Ole Miss Baseball Clinches Series Win Over Nevada With 5-1 Win Saturday

OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss baseball took away a 5-1 win over the Nevada Wolf Pack on Saturday, clinching a series victory on opening weekend at Swayze Field. Head coach Mike Bianco’s squad defeated Nevada 11-3 on Friday.

Ole Miss was led by a mix of power and pitching, combining nicely in what was a dominant Ole Miss victory.

Opening Third (Innings 1-3)

Inning One

The game opened with pitcher Cade Townsend looking sharp as he efficiently worked through the first with an easy 1-2-3 inning, throwing just five pitches.

Ole Miss took its first swings, and Judd Utermark hit his first home run of the season with a soaring fly ball that cleared the left center fence.

Despite the Utermark solo home run, Ole Miss did not have a long first inning.

Inning Two

Townsend found himself in some trouble in the second with two runners in scoring position, as a sacrifice fly from Wolf Pack shortstop Jackson Waller tied the game at 1-1 in the second.

Ole Miss came back to the plate trying to regain the lead, and that did not take long as Tristian Bissetta stepped up to the dish with one on and one out, sending a no-doubt, two-run home run into the showers of right field to put Ole Miss back in front, 3-1.

The Rebels kept threatening with runners in scoring position; however, they failed to score again.

Inning Three

Yet again, Townsend found himself in some trouble in the third, giving up a lead-off double, before a wild pitch strikeout gave the Wolf Pack first and third with one out. However, Townsend stayed tough, striking out the next two hitters to escape the jam.

Ole Miss did not hit for long in the third, batting just four and not producing much of anything.

Middle Third (Innings 4-6)

Inning Four

In the fourth, Townsend worked efficiently, seeing the minimum, going 1-2-3, including notching his eighth strikeout of the day, a new career high.

Ole Miss went and added some insurance at the plate as Tate Sirmins sent out the Rebels’ third home run of the afternoon to make it a 4-1 ballgame.

However, outside of Sirmins, it was a quick inning for Ole Miss, just batting four and going down in a limited amount of pitches.

Inning Five

Townsend trotted back out to the mound to begin the fifth, and quickly retired the first two, but after allowing a base hit, Mike Bianco made the call to the bullpen and Taylor Rabe took the mound, concluding Townsend’s fantastic first start of the season.

Townsend’s final line was 4.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 8 K.

When Rabe entered, it was about as easy as it gets, throwing one pitch to get the final out of the top of the fourth.

Ole Miss came back to the plate, and despite two walks, nothing materialized as a double play and a strikeout held the Rebels scoreless in the fifth.

Inning Six

Rabe went back out for his first full inning of relief and had a solid inning. He walked a batte, but produced two groundouts and a strikeout for another great inning of Ole Miss pitching.

Ole Miss had a lengthy inning at the plate and added another insurance run as Bissetta recorded another RBI, this time on an RBI single, which saw Decker go screaming around third for the score.

Inning Seven

The seventh was another display of dominance on the mound as Rabe faced just three batters in order, racking up consecutive strikeouts to end the inning.

Following the stretch, Ole Miss came back to the plate looking to add, and a Will Furniss lead-off single looked to be trending Ole Miss in the right direction.

However, a double play from Reuter and a fly out from Fawley ended the hopes of seventh inning insurance.

Inning Eight

Rabe came to the mound for what would be his final inning, where he gave up consecutive hard-hit singles to put runners on first and second with one out, but Randle helped out his pitcher with a beautiful diving stop to his glove side, beginning what would be an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.

Ole Miss came up for its last at-bats of the game in the bottom half of the inning, and looked to make some noise as a pair of two-out hits put runners on the corners before an inning-ending strikeout sent the Rebels back into the field with three outs to go.

Inning Nine

The ninth inning began, and so did Landon Koenig’s Rebel career as the tall right-handed pitcher took the mound in a non-save situation.

Koenig was greeted with a lead-off single, but a fielder’s choice and a pair of strikeouts secured the win for Ole Miss and with it a series victory on opening weekend.

A Look Ahead

Ole Miss will return to the diamond Sunday, where the first pitch is set for 1:30 p.m. CT as the Rebels look to stay perfect and secure a season-opening sweep.

(Feature image credit: Karis Chambliss, The Rebel Walk)