Ole Miss baseball drops game three to South Carolina, but Rebs take the series win
OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss dropped its first SEC game of the season Sunday afternoon, falling 6-2 to South Carolina at Swayze. But following wins on Friday and Saturday, the Rebels take the opening series of SEC play.
“We just didn’t play well enough. We talked about this at length last year. If you don’t play well, you lose in this league. That’s the beauty and the difficulty of the Southeastern Conference….we were able to play a little bit better than them the first two days. They played better than us today. They pitched it really well. We didn’t do much offensively. we had a few opportunities early, but we weren’t able to capitalize on that….tip your hat to (South Carolina pitcher Matthew) Becker, great performance by him.“
Coach Mike Bianco on the loss in game three
Here’s a look at today’s action.
On the Mound
Grayson Saunier took the bump for Ole Miss and despite giving up a single to start the game, he retired the next three in order to conclude the top half of the first.
In the next inning, South Carolina jumped ahead 2-0 after the Gamecocks’ first baseman sent a towering fly ball into the left-field stands. Carolina added another run when lead-off man, Parker Noland, drove in an RBI single. Fortunately, the next hitter flew out to right field to end the inning.
Saunier cruised through the third and fourth, holding South Carolina to three runs, but in the top of the fifth, the Gamecocks knocked in two more runs due to a deep double into left. Ole Miss had planned to call JT Quinn to the mound; however, he suffered an injury just as he was about to head to the field. The Rebels then turned to true freshmanAustin Simmons to come out of the bullpen.
With two outs and a runner on third, Simmons forced a ground ball in front of catcher Eli Berch, but when Berch threw to first base, the ball was dropped. Austin was able to pick off the runner at first, but South Carolina led 6-0 going into the bottom of the fifth.
Saunier finished his day going through 4.1 innings while allowing five runs and nine hits while striking out two.
“Certainly, you look at it from a side view and say today they (Gamecocks) were able to get some bats on the ball. But sometimes with good offenses that happens….credit them…At the end of the day, he (Saunier) competed. I thought he gave us a good enough shot. We needed to play better and support him in some other ways.“
Coach Bianco on Grayson Saunier’s outing
In the sixth, Simmons walked the first batter, resulting in a pitching change that put Mitch Murrell on the hill. Murrell was dominant, drawing three quick outs to send it into the bottom half of the inning.
Murrell found some traffic on the base baths in the seventh and was relieved by Kyler Carmack, who drew a double play to end the inning as soon as he entered.
Carmack pitched his way until the end of the game for Ole Miss, and he did a fantastic job. The right-hander pitched 2.2 innings without allowing a run and only giving up one hit.
M8 | Carmack gets out of the frame with a punchout. The Rebels are down to their final six outs here.
Ole Miss 2, South Carolina 6
— The Rebel Walk (@TheRebelWalk) March 17, 2024
As a whole, the bullpen struck out five batters, walked four, and did not allow a single earned run. That bright spot on this Rebel squad has continued to shine throughout the season.
After the game, Coach Bianco said Quinn injured his back on the final pitch in the bullpen, but the Rebel skipper did not have any additional information at that point.
At the plate
In the bottom of the second, Ole Miss loaded the bases with Andrew Fischer at the plate, but Fischer grounded out to third base to end the inning. The Rebs also forced South Carolina to remove their starter from the game and put in a relief pitcher.
The Ole Miss bats were extremely quiet through the third and fourth, as no runs were scored and there was still only one hit on the day, coming from Jackson Ross.
Finally, in the bottom of the sixth, Ethan Lege singled to left field for Ole Miss’ second hit of the game. Next up, Treyson Hughes smoked a triple into right field to give the Rebels their first run of the day. Luke Hill followed with an RBI groundout, making it a 6-2 ball game.
Triple Trey@HughesTreyson | SEC+ pic.twitter.com/u8GqbeXT4s
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) March 17, 2024
Andrew Fischer roped a single with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, and Jackson Ross nearly put the Rebs within two, but his deep fly ball was caught at the warning track.
The bats stayed quiet for the remainder of the game, and after scoring 12 runs on Saturday, Ole Miss only put two on the board for Sunday. Several Ole Miss players collected one hit today, but the best offensive performance came from Treyson Hughes, who poked an RBI triple in the sixth inning.
Who’s Next?
Ole Miss will travel to Pearl, Mississippi, for a neutral-site game against Southern Mississippi. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. Hotty Toddy!
