Kentucky scored nine unanswered runs and ran away from Ole Miss in the later innings for a 9-2 win to even the series Saturday in Lexington. The rubber game is at noon on Sunday. The Rebels haven't named a starting pitcher.
We can talk about pitching, and there are things to talk about, but frankly the offense is the problem right now, and it's why Ole Miss has lost two of the last three conference games. Even if we give a pass with Ole Miss not getting in a slugfest with Tennessee on Friday and Saturday, the Sunday game against the Vols was winnable with better offense, and the Rebels were plain listless in Lexington today. Ole Miss had three hits, five total base runners and was 1-for-8 with runners on base. Kentucky was 7-for-19 in that category.
Mike Bianco said Ole Miss looked uncomfortable at the plate all day, and, especially once UK got in the bullpen, it wasn't high-level SEC stuff. Darren Williams, the starter, did a nice job and is a good arm, but at some point Ole Miss can't be graded on some type of curve offensively. The DNA of this team is to out-hit teams and find wins even when pitching falters. Right now it's the pitching that's not great but ok and all other facets are bad. The Rebels were 3-for-30 at the plate and no one reached base more than once except for Calvin Harris who walked and reached on an error. I've seen a lot worse plays get called hits. I was surprised by the error there considering college scoring.
The Rebels haven't been a good running team all season, and the defense was again poor. Ole Miss made three errors and that was probably generous, as it should have been four. Neither run against Hunter Elliott was earned at a time when the game was still up for grabs and the Rebels had a lead. Elliott was part of the defensive issue but point remains.
On Friday, Ole Miss couldn't catch up to an average fastball and kept getting jammed by a loopy curveball. Today it seemed to be more of the fastball again and I don't see how the whole team struggles with it when it wasn't an issue last season.
It was mentioned on the board, and I do think there's a negative effect in times like this that Ole Miss' main leaders aren't that fiery. They are competitive, but it's mostly in a positive way. Sometimes you need an asshole. I'm not sure Ole Miss has that in its top players. And I know when you don't hit you look deflated, but there's just not much energy or there's a manufactured energy. It's on TV so maybe this isn't completely fair, but I don't like the body language at all. They look like a sleepy team that's losing some confidence.
Bianco said Elliott didn't pitch that well today, and he wasn't perfect, but for a first start as a true freshman, I thought he was pretty good, as in he settled down from a weird start and didn't let it avalanche. Partly from his doing, but he threw into the fifth without an earned run. Behind him, Riley Maddox, Derek Diamond and Matt Parenteau all struggled. There were location issues and getting too much of the plate. To win this game Ole Miss had to score early and add on and take momentum. By the seventh, UK could be really free at the plate.
Hayden Dunhurst still seems to be scrambling a bit behind the plate. I don't know if he's banged up. We haven't been told of anything. And the wild pitch was a really tough play today, but he just doesn't look like himself back there.
Harris and Kevin Graham don't qualify here so it's a little bit of a flawed statistic, but of statistically-eligible hitters, Ole Miss only has two players hitting more than .300 currently.
Ole Miss is 3-5 in the league. A bad day tomorrow starts being a major math issue when talking about expectations that were present in the preseason.
We can talk about pitching, and there are things to talk about, but frankly the offense is the problem right now, and it's why Ole Miss has lost two of the last three conference games. Even if we give a pass with Ole Miss not getting in a slugfest with Tennessee on Friday and Saturday, the Sunday game against the Vols was winnable with better offense, and the Rebels were plain listless in Lexington today. Ole Miss had three hits, five total base runners and was 1-for-8 with runners on base. Kentucky was 7-for-19 in that category.
Mike Bianco said Ole Miss looked uncomfortable at the plate all day, and, especially once UK got in the bullpen, it wasn't high-level SEC stuff. Darren Williams, the starter, did a nice job and is a good arm, but at some point Ole Miss can't be graded on some type of curve offensively. The DNA of this team is to out-hit teams and find wins even when pitching falters. Right now it's the pitching that's not great but ok and all other facets are bad. The Rebels were 3-for-30 at the plate and no one reached base more than once except for Calvin Harris who walked and reached on an error. I've seen a lot worse plays get called hits. I was surprised by the error there considering college scoring.
The Rebels haven't been a good running team all season, and the defense was again poor. Ole Miss made three errors and that was probably generous, as it should have been four. Neither run against Hunter Elliott was earned at a time when the game was still up for grabs and the Rebels had a lead. Elliott was part of the defensive issue but point remains.
On Friday, Ole Miss couldn't catch up to an average fastball and kept getting jammed by a loopy curveball. Today it seemed to be more of the fastball again and I don't see how the whole team struggles with it when it wasn't an issue last season.
It was mentioned on the board, and I do think there's a negative effect in times like this that Ole Miss' main leaders aren't that fiery. They are competitive, but it's mostly in a positive way. Sometimes you need an asshole. I'm not sure Ole Miss has that in its top players. And I know when you don't hit you look deflated, but there's just not much energy or there's a manufactured energy. It's on TV so maybe this isn't completely fair, but I don't like the body language at all. They look like a sleepy team that's losing some confidence.
Bianco said Elliott didn't pitch that well today, and he wasn't perfect, but for a first start as a true freshman, I thought he was pretty good, as in he settled down from a weird start and didn't let it avalanche. Partly from his doing, but he threw into the fifth without an earned run. Behind him, Riley Maddox, Derek Diamond and Matt Parenteau all struggled. There were location issues and getting too much of the plate. To win this game Ole Miss had to score early and add on and take momentum. By the seventh, UK could be really free at the plate.
Hayden Dunhurst still seems to be scrambling a bit behind the plate. I don't know if he's banged up. We haven't been told of anything. And the wild pitch was a really tough play today, but he just doesn't look like himself back there.
Harris and Kevin Graham don't qualify here so it's a little bit of a flawed statistic, but of statistically-eligible hitters, Ole Miss only has two players hitting more than .300 currently.
Ole Miss is 3-5 in the league. A bad day tomorrow starts being a major math issue when talking about expectations that were present in the preseason.
