Ole Miss drops game three to No. 1 LSU Sunday at Swayze; Tigers get series sweep
OXFORD, Miss. – Following the game-two win over Ole Miss Saturday that gave the series victory to LSU, the Rebels and Tigers got things going at Swayze Sunday afternoon to wrap up a busy weekend in Oxford. The back-and-forth contest eventually resulted in a 7-6 LSU win, as the Tigers completed the sweep of Ole Miss.
On the Mound
Freshman right-hander, JT Quinn found himself on the mound for another Sunday start for the Rebs.
Three singles in a row off of Quinn put the Tigers on the board quickly in the top of the first. But the freshman then worked himself out of the jam, punching out three LSU hitters in a row.
Mid 1 | LSU opens it with three straight singles, but @quinnjt1 counters with three straight Ks to limit the damage.
LSU 1, Ole Miss 0 pic.twitter.com/gMzIBnt3Pm
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) April 23, 2023
Quinn loaded the bases in the top of the third, eventually allowing a single that would tie things at two. However, John Kramer would cut down the leading run at the plate with a rocket from left.
LSU ties it, but @johnkrameriv shows the cannon to gun a Tiger down at home! pic.twitter.com/Hs6JipJhWv
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) April 23, 2023
Unfortunately, the next LSU batter singled to left to give the Tigers a 3-2 lead heading to the bottom of the third.
Quinn would come back out to begin the fifth, only to give up a solo shot to put the Tigers up two. Sam Tookoian was called on to replace him.
Quinn finished the day with 4 innings of work, 4 runs off 10 hits, 2 walks and 8 Ks, tying his career-high in strikeouts.
A runner left on by Quinn would soon make it to scoring position due to an error on Took’s pickoff. Despite that, Sam would attempt another pickoff to second with this one successfully clearing the base paths for the Rebs.
Took caught 'em snoozing 😴
⛏ @STookoian pic.twitter.com/ysLjoXfP1W
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) April 23, 2023
Tookoian walked the leadoff man to begin the seventh which led to Mitch Murrell coming on in relief. Took finished his outing with 2 innings pitched, no runs off 2 hits, a walk and 3 Ks.
Murrell came out of the pen with some fire under him, collecting a pair of strikeouts to keep the Rebs within reach heading to the bottom of the seventh.
Mid 7 | @Mitch_Murrell retires three straight Tigers, fanning two to keep it at one.
LSU 4, Ole Miss 3 pic.twitter.com/W1pgIlVuoG
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) April 23, 2023
With three outs to go, Murrell trotted back out for the top of the ninth. Following two quick outs, LSU found itself with two baserunners and the leading run at the plate.
Unfortunately, Murrell would allow a three-run shot to left field, putting the Tigers back up 7-6 heading to the Rebel half of the ninth.
Mitch finished with 3 innings of work, three runs off 3 hits, 2 walks and a pair of Ks. He was credited with the loss, just his second on the season.
After the game, head coach Mike Bianco commented on the Rebels’ struggles:
“You do the best you can, days like this, obviously it’s really hard… we talked about it often, to be able to get up the next day and compete. (We) talked a little bit about last year and what last year’s team was able to do. We talked about leadership and it was guys showing up every single day and being very consistent even when it was really bad. We probably didn’t know that when we were going through it but those weren’t lessons we were trying to teach ’em at that point. But, the guys have been terrific. We haven’t played well, but they continue to show up. They continue to pull for one another and that’s all you can ask.”
Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco
At the Plate
Two singles from Jacob Gonzalez and Ethan Groff in the bottom of the first would set up Calvin Harris at the plate. The Rebel catcher plated ‘Gonzo’ with a deep SAC fly to centerfield to tie things up.
Tied up! @Calvin_Harris33 drives one to deep center to plate Gonzo. pic.twitter.com/GrIawK74lU
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) April 23, 2023
A double off the bat of Anthony Calarco was eventually followed by a single from Will Furniss, giving the Rebs a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the second.
The freshman @WillFurniss puts us in front! pic.twitter.com/u3gHRankGs
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) April 23, 2023
The Rebel bats went quiet after the second, that was until two doubles from Calvin Harris and Calarco plated a run, shrinking the Rebel deficit to one after six played.
Lark cuts it to one! pic.twitter.com/Bc8pJC47x2
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) April 23, 2023
Kemp Alderman came to the plate with two down in the bottom of the seventh. The Rebel slugger launched his seventeenth homer of the year to right, tying it up at 4 heading to the eighth.
KEMP. TIE GAME. pic.twitter.com/wESvenQrq9
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) April 23, 2023
A walk drawn by Calarco brought Judd Utermark to the plate. The freshman lined one into the LSU bullpen to give the Rebs a late 6-4 lead in the bottom of the eighth.
JUDD UTERMARK GO-AHEAD BOMB 💣 pic.twitter.com/Y5K2CQ8bpz
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) April 23, 2023
Utermark spoke postgame on his at-bat:
“Coach Clem (Mike Clement) called me over before the at-bat and said ‘be ready for the fastball’. He gave me fastball middle…just glad that it got out.”
Judd Utermark on his home run
Trailing 7-6, a double off the bat of Calvin Harris put the tying run in scoring position for Ole Miss. However, the Tigers collected the final two outs to end the game.
Up Next
The Rebs will be back in action Tuesday night at 6 p.m. in Pearl, Mississippi for the annual Governor’s Cup against Mississippi State.
(Feature image credit: Josh McCoy, Ole Miss)
Kameron Wicker
Kam is an undergraduate 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.
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