Ole Miss baseball drops game three to Florida, 7-4, as Gators sweep the series
OXFORD, Miss. – After a tough day Saturday that saw Ole Miss drop both games of a doubleheader against No. 3 Florida, the Rebs were back in action on ‘Energy Sunday’ in attempt to avoid the sweep. Unfortunately, things didn’t go Ole Miss’ way as the Gators took game three, 7-4.
The Rebels fall to 15-9, overall, and 0-6 in SEC play.
Here’s a look at what happened In game three.
On the Bump
Southpaw Xavier Rivas got the Sunday nod for the Rebs, and he made quick work off the Gators to start the game; however, a solo shot to right gave Florida a 1-0 lead.
After getting into some trouble in the third, “X,” as Rivas is known, made some big pitches for the last two outs to strand a pair of Florida baserunners.
Got him lookin'😜 | @XavierRivas33 pic.twitter.com/V0rzfzIIFG
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) March 26, 2023
Another solo shot off a Florida bat increased the Gator lead to 2-0 to begin the fourth. Rivas would eventually allow a 2-out single up the middle, adding another run to the Florida box score.
He settled in nicely to begin the fifth, recording a 1-2-3 frame and adding a huge strikeout to his line.
X gon' give it to ya😤 | @XavierRivas33 pic.twitter.com/CUXMM32Sek
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) March 26, 2023
Rivas recorded the first two outs of the sixth, eventually handing it off to senior reliever Mitch Murrell. Rivas ended the start with 5.2 innings pitched, 3 earned runs off 6 hits, 2 walks, and 4 Ks.
“I feel good,” Rivas said postgame about his last two outings.
“Vanderbilt, with what they are doing to (Mississippi) State this weekend shows they’re a really good offense. Florida is obviously a great offense. Even though the losses, it’s definitely a confidence booster knowing I belong here and can pitch to those teams.”
Xavier Rivas
A single off Murrell plated a runner left on by Rivas Rivas, making it 4-2 Gators through five and half.
Murrell made quick work of the Gators in the seventh, adding two huge punch-outs en route to a 1-2-3 frame.
Breezy 💨 | @Mitch_Murrell pic.twitter.com/KQAo5WtEwt
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) March 26, 2023
Mitch gave up his first run to begin the eighth, as the Florida leadoff man launched the third Gator solo shot of the day to left field to extend their lead to 5-2.
Murrell’s day would come to end as closer Mason Nichols was called out of the pen. Mitch ended his day with 1.1 innings of work, giving up one run, 2 hits, a walk, and notching a pair of Ks.
Nichols would record the last two outs in the eighth, but not before giving up a 2-run shot to left that increased the Gator lead to 7-2.
Mason was replaced by Brayden Jones to begin the ninth. Nichols left the game with an inning of work, one run off one hit, a walk, and a strikeout.
Unfortunately, Rivas’ nearly six innings of work resulted in a loss for the Rebel southpaw, just his second of the year.
At the Plate
The Rebels threatened in each of the first three innings, even loading the bases in the bottom of the third. However, the six Ole Miss baserunners were stranded each time.
A pair of walks in the bottom of the fourth allowed Jacob Gonzalez to record the first Rebel run as he hit a double to left that cleared the bases and added two for the Rebs.
.@jakegonzalez717 is BIG TIME.
Gonzo clears the bases for a 2-RBI double. pic.twitter.com/qzXSxMd5iO
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) March 26, 2023
The Rebel bats finally found some life in the bottom of the eighth, with a single and a ROE putting Calvin Harris and Peyton Chatagnier in scoring position. Harris eventually would race home courtesy of a wild pitch, adding the third Ole Miss run.
Ethan Lege later grounded into a double play, plating Chatagnier to make it 7-4, Florida, through eight played.
The Rebel lineup only collected 4 hits on the day, drawing 8 walks, however, with another two runners reaching on errors. The story of the day, though, was the 8 Rebel baserunners left on base en route to the loss.
Coach Bianco commented on another tough weekend.
“You gotta stay together and you gotta continue to fight. It stinks when you get to this point where you just kind of fall into that funk and you’re not playing well. It happens like this where it happens in a lot of different phases. Yesterday we hit it so well, but didn’t pitch well. We didn’t do enough offensively when they opened up the door (today). We probably pitched well enough…but we gave up a couple homers at the end. This is a time where it’s easy to point the fingers and who’s to blame? Is it the coaching, is it the pitchers, is it the defense, is it the offense? At the end of the day, we all wear the same uniform. We all have to be better.”
Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco
Up Next
The Rebels will begin their long road stretch on Tuesday at 6 pm in Pearl when they take on the Southern Miss Golden Eagles. Then, they’ll travel to College Station to take on a Friday-Saturday-Sunday series with the Aggies.
(Feature image credit: Josh McCoy, Ole Miss)
Kameron Wicker
Kam is a senior at Ole Miss, currently pursuing a degree in Journalism. Even though he's from Delhi, Louisiana, that didn't stop Kam from growing up a diehard Ole Miss fan. He's a sports guru who watches and follows all sports at all times. He lettered four years in football and baseball in high school and is an avid Saints, Pelicans, and Astros fan. In his free time, you can find him watching sports or at the rec participating in them.
Trackbacks/Pingbacks