No. 7 Ole Miss sweeps Saturday’s doubleheader, earns series win over No. 12 Georgia

OXFORD, Miss. — Following a disappointing loss on Friday, Ole Miss bounced back and won both games of Saturday’s doubleheader to take the series against No. 12 Georgia and improve to 32-9 on the year.

Series game two: Ole Miss 8, Georgia 4

The Rebels played much better in game two than they did on Friday, racking up eight runs on nine hits and eight walks which led to an 8-4 win in game one of the doubleheader. Will Stokes stole the show late in the contest, going three and two-thirds innings and allowing only two hits and one ER.

“I thought (Will Stokes) was tremendous,” head coach Mike Bianco said. “Like the Will Stokes that we’ve seen for so many years.”

Brady Feigl started the game and went five and a third, giving up seven hits and two earned runs. He earned the win to go to 7-2 on the year and move to a perfect 5-0 at Swayze.

“We lost a few games by one run,” James McArthur explained after the game three win.

James McArthur on Rebels’ pitcher Brady Feigl

Georgia scored first when Aaron Schunk hit a solo shot to left field to make it 1-0. Ole Miss would answer quickly, however, in the next frame and tie it up at one.

“Just stick to the process,” McArthur said when asked about his team’s performance. “Getting better and coming out here every single day and competing, loving one another and sticking up for each other.”

The party really got started in the fifth thanks to some textbook offense from the Rebs. They scored four runs in the inning to take a 5-2 lead and never looked back. They added three more runs in the sixth and the eighth which would prove to be too much for Georgia to overcome.

“It felt good to see the balls go off the bat like that,” Will Golsan said.

Ryan Olenek extended his hit streak to 18 games, going 2-5 with an RBI. The middle of the Rebels’ lineup had great success at the plate. Nick Fortes, Thomas Dillard and Cole Zabowski were walked a combined six times and scored four runs.

Series game three: Ole Miss 5, Georgia 2

Game three was more of the same for Ole Miss.

McArthur was absolutely dealing in the second game on Saturday. He pitched the best game of the weekend Saturday evening, allowing only two hits and striking out four in six innings of work.

“He was a horse for us today on the mound,” Bianco said.

Mike Bianco on James McArthur

The Rebels got out in front early in the rubber game thanks to a Tyler Keenan RBI double and a Will Golsan solo bomb to left which made the game 2-0 in the second.

Will Golsan on the Rebels’ resiliency

The bottom half of the fifth saw Ole Miss score three more runs and extend their lead to five–and a big reason was Will Golsan. Golsan had his best game of the year at the plate, hitting two dingers with three RBI.

“Will is a tremendous competitor,” Bianco said. “He doesn’t like when he doesn’t have success, not selfishly, but because he wants to do it for the team.”

Georgia would go on to score a couple of runs in the seventh and eighth, but those proved to be harmless in the big picture. Parker Caracci earned the save, pitching 1.1 innings and allowing no hits, no runs, no walks and striking out two. Olenek would also extend his hitting streak once again, now at 19 games.

“I said to the team and it’s true: ‘Don’t wish it was easier, wish you were better,’” Bianco said.

Next Up:

Ole Miss and Mississippi State face off Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. in Pearl.