Ole Miss baseball run-rules High Point, 12-2, to even series
OXFORD, Miss. – The Ole Miss baseball team ended its four-game losing streak Saturday night at Swayze Field, run-ruling the High Point Panthers 12-2 in seven innings with the help of four home runs.
Run rule victory for the Rebs! pic.twitter.com/4pgKv8RCOM
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) February 25, 2024
At the plate
Ole Miss has struggled to get things going so far this year at the plate, coming into today’s game with a team batting average of .197 on the year. Right away, the Rebels looked to change that narrative at the bottom of the first.
After Ethan Groff drew a leadoff walk, Duke transfer Andrew Fischer yanked one down the right field line which scored Groff. The Rebels did not stop there, though. Fischer would later score on a SAC fly off the bat of Ethan Lege to make it a 2-0 lead.
With two down, Treyson Hughes reached on a fielder’s choice which allowed Will Furniss to put a ball over the right-center field wall for his first home run of the 2024 season.
Bye ball 👋 pic.twitter.com/1qd9siIhpv
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) February 24, 2024
For the next three frames, the Rebels did not record a hit, however, still held onto a 4-2 lead going into the fifth. With one down, Lege ripped a ball down the left field line for a double, setting up Jackson Ross for a two-run shot into the left field seats.
Two games, two homers for Jackson Ross 💣💣
📺 SECN+ pic.twitter.com/uX3dAtVrpB
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) February 25, 2024
The Panthers would get one more out before struggling to find the next one, walking the next four Ole Miss batters and scoring Furniss to make it 7-2 Ole Miss through five innings played.
Ole Miss drew 12 walks tonight, only needing six hits to secure the run-rule. Coach Bianco commented on the discipline in the box tonight from his players.
“I don’t know if I have ever seen 12 runs without a single. A ton of walks by our guys tonight, and it was one of the things Mike Clement has worked with our guys, getting our guys to get the ball in the strike zone. Not only were we not good offensively last year, low batting average and just not producing, but one of those reasons was because we chased so much out of the zone. It was good to see them get a ton of walks tonight, setting the table for big hits.“
~ Coach Mike Bianco on the team performance at the plate tonight
The Rebel bats woke up tonight, continuing to pour more runs onto the Panthers via the long ball. Lege and Fischer both drew walks in the bottom of the sixth, setting up Ross for his second home run of the night to make it a 10-2 ball game.
Another One ‼️ pic.twitter.com/oYz8vtLUts
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) February 25, 2024
Ross commented on his performance at the plate tonight after the game.
“It was like this in the fall, to be honest with you. I’m just getting comfortable and seeing the ball well. When I get into a groove, it feels like everything is going the right way, I just put some good swings on it and connected.”
~ Jackson Ross on his two-homerun game
Not long after Ross’s second ‘bomb’, Furniss would draw another walk to bring up Luke Hill who would then send another ball deep into the leftfield stands to give the Rebels a 10-run lead.
Nuke Hill
☢️ @Luke_Hill22 pic.twitter.com/9pxMFbKAja
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) February 25, 2024
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The 10-run rule was in effect tonight. Ole Miss recorded the last three outs in the top of the seventh to secure the win.
On the mound
Southpaw Gunnar Dennis took the mound Saturday evening for his first start under the lights at Swayze Field. The junior college transfer blew through the first six batters he saw, punching out three Panthers in the process.
Six up, six down, three Ks for @dennis_gunnar pic.twitter.com/bzhelr4fCk
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) February 24, 2024
After the pair of clean frames from Dennis, the High Point bats began to settle in. Three singles off of the lefty allowed the Panthers to plate a run to make it 4-1 in the top of the third before the Rebels could get out of it.
I asked Dennis after the game what specifically was working for him tonight on the bump.
“The slider was really working the first few innings. I thought I had good command on it, and Campbell (Smithwick) and Coach B (Bianco) called a great game tonight, too.“
~ Gunnar Dennis on what was working for him tonight
Dennis stranded a pair of runners in the top of the fourth before later being replaced by Josh Mallitz with two down in the top of the fifth. The lefty Dennis finished with 4.2 innings of work, adding 8 Ks while only giving up one earned run.
Mallitz came in with two runners on, getting the punch out to get out of the jam he was thrown into.
Welcome back @joshmallitz 🔨
📺 SECN+ pic.twitter.com/rFldLHZvnt
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) February 25, 2024
After cruising through the top of the sixth, Mallitz found himself sitting on a 12-2 lead, needing three more outs to shut it down and finish the run-rule victory. The junior reliever did just that, striking out two and stranding two on to end the game after seven innings.
Mallitz finished with 2.1 innings of work, only allowing one hit while not allowing a run and punching out four as well. Gunnar Dennis secured the win tonight, his second of the year already.
Up Next
The Diamond Rebels will be back in action for the final game of the series against the High Point Panthers. The rubber match is set for a 1:30 pm CT first pitch on the SEC Network+.
(Feature image credit: Ole Miss Baseball)
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.
