No. 4 Ole Miss wins game two, evens series with No. 5 Arkansas
OXFORD, Miss. — In another nail-biter, No. 4 Ole Miss won its seventh, one-run game of the season, defeating Arkansas 5-4 to even the series with the No. 5 ranked Razorbacks.
Olenek went 3-4 in game two.
(Photo: Josh McCoy)
In front of a crowd of 10,608 at Swayze, the Rebels (24-4, 5-3 Southeastern Conference) took a lead in the first inning as Thomas Dillard singled through the right side to score Ryan Olenek.
In the top of the second inning, Arkansas scored two runs to take a 2-1 lead as Carson Shaddy singled and scored Grant Koch, followed by Eric Cole’s single that scored Dominic Fletcher.
Starter Brady Feigl battled through the inning and rebounded to finish with a final line of seven hits given up, two earned runs, four strikeouts and four walks over 5.1 innings pitched.
In the bottom of the second, Tyler Keenan reached on a fielding error by the Hogs’ second baseman and Cockrell and Golsan scored to give Ole Miss a 3-1 lead after two complete.
The two teams were scoreless in the third and fourth, with Arkansas coming up empty in the top half of the fifth. Ole Miss, however, added two runs when Nick Fortes pounded a two-run homer that also scored Olenek, giving the Rebels a 5-2 lead.
Nick Fortes hit a 2-run homer.
(Photo: Josh McCoy)
The two teams were also scoreless in the sixth inning; however, Arkansas notched a run in each of the seventh and eighth innings that cut the Ole Miss lead to 5-4.
Enter Parker Caracci.
Redshirt sophomore Caracci continues to dominate on the mound. The Jackson, Miss. native was fantastic in the top half of the ninth, cutting through the Arkansas side like butter and picking up his fifth save of the season in the process.
He got Gates to strike out looking, and Kjerstad and Koch to strike out swinging.
Brady Feigl gets the win and moves to 6-1 on the season. Greer Holston came on and pitched 1.1 innings, followed by Dallas Woolfolk who pitched for a critical out in the seventh.
Caracci entered the game in the eighth and his final line is: 2 innings pitched, 1 hit, no runs, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts, giving him a .87 ERA.
Remember that one time @Parkercaracci struck out the side in the 9th to beat Arkansas? #FunTimes #RebsBSB ⚾️ pic.twitter.com/vjKoWGi9zU
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) March 31, 2018
Offensively, Ryan Olenek finished with another outstanding night, going 3-4, with a double. Nick Fortes finished 1-3 with a homer and two RBI. Thomas Dillard and Tyler Keenan each had an RBI.
Evan Lee takes the loss for Arkansas.
Rubber game set for Saturday
The Rebels and Razorbacks will settle the series in Saturday’s game three. First pitch is set for 1:30 p.m.
Evelyn Van Pelt
Evelyn has covered sports for over two decades, beginning her journalism career as a sports writer for a newspaper in Austin, Texas. She attended Texas A&M and majored in English. Evelyn’s love for Ole Miss began when her daughter Katie attended the university on a volleyball scholarship. Evelyn created the Rebel Walk in 2013 and has served as publisher and managing editor since its inception.
