Saunier’s strong outing earns Ole Miss the win, moves Coach Bianco into second all-time in wins by an SEC head coach
MEMPHIS — Ole Miss freshman pitcher Grayson Saunier pitched five strong innings on the road Tuesday night and earned the win over Memphis, 7-2.
The Rebels now sit at 17-11, 1-8 SEC with the victory over the Tigers who are 16-14, 1-2 AAC.
Historic win for Coach Bianco
Notably, Saunier also records the win that gives his head coach Mike Bianco sole possession of second place on the all-time wins list in the SEC.
The victory is Bianco’s 871st as an SEC head coach and it moves him past his mentor Skip Bertman who was his head coach at LSU where Bianco played catcher and later served as an assistant. Bianco now trails only Ron Polk, who tallied 1,218 wins between his tenures at Georgia and Mississippi State.
Congratulations @CoachMikeBianco!
What a ride! 👏 No. 871 and counting…@OleMissBSB x #ItJustMeansMore https://t.co/f0piaiBZhw pic.twitter.com/MbH8FDnpye
— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) April 5, 2023
After the game, Coach Bianco talked about the record on the Ole Miss Radio Network.
“I’ve said it, when you have those longevity type of records, accolades or whatever you want to call them, I’ve been here a long time and so it means that I’ve had a lot of really good players along the way and a lot of good coaches. I don’t mean that as just coach speak or being humble. You don’t get here and get that many wins because you’re a good coach. You do it because you have some good coaches next to you and certainly have some great players. Very appreciative.“
Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco on the historic win
Saunier shows his stuff
Saunier’s start was his seventh of the year, but the first one that came in a midweek game. The Collierville High School standout was strong, giving up just three hits, one run and two walks while striking out four in five innings.
Locked 'em up! 🔒@GraysonSaunier ends the first with a K! pic.twitter.com/W4u5HgSTGy
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) April 4, 2023
He had full command of his arsenal of pitches, throwing 64 total pitches of which 40 were strikes.
After the game on the ESPN+ broadcast, Saunier talked about his mentality in the game.
“Coach Bianco has been preaching since day one to go and attack and I really took that to heart…“
Ole Miss pitcher Grayson Saunier
Ole Miss took a 2-0 lead in the first inning and Saunier and the Rebs never looked back.
Saunier had battled illness since the Rebels’ home series versus Florida over a week ago but made the trip to College Station this past weekend in case his team needed him.
Coach Bianco was proud of his talented freshman’s outing.
“He certainly was good,” Bianco said of Saunier.
“He filled up the strike zone. He had a really good slider tonight. Had some fastballs, a couple changeups. Proud of him. Sometimes you don’t know what’s going to happen with the local kid. He grew up in Collierville. Sometimes that helps him with the adrenaline rush and sometimes it doesn’t. He was as composed as I’ve seen him. Lot of strike ones and a lot of being ahead in the count.“
Coach Bianco on Grayson Saunier’s outing
Tuesday night’s five-inning outing in Memphis ties his season high of five innings pitched. He notched five on the mound against Minnesota early in the season.
Offensive leaders
The runs came early for the Rebels Tuesday night as they scored seven runs on six hits in the first four innings. On the night, Ole Miss hit .444 with runners in scoring position and .400 with two outs in innings. Memphis used nine pitchers and only one of them went more than an inning.
On the night, Kemp Alderman, who started in right field against the Tigers, went 2-for-3 with a double and three RBIs. Catcher Calvin Harris recorded two hits and a double. Jacob Gonzalez hit a double and scored two times. Ethan Groff and Harris also scored two times.
Kemp Alderman: Professional Hitter pic.twitter.com/eKvhndHnbg
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) April 5, 2023
Relief pitching
Sam Tookoian, Cole Ketchum and Brayden Jones came on in relief. Tookoian went 2.0 innings pitched, giving up one hit, no runs, one walk and recording 3 strikeouts. Ketchum pitched for 1.2 innings, giving up three hits, one run and recording two strikeouts. Brayden Jones continues to be strong on the mound, coming in to pitch to record the final out of the 9th as the Rebs recorded a fly out on the at-bat that sealed the win.
Saunier’s words of wisdom
While Saunier and his team have gone through adversity this season as the Rebs have had a tough start in league play, the freshman answered like a veteran when asked postgame what he has learned so far this season.
“Just battle through adversity. There’s going to be a lot of it, especially being a freshman…Just keep showing up each and every day, working hard, and keep battling through.”
Grayson Saunier
Next Up
The Rebels will look to keep battling as they host No. 5 Arkansas at Swayze in a Thursday-Saturday series beginning April 6 with first pitch set for 6:30 p.m.
Evelyn Van Pelt
Evelyn has covered sports for over two decades, beginning her journalism career as a sports writer for a newspaper in Austin, Texas. She attended Texas A&M and majored in English. Evelyn's love for Ole Miss began when her daughter Katie attended the university on a volleyball scholarship. Evelyn created the Rebel Walk in 2013 and has served as publisher and managing editor since its inception.
