Ole Miss evens series with 5-4 win over Arkansas

Ole Miss defeated Arkansas 5-4 Friday night at Baum Stadium to even the series against the Razorbacks and pick up a key conference win. The Rebels (14-13, 4-4 SEC) and Arkansas (13-13, 2-6 SEC) will battle on Saturday afternoon to determine the winner of the series.

Rebel hitting comes up big

Ole Miss recorded nine hits on the night, recording a team batting average of .385 when faced with two outs. Junior Cameron Dishon and sophmore Colby Bortles each had solo home runs for Ole Miss. Dishon had a career-high three hits–and his home run was his second of the season. He scored twice and notched two RBIs. Bortles’ home run was his third of the season and was ultimately the game-winning run. Freshman Will Golsan added a critical, two-RBI single in the Rebels’ three-run second inning.

Rebel pitching takes care of Hogs

Ole Miss pitcher Brady Bramlett (4-1) picked up the win for the Rebels. The redshirt sophomore allowed two runs on seven hits and two walks, while striking out five Arkansas players. Senior Scott Weathersby pitched three innings and struck out four, while Wyatt Short came in and earned his third save of the season by shutting the Razorbacks down in the ninth.

After the game, Ole Miss Head Coach Mike Bianco commented on Bramlett’s pitching. “I thought Brady really competed,” he said. “He was able to work the strike zone tonight. They (Arkansas) were able to run his pitch count up.”

Fireworks all around

There were quite a number of fireworks in the game–besides Bortles’ and Dishon’s homers–as Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn was ejected in the second inning and first baseman Clark Eagan was too, three innings later.

Later, Razorback catcher Carson Shaddy took shortstop Brett McAfee’s relay from Andrew Benintendi in center and allegedly got Rebel freshman Kyle Watson trying to score at home on pinch-hitter Holt Perdzock’s single. However, Watson was safe and it was not even close.

Unlike the Arkansas player and coach, however, Rebels’ Head Coach Bianco kept his cool following the missed call at the plate. He urged his players to remain calm and the strategy paid off as Ole Miss went out and took care of business in the ninth to end the game and tie the series at one game each.

“To be able to bounce back after some losses, I really thought our guys did a good job tonight,” said Bianco after the game.

Featured Image Photo Credit: Rhett Jefferson – Flickr