Big First Inning Lifts Rebels to Championship of Cambria Classic with 14-5 win over Nebraska
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Ole Miss scored eight runs in the first inning and never looked back, as the Rebels completed an undefeated weekend at the Cambria College Classic with a 14-5 victory over Nebraska Sunday at US Bank Stadium.
The victory moves Ole Miss to 10-2 overall, and 5-1 against the Big 10. The Rebs have three more games against a Big 10 foe coming, with Purdue headed to Oxford next weekend.
Striking Fast
After Ole Miss starter Xavier Rivas pitched a scoreless top half of the first, the Rebels would quickly send the Huskers back on their heels.
Ethan Groff was hit by a pitch with one out, and Calvin Harris would then single to put runners on first and second. Kemp Alderman would then ground out to put Groff and Harris in scoring position, but the Rebels would be down to their last out of the frame. And that’s when the two out rally started.
Anthony Calarco would get the party started with yet another clutch hit as he smacked a two RBI single into the outfield.
In Lark We Trust
🫡 @antcalarco
Live on @BigTenPlus pic.twitter.com/8lrUbkF1LM— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) March 5, 2023
That would be followed by a Peyton Chatagnier single to put men on the corners with two away. Judd Utermark would then single to score Calarco and make it a 3-0 ballgame.
But TJ McCants would provide the big excitement of the inning, smoking a two RBI triple into right center, giving the Rebels a 5-0 lead.
TJ TRIPLE
💨 @mccants_tj
Live on @BigTenPlus pic.twitter.com/4BHFHGDfSY— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) March 5, 2023
Ethan Lege would then walk, followed by Jacob Gonzalez being hit by a pitch to load the bases for Groff. And Groff would deliver.
CLEAR. THE. BASES. @ethangroff12
Ole Miss 8, Nebraska 0
Live on @BigTenPlus pic.twitter.com/PUjW5QCMVA— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) March 5, 2023
The bases-clearing double would give the Rebels an 8-0 lead headed to the second inning.
Huskers Chip Away
In the Nebraska third, Casey Burnham would get a leadoff single, and that would be followed by a two-run shot from Brice Matthews to make it an 8-2 ballgame. But Rivas would retire the next three to keep the damage at just two.
Ole Miss would load the bases with two out in the home half, but a Calarco foul out would end the threat and keep the Rebs lead at just six.
The Rebels would get nothing offensively in their half of the fourth, and the Huskers would get a little closer to start inning number five, as Efry Cervantes led off the frame with a bomb to cut the lead to 8-3. Rivas would get a strikeout to follow, but that would be the end of his day, and he would be replaced by Brayden Jones.
Jones would then allow a single, wild pitch, and another single and the Rebels lead was suddenly cut in half, 8-4. Jones would then get Max Anderson to ground into a double play to escape the jam and limit the damage to just two runs.
Rebs Back On The Board
After the explosive first inning for Ole Miss, the Rebels offense went stagnant for the next three innings while Nebraska cut the lead in half. But in the home half of the fifth, the Rebels found their stride again.
Gonzalez would lead off the frame with a walk, followed by a Groff single. A Harris groundout would move them both into scoring position, and Kemp Alderman would deliver with a two RBI single to give the Rebs a 10-4 lead and push the cushion back out to six runs.
Kemp. Barrel. @KempAlderman 👊
Ole Miss 10, Nebraska 4
Live on @BigTenPlus pic.twitter.com/ha0Ornf3hn— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) March 5, 2023
Ole Miss would load the bases with just one out in the sixth, but an RBI groundout from Groff would be the only run scored, making it 11-4 in favor of the Rebels.
End 6 | @ethangroff12 drives in his fourth run of the day, sending Utermark home on a groundout.
Ole Miss 11, Nebraska 4 pic.twitter.com/teewDGLgFf
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) March 5, 2023
Jones would continue his fine outing out of the Ole Miss bullpen, sitting the Huskers down in order in the top of the seventh, with a pair of strikeouts.
HEATER. 🔥🔥@bt16jones sits the Huskers down in order in the 7th with a pair of Ks.
Ole Miss 11, Nebraska 4
Live on @BigTenPlus pic.twitter.com/hpcT3h0qOq— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) March 5, 2023
And the Rebs weren’t done just yet. After Calarco was hit by a pitch with one out in the bottom of the seventh, Garrett Wood would pinch run for him. Chatagnier would bring him home with a triple, turning on the jets to reach third.
̶T̶w̶i̶n̶ ̶ Triple City
Second triple of the day for the Rebs, this one off the bat of @peytonchat5!
Live on @BigTenPlus pic.twitter.com/KVhprORika
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) March 5, 2023
The triple was the second three-bagger of the day for the Rebels. Chatagnier would then come home on a passed ball to give the Rebels a nine run edge, 13-4.
Confidence From The Young Fella
Freshman hurler Mason Morris replaced Jones in the top of the eighth, and Nebraska tried to rattle him early. A single, hit batter, and double quickly plated a run for Nebraska, making it 13-5, and the Cornhuskers also had two runners in scoring position with no outs.
But Morris would show some fantastic composure, retiring three in a row to leave the two Cornhusker runners stranded and preserve the eight run lead.
“I was proud of him. You want the big lead, you want them to feel comfortable out there. The last time he was in, it was a bases loaded jam and a tough spot to work out of. But also when you have a big lead it’s tough against a good offense. They know that the enemy is the walk and so you’re going to attack. They got some good swings off him, but he hung in there, was able to get back in the zone, made some good sliders and got off the field, which I thought was huge for him. He’s got a bright future for us and just gotta continue to do that.“
Mike Bianco on Mason Morris
Finishing Things Off
Ole Miss would add yet another insurance run in the bottom half of the eighth courtesy of an RBI single for Calvin Harris to make it a 14-5 game. Tommy Henninger would then trot to the rubber for the Rebels in the ninth and retire the Huskers in order, sealing the victory for the Rebs.
Ole Miss would complete a three-game sweep at the Cambria Classic, scoring 28 runs over the three games.
“I just think we continued to do what you guys have seen in Oxford, 1-9 played really well, there was a different star every night… We just continued to put some really good at bats together and even if a guy had a rough night, there was usually somebody to pick him up.“
Mike Bianco on what he was most proud of this weekend
Up Next
Coming up next for the Rebels, it will be a rematch of last season’s super regional, as Southern Miss comes to Oxford Tuesday night. That game will air on the SEC Network+ and first pitch is currently set for 6:30 p.m.
Austin Eldridge
Austin has more than ten years in sports media, including sports talk radio, play-by-play broadcasting and journalism. He has followed Ole Miss athletics for his entire life and has covered the Rebels and the rest of the SEC while working in the Memphis media market. Outside of sports media, Austin is a musician and outdoorsman. Before a serious accident forced him to be medically discharged, he was a multi-media journalist with the Mississippi National Guard.
