Ole Miss baseball drops Friday doubleheader to No. 23 Auburn
OXFORD, Miss. – (Release) Ole Miss and Auburn met in a Southeastern Conference doubleheader on Friday, and the Tigers claimed two wins. The game one final score was 16-4, while game two finished with an 8-2 final.
Ole Miss is 25-25 on the season and 6-20 in Southeastern Conference play. Auburn improved to 29-19-1 and 13-13.
After the Rebels’ game one starter Xavier Rivas allowed nothing in the top of the first, the Rebels took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Anthony Calarco singled to score Jacob Gonzalez who had reached on a walk.
The Tigers took control of the game in the top of the second with four runs and added two more in the top of the third for a 6-1 lead.
The Rebels added two runs in the bottom of the third to close the gap. Ethan Lege was hit by a pitch to lead things off. Calvin Harris singled and Calarco singled, which scored Lege. Ethan Groff got Harris home from third with a fly ball to center. The Rebels trailed 6-3.
After each team scored a run – Auburn in the fourth, and Ole Miss in the fifth on a Will Furniss RBI after Kemp Alderman got a base hit – the Tigers then scored four in the sixth, one in the seventh, and four in the eighth to close the opener out.
Auburn’s last of three pitchers, Tanner Bauman (4-1), got the win. Ole Miss sent six pitchers to the mound, but it was Rivas with the loss to fall to 5-4. Calarco’s three hits paced Ole Miss in game one.
In a closer game two, the Tigers got a run in the second, two in the third, and one in the fourth before Ole Miss scored. Alderman doubled to left center to score Lege who had reached on a base hit.
That’s the way things remained until the seventh when Ike Irish sent a ball out of the park for a solo home run. In the eighth the Tigers scored twice – Cooper McMurray drove in Cole Foster who had gotten aboard on a single, and Irish singled up the middle to score McMurray. It was 8-1 Tigers after an Ole Miss error led to another run in the top of the ninth.
The Rebels got something going in the bottom of the ninth but it proved to not be enough. Bo Gatlin singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch. After Lege singled that also sent Gatlin to third, Gonzalez flew out to center field to get Gatlin home. That made it 8-2 and was the game’s final score.
Auburn starter Tommy Vail (5-1) went eight innings, and Will Cannon pitched the ninth. Rebel starter JT Quinn (3-3) got the loss, the first of four pitchers for Ole Miss. Lege’s two hits paced Ole Miss.
The two teams meet Saturday at 2 p.m. to conclude the series.
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.
