Ole Miss again got solid pitching but didn’t do enough offensively. The Rebels, for the third straight week, lost a series in game three and after winning on opening night, and Ole Miss has lost four straight series overall. Arkansas beat the Rebels, 4-3, riding a two-run home run in the fifth inning to the victory.
Ole Miss is 24-19 overall and 7-14 in the SEC, the worst record under Mike Bianco through 21 league games. Arkansas is 14-7 in the league and in first place in the SEC West.
It’s Groundhog Day. There are two storylines that keep appearing, and both were apparent on Sunday. Ole Miss is bad with situational hitting, and that was the main culprit for the second day in a row. Also, Derek Diamond is good early but struggles through the lineup after the first time.
Let’s start with the Diamond part. It’s frankly, unfair to Diamond. He’s really good early in games and can reliably get through 3-4 innings without much damage and allow the offense to settle in and, in theory, get some runs to set pace and momentum in series finales. But, instead, Bianco leaves him in too long and Diamond leaves after failure. It seems to be the case every week, and it’s misusing and wasting what can be a very valuable tool in Diamond through the order.
This from Nick Suss: As of three weeks ago, Diamond had a 2.61 ERA first time through and a 10.67 ERA second and third times through. Since then he's allowed one run to 27 first-time batters and 11 runs to 37 second/third time batters.
The stats are obvious, and it’s changed games for Ole Miss, especially in recent weeks.
Offensively, Ole Miss was 3-for-16 with runners on base and had only five hits. Arkansas walked nine batters, but the Rebels couldn’t put innings together with the help. The Razorbacks went 2-0 the last two days despite giving Ole Miss a combined 18 free passes. The Rebels were 5-for-34 with runners on base in those two games.
Tim Elko flew out with the bases loaded to end the game. He had a hit and an RBI but left five on base. However, he’s not the problem overall. Elko is doing his job and playing the way he plays. He’s not going to be a high-contact player. If all the other players in the lineup filled their specific roles the same way, Ole Miss wouldn’t be in this mess.
Justin Bench reached base four times. His lone unsuccessful plate appearance was with one out and two on in the ninth inning. Kemp Alderman drove in two with a single in the fourth inning.
John Gaddis was great in his first work since appendix surgery, throwing 2.1 shutout innings an d throwing 21 of 32 pitches for strikes, heightening the decision to extend Diamond.
Ole Miss is 12th or 13th in the league after seven weekends, pending the finale of Missouri and Mississippi State. Ole Miss and UK are 7-14, and the Rebels have that tiebreaker. Missouri is 6-14 with the game still going on. The Tigers are in Oxford this coming weekend. Florida is in 11th at 8-13. The top 12 go to Hoover.
Ole Miss is 24-19 overall and 7-14 in the SEC, the worst record under Mike Bianco through 21 league games. Arkansas is 14-7 in the league and in first place in the SEC West.
It’s Groundhog Day. There are two storylines that keep appearing, and both were apparent on Sunday. Ole Miss is bad with situational hitting, and that was the main culprit for the second day in a row. Also, Derek Diamond is good early but struggles through the lineup after the first time.
Let’s start with the Diamond part. It’s frankly, unfair to Diamond. He’s really good early in games and can reliably get through 3-4 innings without much damage and allow the offense to settle in and, in theory, get some runs to set pace and momentum in series finales. But, instead, Bianco leaves him in too long and Diamond leaves after failure. It seems to be the case every week, and it’s misusing and wasting what can be a very valuable tool in Diamond through the order.
This from Nick Suss: As of three weeks ago, Diamond had a 2.61 ERA first time through and a 10.67 ERA second and third times through. Since then he's allowed one run to 27 first-time batters and 11 runs to 37 second/third time batters.
The stats are obvious, and it’s changed games for Ole Miss, especially in recent weeks.
Offensively, Ole Miss was 3-for-16 with runners on base and had only five hits. Arkansas walked nine batters, but the Rebels couldn’t put innings together with the help. The Razorbacks went 2-0 the last two days despite giving Ole Miss a combined 18 free passes. The Rebels were 5-for-34 with runners on base in those two games.
Tim Elko flew out with the bases loaded to end the game. He had a hit and an RBI but left five on base. However, he’s not the problem overall. Elko is doing his job and playing the way he plays. He’s not going to be a high-contact player. If all the other players in the lineup filled their specific roles the same way, Ole Miss wouldn’t be in this mess.
Justin Bench reached base four times. His lone unsuccessful plate appearance was with one out and two on in the ninth inning. Kemp Alderman drove in two with a single in the fourth inning.
John Gaddis was great in his first work since appendix surgery, throwing 2.1 shutout innings an d throwing 21 of 32 pitches for strikes, heightening the decision to extend Diamond.
Ole Miss is 12th or 13th in the league after seven weekends, pending the finale of Missouri and Mississippi State. Ole Miss and UK are 7-14, and the Rebels have that tiebreaker. Missouri is 6-14 with the game still going on. The Tigers are in Oxford this coming weekend. Florida is in 11th at 8-13. The top 12 go to Hoover.
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