A little different format since I'm not in Atlanta for multiple reasons. I watched the game and had access to the media stats.
THE GOOD
A win is a win is a win, and Ole Miss is 16-1 after beating a pretty solid Georgia State club 5-3. The two teams meet again at 2 p.m. (CT) on Wednesday. It's also worth mentioning that Ole Miss outdrew GSU from a crowd standpoint, and the Rebels got the victory despite riding over day of game.
Thomas Dillard reached base three times with a double, single and a walk. The single went to the wall but he was thrown out trying to stretch it (more on that in a second). Ole Miss hit four doubles, and Grae Kessinger had two RBIs -- one on a single and one on a double.
Man, that fourth inning was huge for Ole Miss. Trailing 2-0 at the time, GSU starter Bryan White had seemed to settle in and got the first two outs on two pitches -- a fly out and a check swing roller. Then, with two outs, Nick Fortes drove the third pitch he saw well out of the yard. Dillard walked, and Will Golsan hit a ball off the top of the wall to tie the game. After basically 1.5 swings netting two outs on two pitches they didn't give up on the inning. Maturity there.
Ole Miss was 4-for-11 with runners on base, and I know he hasn't gotten the expected results, but Golsan leads the team with 15 RBIs despite hitting only .230 entering the day. It's not the best stat in the world, but he's having quality swings.
I give a lot of credit to Houston Roth for hanging in there. After the two-run home run in the second, Roth -- much like against Murray State -- kept things there. He threw three scoreless innings following the runs and struck out seven with only one walk. You need an innings-eater who can get on a run in the midweek, and he again did that.
Pardon my language, but Parker Caracci got screwed (The good part is Parker, not the screw job). After striking out the side in the eighth, the leadoff in the ninth inning hit a pop up that Jacob Adams dropped and seemed to lose in the lights. It was somehow called a hit, resulting in his first earned of the season. Another hit ended his night, but the should-have-been error changed the entire inning. Caracci has 18 strikeouts and one walk on the season.
Will Ethridge was fantastic again. Two innings, four strikeouts, two ground outs. That's it. Georgia State didn't have a prayer against him, and he threw 19 of his first 23 pitches for strikes. 23 of 29 overall. Ethridge hasn't allowed a hit or a run in his last 7.1 innings.
THE BAD
The base running is awful right now. Aggression is fine. I like aggression, but multiple instances tonight were simply mental mistakes or not paying attention. It's an overlooked part in wins and losses, and it's easily the worst part of Ole Miss' team right now. I know it seems like a small thing, but it gives away outs and costs runs. Situationally, they need to get better.
Cooper Johnson is dropping too many baseballs. There were two pitches tonight -- not counting ones that caused runner advancement -- where he simply didn't squeeze them and cost the pitcher strikes. One of those came late in the game and could have been very critical. While I can't be for sure what it is, I assume it's part focus and part trying to frame everything, causing the mitt to not secure the ball. He has all-world talent and a cannon, but his receiving has been a regression so far this season. Fortes has been the better receiver thus far.
All the credit to him for getting out of it, but Dallas Woolfolk wasn't sharp tonight. He gave up a hit and a walk in his four batters faced but maintained his 0.00 ERA and picked up his sixth save of the season. The bottom lines are still very good, but as I mentioned on the podcast today, he seems to have lost some extension and doesn't look as athletic in his delivery. The velocity isn't where we're used to seeing from him. I'm still giving him the benefit of the doubt that it can get back to where it was, but I do think it's something to follow moving forward -- if nothing else. The MPH have crept up in recent games a touch. He was 89-90 in spring intrasquads. I'll also cut him some slack because he came in with runners on. He's much freer when he enters with clean bases.
Georgia State had four legitimate extra base hits and hit .375 with runners in scoring position.
THE GOOD
A win is a win is a win, and Ole Miss is 16-1 after beating a pretty solid Georgia State club 5-3. The two teams meet again at 2 p.m. (CT) on Wednesday. It's also worth mentioning that Ole Miss outdrew GSU from a crowd standpoint, and the Rebels got the victory despite riding over day of game.
Thomas Dillard reached base three times with a double, single and a walk. The single went to the wall but he was thrown out trying to stretch it (more on that in a second). Ole Miss hit four doubles, and Grae Kessinger had two RBIs -- one on a single and one on a double.
Man, that fourth inning was huge for Ole Miss. Trailing 2-0 at the time, GSU starter Bryan White had seemed to settle in and got the first two outs on two pitches -- a fly out and a check swing roller. Then, with two outs, Nick Fortes drove the third pitch he saw well out of the yard. Dillard walked, and Will Golsan hit a ball off the top of the wall to tie the game. After basically 1.5 swings netting two outs on two pitches they didn't give up on the inning. Maturity there.
Ole Miss was 4-for-11 with runners on base, and I know he hasn't gotten the expected results, but Golsan leads the team with 15 RBIs despite hitting only .230 entering the day. It's not the best stat in the world, but he's having quality swings.
I give a lot of credit to Houston Roth for hanging in there. After the two-run home run in the second, Roth -- much like against Murray State -- kept things there. He threw three scoreless innings following the runs and struck out seven with only one walk. You need an innings-eater who can get on a run in the midweek, and he again did that.
Pardon my language, but Parker Caracci got screwed (The good part is Parker, not the screw job). After striking out the side in the eighth, the leadoff in the ninth inning hit a pop up that Jacob Adams dropped and seemed to lose in the lights. It was somehow called a hit, resulting in his first earned of the season. Another hit ended his night, but the should-have-been error changed the entire inning. Caracci has 18 strikeouts and one walk on the season.
Will Ethridge was fantastic again. Two innings, four strikeouts, two ground outs. That's it. Georgia State didn't have a prayer against him, and he threw 19 of his first 23 pitches for strikes. 23 of 29 overall. Ethridge hasn't allowed a hit or a run in his last 7.1 innings.
THE BAD
The base running is awful right now. Aggression is fine. I like aggression, but multiple instances tonight were simply mental mistakes or not paying attention. It's an overlooked part in wins and losses, and it's easily the worst part of Ole Miss' team right now. I know it seems like a small thing, but it gives away outs and costs runs. Situationally, they need to get better.
Cooper Johnson is dropping too many baseballs. There were two pitches tonight -- not counting ones that caused runner advancement -- where he simply didn't squeeze them and cost the pitcher strikes. One of those came late in the game and could have been very critical. While I can't be for sure what it is, I assume it's part focus and part trying to frame everything, causing the mitt to not secure the ball. He has all-world talent and a cannon, but his receiving has been a regression so far this season. Fortes has been the better receiver thus far.
All the credit to him for getting out of it, but Dallas Woolfolk wasn't sharp tonight. He gave up a hit and a walk in his four batters faced but maintained his 0.00 ERA and picked up his sixth save of the season. The bottom lines are still very good, but as I mentioned on the podcast today, he seems to have lost some extension and doesn't look as athletic in his delivery. The velocity isn't where we're used to seeing from him. I'm still giving him the benefit of the doubt that it can get back to where it was, but I do think it's something to follow moving forward -- if nothing else. The MPH have crept up in recent games a touch. He was 89-90 in spring intrasquads. I'll also cut him some slack because he came in with runners on. He's much freer when he enters with clean bases.
Georgia State had four legitimate extra base hits and hit .375 with runners in scoring position.
