Sunday Recap: Ole Miss Run Rules Princeton to Sweep Series

OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss, the No. 8 team in the country according to the USA Today Coaches Poll, took care of business this weekend as the Rebels swept the visiting Princeton Tigers. Ole Miss won each game of the series by over 10 runs, culminating with a 14-2 run-rule win over the Ivy league guests on Sunday at Swayze Field. (Click here for box score.)

The win pushes the Ole Miss streak to 14 straight.

Ole Miss put up a combined 47 runs on 43 hits in the series — and as impressive as that is, the performance at the plate was matched by the Rebels’ excellent performance on the mound. 

Friday night starter Doug Nikhazy went six innings without a hit allowed and notched a new career best with 12 strikeouts. Greer Holston and Logan Savell came on in relief, and the trio as a whole held the Tigers to just one hit on the entire night, the second-lowest mark for the Rebel pitching staff this season, en route to a 15-0 win. 

In Saturday’s game, Gunnar Hoglund got the start and pitched 6 innings of shutout ball, himself. Hoglund struck out 10 and the Rebels would go on to win, 18-4, earning the series victory. 

Sunday Recap

As Sunday rolled around, freshman Derek Diamond got the start for Ole Miss. He showed real poise to start the game, striking out the side in the first. It didn’t take long for Ole Miss to get on the scoreboard as Peyton Chatagnier sent a high-flying shot over the Jake Gibbs sign in left field.

.@peytonchat5 unloads for his third homer of the season!

💻 https://t.co/Vo8d7QtoVt pic.twitter.com/UUT5UmihXY

— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) March 8, 2020

Soon after, Ben Van Cleve hit a single to center that brought home Tyler Keenan and gave the Rebels a 2-0 lead. 

Princeton would come roaring back in the second as Ole Miss gave up a couple of early hits. RBIs from Sy Snedeker and David Harding would tie the game up, 2-2.

But in the bottom of the second, the Rebels would answer with two more on the board thanks to Hayden Dunhurst and Justin Bench drawing walks, an RBI single from Chatagnier, and a sac fly from Tyler Keenan that made it 4-2, Rebels. 

The third inning saw Ole Miss extend the lead, starting with a single up the middle from Hayden Leatherwood. After advancing to second on a wild pitch and third on a ground out, Leatherwood scored courtesy of a single to left from Tim Elko, pushing the Rebels’ lead to 5-2.

A sac fly from catcher Dunhurst would then bring in Elko, and give Ole Miss the 6-2 lead. The Swayze fans soon erupted as Justin Bench took the first pitch of his at bat and sent it into the Princeton bullpen to extend the lead to 7-2.

8️⃣th HR of the weekend

1️⃣st career @JBench_2 HR!

💻 https://t.co/Vo8d7QtoVt pic.twitter.com/5WlFEdD3Sm

— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) March 8, 2020

Diamond would regain his form in the fourth as he made quick work of the Tigers, taking care of them in three-up, three down fashion. Diamond struck out Carlos Abello to begin the inning and then induced two easy pop fly balls to end the inning.

The bottom of the fourth saw Ole Miss extend its lead with Peyton Chatagnier hitting his second home run of the game, pushing the Rebels’ advantage to 8-2. 

We have hit nine home runs this weekend, and 30 this year.

It is March 8th.@peytonchat5 has hit two today. It is the fourth inning.

💻 https://t.co/Vo8d7QtoVt pic.twitter.com/frqzzo2qNb

— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) March 8, 2020

In the fifth inning, Bench made an absolutely beautiful sliding catch in center to end the Princeton threat.

.@JBench_2 settling in at CF. 😎

💻 https://t.co/Vo8d7QtoVt pic.twitter.com/SEQ4cTZvnz

— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) March 8, 2020

Ole Miss added four in the bottom thanks to a three-RBI gap shot from Tyler Keenan that scored Dunhurst, Bench and Servideo. Cael Baker would follow with an RBI double down the first base line that excited the Ole Miss faithful as they saw Baker get down and dirty diving into second. That gave the Rebels a commanding 12-2 lead. 

After a Noah Granet single at the top of the sixth, Rebels’ head coach Mike Bianco signaled for the energetic Wes Burton to come in for relief of Diamond. Burton walked a couple; however, he quickly gained his poise to get out of the inning. In the bottom of the frame, we saw a two-run shot from leadoff man Anthony Servideo to extend the Rebel lead to 14-2.

The top of the seventh saw effective work from Cole Baker on the mound as he ended the Tigers on a three-up, three-down inning via a fly out, ground out, and a strikeout that ended the game. 

Ole Miss improves to 14-1 on the year, and Princeton now stands at 0-7. 

Quick Hits

• Diamond finished the day with a final line of: 5 IP, 6 H, 2 R, and 5 SOs. He dominated with his fastball and had good success with his cutter for most of the day. He reacted well after giving up two in the second and regained his composure on the mound ending the day with 82 total pitches.
• Wes Burton was fastball heavy in his one inning of work that saw him walk two and strike out two. Burton was able to keep calm when he needed to and get out of a bases-loaded jam. He threw 31 pitches.

Mid 6 | Atta boy @Wes55Burton!

He allows the bases to load on a pair of walks, but comes back to strand all three with two K's and a groundout! pic.twitter.com/LyXXfngfs9

— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) March 8, 2020

• Cole Baker retired all three Tigers on 9 pitches and striking out one.
• The top of the lineup did solid work on the day as the combination of Servideo, Chatagnier, and Keenan drove in 6 runs on the day.
• Peyton Chatagnier had a career day going 3-4 with 3 RBIs. Chatagnier notched two home runs that brings his season total to four (he hit one on Friday’s contest). In post game interviews, Chatagnier discussed how he already has hit as many homeruns as he did in the entirety of his senior year of high school.
• Tyler Keenan had 4 RBIs on the day, going 2-4 from the plate. He had one single, a 3 RBI-double and a sac fly. 
• The Rebels used three pinch hitters and one sub throughout Sunday’s contest. Knox Loposer, Jerrion Ealy, and John Rhys Plumlee all got opportunities at the plate. Trey LaFleur subbed in for Cael Baker at first base but did not record an at bat. 

NEXT UP

The Rebels’ 14-game win streak is the longest in the Mike Bianco era. Ole Miss will look to extend the victories next week as the team hits the road for a two-game midweek matchup against ULM on Tuesday and Wednesday. When they return to Oxford, the Rebs will open SEC play by hosting LSU next weekend.