Starting Strong: Diamond Rebs Come Up Clutch, Defeat No. 20 South Carolina in SEC Opener
OXFORD, Miss. – It was everything you’d expect from an SEC opener on Friday night in Oxford. Electric atmosphere, tight game, and an edge-of-your-seat ninth inning. And it all led to an Ole Miss victory, as the Rebels held on to defeat No. 20 South Carolina 5-4 and start conference play 1-0.
The win was the eighth consecutive victory for Ole Miss, and Mitch Murrell would earn his first win of the year, while Connor Spencer would pick up his fourth save.
Gamecocks Strike First
It was a bit of a rocky start for Gunnar Dennis in the first, as he plunked two of the first three batters he faced, and had the Gamecocks best hitter, Cole Messina, at the plate with one out. But Dennis would keep his composure, getting Messina to fly out, before then striking out Kennedy Jones to end the threat and show some rare emotion after the escape.
Gun nasty 😷@dennis_gunnar | SECN+ pic.twitter.com/AP84GDUW3t
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) March 15, 2024
After South Carolina’s Eli Jones also worked around two Ole Miss batters in the bottom half, the Gamecocks would get to Dennis in the second. After getting a foul out, Dennis would give up a single to Parker Noland. He would then hit Tyler Causey, his third hit batter of the night. Will Tippett would make him pay, ripping a two-RBI double into center field to give the Gamecocks a two run lead. Dennis would escape further damage, but the Gamecocks would take a 2-0 advantage into the bottom of the second.
Rebs Chip Away
In the home half of the second, the Rebels would get their first two aboard after a Luke Hill single and a Will Furniss walk. After Hill stole third, Eli Berch would ground into a double play to score Hill and make it 2-1. The play was reviewed, and Berch was clearly safe at first base, but SEC officials in Birmingham still ruled him out. Brayden Randle would then reach first on a throwing error, but be thrown out trying to get to second to end the inning.
Tit For Tat
Dennis would get South Carolina to go down quietly in the third, but the Rebels would go down quickly in the home half. In the fourth, the Gamecocks would get back-to-back singles to start the inning, followed by a groundout to move both runners into scoring position. An RBI groundout would then score the runner from third, making it 3-1 in favor of South Carolina. Dennis would escape the inning with no further damage, but would end the frame at 79 pitches.
Ole Miss would once again see the first two batters reach base on a single and a walk in the bottom half. Back-to-back groundouts would allow a run to score, making it 3-2, but that would be all the Rebels would scratch across.
The Gamecocks would get a runner on with nobody out in the top of the fifth, but a batters interference call on a Kennedy Jones strikeout would lead to a strike ’em out, throw ’em out double play to erase the runner. Dennis would get out of the inning allowing no damage, and that would be the end of his night.
Dennis’ final line was: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 7 K, 2 BB, 102 pitches. Despite some early struggles, Dennis rebounded nicely and made big pitches when he needed to, keeping the Rebels in the game. Mitch Murrell would take over for Dennis after Ole Miss went scoreless in the bottom of the fifth.
The Force Is With You, Luke
After Mitch Murrell cruised through the top of the sixth, getting the Gamecocks 1-2-3, the Rebels got things going in the home half. Ethan Lege would notch a leadoff single, followed by a Treyson Hughes infield single. Both runners would advance to second and third on a wild pitch, setting the stage for Luke Hill, who would get the clutch hit he’s been looking for with a two-RBI double, giving the Rebs a 4-3 lead.
Luke for the lead!@Luke_Hill22 | SECN+ pic.twitter.com/rJCAZHxGLk
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) March 16, 2024
“I don’t remember too much of it I was so excited. It was good to break through for the team right there, it was a big hit for the team. We need those, during conference play especially, to win games. I was fortunate enough to be able to hit in that spot and come through and it felt great.“
Luke Hill on his clutch two-RBI double
That would be all Ole Miss would get in the frame, but they had their first lead of the night, and momentum was on their side.
Adding Some Insurance
Mason Nichols would enter the contest to take over for Murrell in the seventh, and he would retire the Gamecocks in order. Ole Miss would respond by loading the bases in the home half with nobody out. But a double play and a groundout would only allow one run to score, but the Rebs had an extra run, leading 5-3 heading to the eighth.
Not Done Yet
With a two-run lead, Mason Nichols would come back out to start the eighth. After a Kennedy Jones leadoff double and a Gavin Casas walk, Parker Noland hit a ground ball to third. Andrew Fischer made the throw to second, but the throw to first was wide as Brayden Randle was taken out by a late slide from Casas. The play would be reviewed for interference, but SEC replay officials would rule there was no interference, allowing the play to stand, giving South Carolina a run, making it 5-4.
The Gamecocks would have a runner on first and one out, and a walk to Tyler Causey would be it for Nichols. Connor Spencer would come in to replace him, and he would escape the jam, keeping the one-run lead intact heading to the bottom of the frame. Brayden Randle, the freshman infielder, showed off some highlight-reel stuff to preserve the Ole Miss lead.
Game-saving play by @BraydenRandle 💎
📺 SECN+ pic.twitter.com/E3jsiR8aeo
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) March 16, 2024
“He’s Him. He’s amazing. For a freshman to have that composure, and he came out tonight, I wouldn’t even say quiet, but he went three for four. It might get lost, it goes nowhere in the box score, it goes as a 4-3 play. But there’s a hard hit ball, and he just casually slides, the ball hits the lip, he grabs it with his hand and throws it on his butt and just made it look easy, and I was like ‘Holy cow, I hope people realize how hard that was.’ He’s an amazing teammate, great guy, love him to death, he’s been awesome for us.“
Luke Hill on Brayden Randle
Locked Down
Ole Miss would go quietly in the top of the ninth, setting the stage for a hold-your-breath bottom half, as Connor Spencer looked to shut the door and give the Rebs the one-run win. And shut the door he did, getting the Gamecocks in order, and giving Ole Miss a 1-0 start in conference play.
That first SEC win feeling for a lotta Rebs ✅ pic.twitter.com/JIlf36pSWC
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) March 16, 2024
Coach Bianco talked after the game about Spencer coming on in the eighth inning.
“We really didn’t want to do that. Nichols looked so good in the seventh, and I thought there might have been an opportunity to bring him back out for the ninth… I thought we needed a jolt to get off the field, and he did that, and it was the first time he’s thrown more than one inning.“
Mike Bianco on bringing Connor Spencer on in the eighth and keeping him in to close
The win was the eighth consecutive victory for the Rebels and moves them to 14-5 overall. The Gamecocks, however, end a six game winning streak and drop to 14-4 on the season.
Going For The Series Win
Game two is set for a 1:00 PM first pitch on the SEC Network on Saturday. Liam Doyle will be on the mound for the Rebels, while Dylan Askew takes the bump for South Carolina.
Ole Miss will look to win its first conference series since winning two of three over Georgia in April of 2023. Stay tuned to The Rebel Walk for all the updates and action.
Austin Eldridge
Austin has more than ten years in sports media, including sports talk radio, play-by-play broadcasting and journalism. He has followed Ole Miss athletics for his entire life and has covered the Rebels and the rest of the SEC while working in the Memphis media market. Outside of sports media, Austin is a musician and outdoorsman. Before a serious accident forced him to be medically discharged, he was a multi-media journalist with the Mississippi National Guard.
