This team still has its issues, of course, but that was a really gritty win today for Ole Miss, beating Arkansas 4-3 with a run in the top of the ninth to break a tie game.
Ole Miss held the Hogs scoreless in eight of nine innings and five straight frames after Arkansas built a 3-1 lead in the fourth. There are no guarantees tomorrow and any score could happen, but this should relatively free up Ole Miss to just play, as the pressure switches to the Razorbacks. Had Ole Miss lost today, tomorrow would have felt like a must win and been the third straight week of crazy pressure on Gunnar Hoglund. Instead, Ole Miss can go to sleep following its cleanest all-around game in a while and just see what happens on Sunday. Game time is 1:30 p.m.
Ole Miss was 3-for-9 with runners in scoring position and 5-for-14 with two outs including Tyler Keenan's RBI single in the third, home run in the fifth and Grae Kessinger's go-ahead double in the ninth inning. Situationally the Rebels were good most of the day. Kessinger saved Ole Miss in the ninth because there was nothing about that bunt that I liked right before his double.
Doug Nikhazy is a tough son of a gun. Sure, the leadoff walk scored on a home run in the fourth, but he doesn't get rattled and has a way of giving his teammates a collective emotional lift. It's a really impressive mentality for a freshman. He didn't have his usual command and 10 base runners in 5.2 innings are too many when you consider five reached on extra base hits, but he doesn't let up. That's a good quality, and as he continues to progress, it'll make for a dominant college arm. You should enjoy watching his growth over the next three years.
Austin Miller gave up just a hit in 2.1 innings, and Parker Caracci pitched a perfect ninth around an almost HBP and a deep fly out. Caracci was up to 93 MPH but pitched more at 89-91.
As a staff Ole Miss held Arkansas to 1-for-11 with runners on and 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position. The walks have to come down for Ole Miss as a staff, but they made it work today.
The Rebels had a really good offensive day even if the score was only four runs. I mentioned situationally above, and Cole Zabowski and Keenan didn't miss on their home runs. Ole Miss had to manufacture everything without help considering Arkansas pitchers threw 68.7 percent of their pitches for strikes on Saturday.
Cooper Johnson has three hits on the weekend including a home run and a double. He's helping himself a ton this season.
Ole Miss found a way to even the series despite Ryan Olenek and Thomas Dillard being a combined 1-for-16 so far this weekend. No matter what on Sunday, Ole Miss comes home for the majority of a month without being in desperation mode. It's just one game, but it felt like a swing point for the season. The Rebels can win if they just don't commit bodily harm to themselves. For one day they accomplished that.
Ole Miss held the Hogs scoreless in eight of nine innings and five straight frames after Arkansas built a 3-1 lead in the fourth. There are no guarantees tomorrow and any score could happen, but this should relatively free up Ole Miss to just play, as the pressure switches to the Razorbacks. Had Ole Miss lost today, tomorrow would have felt like a must win and been the third straight week of crazy pressure on Gunnar Hoglund. Instead, Ole Miss can go to sleep following its cleanest all-around game in a while and just see what happens on Sunday. Game time is 1:30 p.m.
Ole Miss was 3-for-9 with runners in scoring position and 5-for-14 with two outs including Tyler Keenan's RBI single in the third, home run in the fifth and Grae Kessinger's go-ahead double in the ninth inning. Situationally the Rebels were good most of the day. Kessinger saved Ole Miss in the ninth because there was nothing about that bunt that I liked right before his double.
Doug Nikhazy is a tough son of a gun. Sure, the leadoff walk scored on a home run in the fourth, but he doesn't get rattled and has a way of giving his teammates a collective emotional lift. It's a really impressive mentality for a freshman. He didn't have his usual command and 10 base runners in 5.2 innings are too many when you consider five reached on extra base hits, but he doesn't let up. That's a good quality, and as he continues to progress, it'll make for a dominant college arm. You should enjoy watching his growth over the next three years.
Austin Miller gave up just a hit in 2.1 innings, and Parker Caracci pitched a perfect ninth around an almost HBP and a deep fly out. Caracci was up to 93 MPH but pitched more at 89-91.
As a staff Ole Miss held Arkansas to 1-for-11 with runners on and 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position. The walks have to come down for Ole Miss as a staff, but they made it work today.
The Rebels had a really good offensive day even if the score was only four runs. I mentioned situationally above, and Cole Zabowski and Keenan didn't miss on their home runs. Ole Miss had to manufacture everything without help considering Arkansas pitchers threw 68.7 percent of their pitches for strikes on Saturday.
Cooper Johnson has three hits on the weekend including a home run and a double. He's helping himself a ton this season.
Ole Miss found a way to even the series despite Ryan Olenek and Thomas Dillard being a combined 1-for-16 so far this weekend. No matter what on Sunday, Ole Miss comes home for the majority of a month without being in desperation mode. It's just one game, but it felt like a swing point for the season. The Rebels can win if they just don't commit bodily harm to themselves. For one day they accomplished that.
