Ole Miss bats remain hot in Rebels’ opening-game win against Purdue, 15-7
OXFORD – For the third consecutive weekend, No. 4-ranked Ole Miss faced off against a team from the Big Ten and, again, the Rebels emerged victorious — this time defeating Purdue, 15-7.
After having defeated Maryland three games to one, edging out the pesky Minnesota Gophers last Saturday in the Cambria College Classic, and taking care of Nebraska to become the only team in the Classic to win all their games and take the tournament championship, the Rebels welcomed the Boilermakers for the last weekend series before conference play.
Ole Miss entered the weekend riding a five-game winning streak with a season record of 11-2, while Purdue came in at 8-4.
Eight of the Rebels 11 victories this season can be considered offensive affairs with the red and blue scoring double-digit runs in those eight games. Tonight, Ole Miss would make it nine games with 10 or more runs.
Scoring for the Rebels came early and often with Ole Miss racing out to a 9-0 lead after the first three innings. Singles were the name of the game in the first inning: Kemp Alderman, Anthony Calarco, Peyton Chatagnier and Will Furniss all notched RBI singles.
The second inning featured a mammoth three-run home run off the bat of Alderman that had an amazing exit velocity of 118 miles per hour and measured 400 feet.
“That may be (the fastest), and that’s almost normal for him. That was a rocket, and he can do those things. He continues to improve and he’s huge for us.“
Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco on Kemp Alderman’s home run
The blast was the junior’s team-leading sixth of the year. Alderman talked about the hit after the game.
“I was trying to do too much and tonight I just tried to go up there and relax and get back to the basics,” he said.
In addition to his RBI in the first and the three in the second, the left fielder also had an RBI sacrifice fly in the third inning to tie his career-high in RBI with five for the game.
🚨 Kemp Alderman Light Show 🚨 pic.twitter.com/NBy7KDVML1
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) March 11, 2023
Purdue’s bullpen kept the Rebels off the board in the fourth and fifth, but the top-to-bottom power that D1Baseball’s Kendall Rogers recently described as “lethal” would not be held off the scoreboard for long.
T.J McCants notched his fourth home run of the season in the sixth inning (a solo homer) and his fifth of the season in the seventh (a two-run shot).
Seeing Double
💣💣 @mccants_tj pic.twitter.com/e0pTiPNhwq
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) March 11, 2023
McCants hit his first homer of the game after having struck out the prior three times at bat.
“That shows his maturity. Sometimes you’re not good and you still come to play. He struck out three times and still got interviewed by you guys. That says a lot about him.“
Coach Bianco on TJ McCants
Calvin Harris contributed an RBI single also in the seventh, while the red-hot Calarco hit his fourth double this season. Calarco, the Rebels’ transfer first baseman, went 3-for-5 on the day to boost his average above .400.
The Rebel lead is back to six after the @antcalarco double! pic.twitter.com/ZLg1yHkGSH
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) March 11, 2023
In his third start of the season, pitcher Jack Dougherty threw 5.2 innings, striking out six but allowing six runs. Coach Bianco explained to media after the game that Jack suffered a stomach bug earlier in the week and just “ran out of gas” as a result.
The bullpen held the Boilermaker bats to just one run on two hits, one walk and two hit batsmen.
Brayden Jones relieved Dougherty and closed out the sixth and started the seventh, while Mitch Murrell completed the seventh and the entirety of the eighth. Mason Morris recorded the final three outs in a non-save situation.
Defensively, the Rebels saw an absolute web gem from right fielder McCants. “That catch was pretty special,” TJ admitted when asked about it after the game.
LAY OUT TJ!@mccants_tj | #SCTop10 pic.twitter.com/BcUIJ6czKV
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) March 11, 2023
Next Up
The series with Purdue continue Saturday with the start time moved up to noon CT due to expected inclement weather.
Freshman Grayson Saunier (1-0, 4.63 ERA, 20 strikeouts) will start for Ole Miss, while junior Jonathan Blackwell (2-0, 2.93 ERA, 18 strikeouts) will take the hill for the Boilermakers.
(Feature image credit: Josh McCoy, Ole Miss)
Chris Muller
Chris is our Director of Baseball Content and Senior Baseball Writer. Muller is a 1995 Graduate of Ole Miss. He is a collegiate recreational sports professional currently residing in Arlington Texas with his wife of 25 years, Amber, and German Shorthaired Pointer, Sophie. Chris is an avid Ole Miss Baseball and Football fan. His hobbies include watching college football and baseball and playing poker with his friends.
Trackbacks/Pingbacks