No. 24 Baseball Defeats Wright State Saturday
OXFORD, Miss. – (Release) Ole Miss scored seven runs in the first two innings, and starter Riley Maddox had a solid outing as the Rebels won game two of the weekend series 8-3 against Wright State.
Maddox took care of the Raiders three up, three down in the top of the first, and the Rebels went to work for runs. After a two-out Mitchell Sanford walk, Ryan Moerman homered to left. Then, following an Isaac Humphrey double to left center, Judd Utermark homered to right center. Moerman and Utermark have four home runs each this season.
After a scoreless top of the second for WSU, Ole Miss added three runs to its four-run lead. Brayden Randle walked and Owen Paino singled through the right side. Hayden Federico bunted and the throw was off line, so he advanced to second. Paino wound up at third and Randle scored.
Federico moved to third on a wild pitch, and Paino scored. It was 6-0 at that point. Luke Hill then singled up the middle, and Federico scored to make it 7-0 through two innings.
After Maddox successfully faced three hitters in each of the next two innings, the Rebels added a run in the bottom of the fifth to lead 8-0. Humphrey singled with one out which scored Moerman after he had reached on a double.
After Raiders’ leadoff hitter JP Peltier reached on a single to start the sixth, Ryne Rodriguez relieved Maddox. The left-hander took care of the Raiders in the inning for no runs.
Right-hander Landon Waters started the seventh for the Rebels. A two-out double to left scored Luke Arnold who had walked. At stretch time, Ole Miss led 8-1.
After Sam Tookoian entered for Waters to start the eighth, Boston Smith walked, followed by a double to left by Patrick Fultz to score Smith. It was 8-2 with the Rebels on top after the top of the eighth.
Gunnar Dennis pitched the ninth for the Rebels, and Wright State got one more run before putting the game on ice.
Utermark, Humphrey, and Moerman had two hits each for Ole Miss, while two hits for Fultz led the Raiders.
Maddox (2-1) was the winner, while Wright State starter Jarrett Heilman (0-2) got the loss.
Ole Miss (9-1) and Wright State (3-5) play again on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. at Swayze Field.
Photo courtesy of Ole Miss Sports
-Courtesy of Jeff Roberson, Ole Miss Sports
Adam Brown
Adam Brown joins The Rebel Walk as the Managing Editor after being on the Ole Miss beat as a Sports Editor for over 11 years. He is a lifelong Oxford resident. Brown graduated from the University of Mississippi with a bachelor’s degree in journalism.
Prior to The Rebel Walk, Brown was the sports editor of HottyToddy.com covering every Ole Miss sport and local high school sports in the community.
