, as well.
Pitching inconsistency
Hunter Elliott, Hudson Calhoun and Cade Townsend were the starters this weekend. The pitchers each gave up three runs in their respective starts.
Despite his three earned runs, Elliott was solid in game one. He racked up seven strikeouts with two walks. His struggles began in the sixth inning, when he gave up a single and then walked a Bulldog batter. Mississippi State logged back-to-back hits to take the lead, at which point head coach Mike Bianco took Elliott out of the game.
If Bianco had replaced Elliot with reliever Taylor Rabe sooner, the Rebels might not have fallen behind.
Rabe’s two earned runs came in the ninth inning. The Rebels, who had been leading, fell behind 5-4 and could not mount a comeback in the bottom of the inning.
On Saturday, Calhoun had four strikeouts but allowed three hits and three earned runs. Reliever Wil Libbert came out flat. He allowed six hits, three earned runs and did not tally any strikeouts.
On Sunday, Townsend gave up a double and a home run against the first two Bulldog batters of the game. Though he struck out eight batters, Mississippi State scored five runs on him, and the game was out of reach after that point.
Bianco left Elliott and Rabe out too long, and it cost the team in the end.
Home runs disappeared … and so did the offense
Prior to this weekend, the Rebel offense was powered by home runs. Against Kentucky, the Rebels hit seven over the fence. Against Mississippi State, however, they logged only two homers, both of which came on Friday.
This year, the Rebels’ offensive formula has been to draw walks, then put the ball over the fence. State is middle-of-the-pack when it comes to giving up homers, but the Rebels still struggled.
Indeed, even though home runs appear to be the crux of the offense, the Rebels are still hitting them at a slower clip than last season. Through 29 games last year, Ole Miss had nearly 60 homers. In that same stretch this year, they only have 48, which ranks fourth in the SEC.
Strikeouts have also been an issue this year. The Rebels struck out 39 times against Mississippi State; their 277 strikeouts this season are the most of any team in the SEC. Paired with the continued runners in scoring position troubles, this offense teeters dangerously close to stagnance.
What’s next?
Ole Miss will host Little Rock on Tuesday, March 31. This weekend, the Rebels will travel to Gainesville, Fla., to play No. 21 Florida. All games will be broadcast on SECN+.
