Rebels defeat Alcorn State, 11-1, in eight innings
OXFORD, Miss. — Five Ole Miss pitchers combined for 14 strikeouts as the Rebels took care of Alcorn State 11-1 in eight innings Tuesday night at Swayze.
Freshman Josh Mallitz went four innings and fanned six to earn his first career win. Four relievers — Luke Baker, Cody Adcock, Brandon Johnson, and Wes Burton — struck out two each in one inning of work apiece.
T5 | Mallitz will cap his night after a career best 4.0 IP and 6 K's.@lukeobaker in to pitch.
Ole Miss 3, Alcorn State 0 pic.twitter.com/EcHe2iyzlx
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) March 10, 2021
The Rebels were able to score three runs in the third inning four more in the sixth and ended the game due to the mercy rule in the eighth. Tim Elko and Hayden Leatherwood each went 2-for-3 in the Ole Miss eight-hit attack. Hayden Dunhurst scored three runs as he walked four times and was hit by a pitch.
In the bottom of the third inning, Cael Baker earned a painful run batted in by getting hit with a pitch with the bases loaded to put Ole Miss ahead 1-0. Hayden Leatherwood followed with a single to double the lead. Ben Van Cleve then ripped a hot to left field that scored Tim Elko on a sacrifice fly and the Rebels had a 3-0 lead.
Khalil Smith got Alcorn State on the board by blasting a solo shot in the top of the fifth inning off reliever Luke Baker.
The Rebels blew the game open in the sixth. John Rhys Plumlee reached on an infield single then stole second. After Justin Bench was hit by a pitch, both runners moved up a base on a sacrifice bunt by Jacob Gonzales and Plumlee sprinted home on a wild pitch to put Ole Miss up by three. A Hunter Dunhurst walk put another runner on base and Elko then laced a double into the left field corner to plate both runners to give the Rebels a 6-1 lead.
Elko scored on another wild pitch to extend the lead to 7-1.
Ole Miss added insurance in the eighth. Gonzalez led off with a single and moved to second when Dunhurst was hit by a pitch. A single to center by Elko chased Gonzalez home and Dunhurst scored on a single off the bat of Cade Sammons to give the Rebels a 9-1 advantage.
Elko was able to score when Baker grounded out to third to put the Rebs in double digits. A Calvin Harris sacrifice fly scored Sammons to end the game due to the mercy rule.
HIGHLIGHTS | Ole Miss defeats Alcorn State 11-1 (3/9/21) #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/vV7VCKWFcT
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) March 10, 2021
Nikhazy News
In his postgame press conference, Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco noted that Friday starter Doug Nikhazy will be held out this coming weekend with a chest strain and will be reevaluated next week. In Nikhazy’s absence, Gunnar Hoglund will take the mound Friday, while Drew McDaniel will be Saturday’s starter. Derek Diamond will remain the Sunday starter.
(Feature image credit: Josh McCoy, Ole Miss)
Steve Barnes
Steve Barnes joins The Rebel Walk staff as a senior writer and brings a trifecta of journalistic experience. As a writer, he has covered college sports for Rivals.com, Football.com and SaturdayDownSouth.com as well as served as a beat writer for various traditional newspapers.
He has been a broadcaster for arena football and several national tournament events for the National Junior College Athletic Association as well as hosting various shows on radio.
A former sports information director at Albany (Ga.) State University and an assistant at Troy and West Florida, he has helped host many NCAA conference, regional and national events, including serving five years on the media committee of the NCAA Division II World Series.
Barnes, a native of Pensacola, Fla., attended Ole Miss in 1983-84, where his first journalism teacher was David Kellum. The duo has come a long way since that time.
He will bring a proven journalistic track record, along with a knack for finding the out-of-the-ordinary story angles to The Rebel Walk.
Barnes continues to reside in Pensacola a mere ten minutes from the beach because he does have taste and a brain.
