No. 15 Ole Miss Baseball Drops Rubber Match to No. 18 Alabama; Rebels Set for Tuesday Action in Hoover

The No. 15 Ole Miss Rebels dropped Saturday afternoon’s rubber match against the No. 18 Alabama Crimson Tide, 6-2, at Sewell-Thomas Stadium in Tuscaloosa to conclude the regular season.

Ole Miss (36-20 overall) struggled offensively, collecting just four hits and allowing five unanswered runs in the field, and now drops to 15-15 in SEC play. The loss most likely means the Rebels would need to make a deep run in the SEC Tournament this coming week to have a chance to propel themselves into a regional host position.

As it has all weekend, action started in the first inning when Alabama jumped on Rebels starting pitcher Cade Townsend with a leadoff single. This was followed by a long at-bat ending in a double for shortstop Justin Lebron that drove home the runner, giving Alabama a fast 1-0 lead.

However, two innings later, Ole Miss would snag the lead with a bases-loaded single from second baseman Dom Decker and a sacrifice fly from right fielder Tristan Bissetta to make it 2-1 Rebels. However, Ole Miss also ran themselves out of the inning as Decker attempted to tag from first and was thrown out at second for a double-play. This would prove costly as Ole Miss was back in the field just one batter later, stranding a runner on third.

From then on out, the Tide took over. They went on to score five unanswered runs, starting with catcher John Lemn recording an RBI single in the bottom of the third.

But the fourth is when it got rough for Ole Miss, Townsend loaded the bases and what looked to be a routine ground ball to short, took a big bounce off the shortstop Owen Paino’s shoulder and over his head, allowing two runs to score on an RBI single from center fielder Bryce Fowler. Jason Torres capped off the inning a few batters later with an RBI single of his own.

The Crimson Tide kept scoring, with designated hitter Eric Hines crushing a leadoff home run in the sixth, moving the scoreboard to 6-2, Alabama.

On the other side, Ole Miss could not move the needle at the plate, as the Rebels were unable to string together base runners, but reliever Walker Hooks kept Ole Miss down just four heading into the ninth after 3.1 innings of scoreless pitching where he allowed just two hits.

In the ninth, Ole Miss was robbed of base hits by the Alabama defense, before Brayden Randle drew a walk to keep the game alive. But it would not be enough as Austin Fawley flew out to right field as the series and the regular season come to a close.

A Look Ahead

Ole Miss will return to the diamond on Tuesday to kick off the SEC Tournament as either the No. 9 or No. 10 seed. The opponents and times would be: Missouri at 9:30 a.m. (if Ole Miss is No. 9 seed) and 4:30 p.m. vs. South Carolina (if Rebels are No. 10 seed).

I’ll be in Hoover for the tournament and will bring you all the latest info!