Ole Miss baseball (16-10, 1-7) picked up their first SEC win of the season Saturday night as they defeated Texas A&M (16-11, 2-6) by a score of 14-7.
The Rebels scored eight of their 14 runs with two outs and worked a season-high 11 walks in the win over the Aggies.
The Aggies struck first in game two as they opened the game with three consecutive doubles, scoring two quick runs. Xavier Rivas then settled in and struck out the next three batters to get out of the inning.
Reagan Burford made his first start of the season at third base on Saturday and would end up going 2-for-4 with three RBI and three runs scored. He got the scoring started for the Rebels in the second inning with a two-RBI blast over the left field fence that tied the game at 2-2. It was his first home run of the season and his first since April 14, 2022 against South Carolina.
Texas A&M picked up two more runs in the bottom of the second inning on a sacrifice fly and RBI single to make it 4-4.
Rivas found a groove and gave up just one run on three hits for the rest of his outing. He struck out seven Aggies, his highest number since February 19 against Delaware and would be relieved with two outs in the fifth inning.
Ole Miss put up back-to-back crooked numbers in the fourth and fifth innings for the first time in SEC play this season, scoring five in the fourth and three in the fifth.
Will Furniss opened the fourth with a walk before Burford doubled and TJ McCants drove them both home with a single. Calvin Harris then drew a walk and Ethan Groff singled to load the bases for Jacob Gonzalez. Gonzalez brought McCants home with a sacrifice fly to center field and Kemp Alderman brought Harris home with an RBI-single. Anthony Calarco made it 7-4 Rebels with an RBI groundout that scored Groff from third.
After Texas A&M got one run back in the bottom of the fourth, Ole Miss scored three more runs on four-straight walks and an Alderman double down the right field line. When all was said and done, the Rebels held a 10-5 lead and both teams would turn to their bullpens.
Brayden Jones was the first out of the pen for the Rebels, closing out the fifth inning and going into the eighth for a career-high three innings of work. Jones also tied his career-high in strikeouts with four and earned his first career win, moving to 1-0 on the season.
Ole Miss hung another crooked number in the eighth inning, scoring four runs with just one hit in the inning. Gonzalez and Calarco drew walks and Furniss was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Burford earned his third RBI of the night after he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. McCants drove in two more runs with a single through the left side that scored Furniss and Calarco.
A double steal by McCants and Burford brought another run across as Burford stole home, giving the Rebels a 14-5 lead, their highest run total in SEC play so far.
Texas A&M got two runs in the ninth before the Rebels were able to close out their first win in conference play of 2023.
Alderman, Gonzalez, and McCants each had two hits in the game in addition to Burford. McCants drove in four runs while Alderman and Burford each drove in three. Gonzalez reached base five times, working three walks to go with his two hits.
Ole Miss and Texas A&M will play a rubber match tomorrow at 1 p.m. at Blue Bell Park
The Rebels scored eight of their 14 runs with two outs and worked a season-high 11 walks in the win over the Aggies.
The Aggies struck first in game two as they opened the game with three consecutive doubles, scoring two quick runs. Xavier Rivas then settled in and struck out the next three batters to get out of the inning.
Reagan Burford made his first start of the season at third base on Saturday and would end up going 2-for-4 with three RBI and three runs scored. He got the scoring started for the Rebels in the second inning with a two-RBI blast over the left field fence that tied the game at 2-2. It was his first home run of the season and his first since April 14, 2022 against South Carolina.
Texas A&M picked up two more runs in the bottom of the second inning on a sacrifice fly and RBI single to make it 4-4.
Rivas found a groove and gave up just one run on three hits for the rest of his outing. He struck out seven Aggies, his highest number since February 19 against Delaware and would be relieved with two outs in the fifth inning.
Ole Miss put up back-to-back crooked numbers in the fourth and fifth innings for the first time in SEC play this season, scoring five in the fourth and three in the fifth.
Will Furniss opened the fourth with a walk before Burford doubled and TJ McCants drove them both home with a single. Calvin Harris then drew a walk and Ethan Groff singled to load the bases for Jacob Gonzalez. Gonzalez brought McCants home with a sacrifice fly to center field and Kemp Alderman brought Harris home with an RBI-single. Anthony Calarco made it 7-4 Rebels with an RBI groundout that scored Groff from third.
After Texas A&M got one run back in the bottom of the fourth, Ole Miss scored three more runs on four-straight walks and an Alderman double down the right field line. When all was said and done, the Rebels held a 10-5 lead and both teams would turn to their bullpens.
Brayden Jones was the first out of the pen for the Rebels, closing out the fifth inning and going into the eighth for a career-high three innings of work. Jones also tied his career-high in strikeouts with four and earned his first career win, moving to 1-0 on the season.
Ole Miss hung another crooked number in the eighth inning, scoring four runs with just one hit in the inning. Gonzalez and Calarco drew walks and Furniss was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Burford earned his third RBI of the night after he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. McCants drove in two more runs with a single through the left side that scored Furniss and Calarco.
A double steal by McCants and Burford brought another run across as Burford stole home, giving the Rebels a 14-5 lead, their highest run total in SEC play so far.
Texas A&M got two runs in the ninth before the Rebels were able to close out their first win in conference play of 2023.
Alderman, Gonzalez, and McCants each had two hits in the game in addition to Burford. McCants drove in four runs while Alderman and Burford each drove in three. Gonzalez reached base five times, working three walks to go with his two hits.
Ole Miss and Texas A&M will play a rubber match tomorrow at 1 p.m. at Blue Bell Park
