First, my apologies for last night and thank you for your understanding in this being delayed.
As you're aware, Ole Miss fell to UCF, 1-0, in 12 innings, setting up a rubber game at 11 a.m. today from Orlando. The Rebels are 9-1 on the season, while UCF is 8-2. Those are the particulars.
Somewhat lost in the offensive no-show and the bunt or don't bunt conversation is what the pitching staff did yesterday, which as of now, is a bigger longterm story than an offensive hibernation for a day. John Gaddis was tremendous, throwing seven scoreless innings with four scattered hits, eight strikeouts and no walks. For the second week in a row, Gaddis didn't put himself in any trouble and he just hammers the strike zone, this time throwing 62 of 89 pitches for strikes. Gaddis only had three three-ball counts during his outing. He hit a batter in the seventh with one out but rolled a double play on the next pitch. It's exactly what was expected of him when he transferred.
Mason Nichols also just filled it up. Facing a stressful situation for the first time in his career, the true freshman threw 15 of 19 pitches for strikes and gave up one hit in 2.1 innings. He struck out 3 of the 7 batters faced. Ole Miss is getting a lot of positives from its young arms.
And that includes Hunter Elliott, who got the last two outs in the 10th, including dropping in a nice breaking ball in the final at-bat of the inning. He also stranded a runner in the 11th. Elliott lost control in the 12, throwing eight of nine pitches for balls to put two men on with no out -- one of which eventually scored the winning run. He got squeezed on a couple of them, but it was a good learning experience, and it's almost all positives so far with Riley Maddox, Nichols and Elliott.
Now that offense. An offense that scored at least eight runs in each of its previous nine games was just awful on Saturday. It's an anomaly until it happens more, so I'm not going to spend a ton of digital ink on it. Connor Staine was really good, giving up two hits in seven innings, and then Chase Centala gives up one hit in five innings, and that is the issue in this one. You can't let a bullpen arm do that and extend to that amount.
Instead of staying in their approach, Ole Miss started pressing halfway through the game and didn't stop the rest of the way. And I know Staine has a big fastball up into the high 90s, but the most disappointing thing for Ole Miss is how many fastballs they just missed -- off both pitchers. And they had way too many at-bats that weren't competitive. The Rebels were 3-for-37 as a team offensively, so no matter how I break it up, the stats are going to be terrible. But Peyton Chatagnier, Jacob Gonzalez, Tim Elko and Kevin Graham were 1-for-19 with six strikeouts. Ole Miss walked only four times and give Hayden Dunhurst credit for two of those. It wasn't just the not hitting that looked so bad and seemed like pressing yesterday, it was the bad at-bats and the pressing to try to hit it out instead of just playing.
As soon as Ben Van Cleve was announced as the pinch hitter, I knew he was about to bunt. Mike has been vocal for two years that Van Cleve is the best bunter on the team, and that was the only explanation at the time. I know Calvin Harris was 0-for-3 with two strikeout but just let him swing there. Getting the bunt down isn't a guarantee, and that's never factored enough into things at the college level. The analytics say don't bunt even with a successful bunt, but in college it gets bungled too often, as well. And Ole Miss was sort of mentally fragile offensively yesterday, so I just didn't like it. It set a weird tone, and unless Harris was going to ground into a double play, it was the only way to not get Gonzalez to the plate. There are several ways for bad bunts to be double plays. Ole Miss hadn't hit well, so I know Mike was trying to do anything to mix it up, but even if it works, I'm not sure it's your best route at the time.
Speaking of Dunhurst, he's completely stopped UCF from running. I don't mind what they did there in extra innings testing it. I like a steal more than a bunt if the runner is one of the better base-stealers, but it wasn't a high percentage play.Most teams don't even try or stop trying.
Today is a good mental test for Ole Miss. You don't need to lose the series, and yesterday didn't go well. After so many run-rules and blowouts, they had to sleep on a clunker last night. It's a veteran team so that's fine, but it's the first time this exact group has had to do it. It's a big spot for Drew McDaniel. With Derek Diamond on Friday, his achilles heels were tested with limiting big innings and keeping the ball in the ballpark. Today is McDaniel's test -- handling the pressure of a split-series Sunday. Just pitching and not thinking. Ole Miss will learn some things today.
As you're aware, Ole Miss fell to UCF, 1-0, in 12 innings, setting up a rubber game at 11 a.m. today from Orlando. The Rebels are 9-1 on the season, while UCF is 8-2. Those are the particulars.
Somewhat lost in the offensive no-show and the bunt or don't bunt conversation is what the pitching staff did yesterday, which as of now, is a bigger longterm story than an offensive hibernation for a day. John Gaddis was tremendous, throwing seven scoreless innings with four scattered hits, eight strikeouts and no walks. For the second week in a row, Gaddis didn't put himself in any trouble and he just hammers the strike zone, this time throwing 62 of 89 pitches for strikes. Gaddis only had three three-ball counts during his outing. He hit a batter in the seventh with one out but rolled a double play on the next pitch. It's exactly what was expected of him when he transferred.
Mason Nichols also just filled it up. Facing a stressful situation for the first time in his career, the true freshman threw 15 of 19 pitches for strikes and gave up one hit in 2.1 innings. He struck out 3 of the 7 batters faced. Ole Miss is getting a lot of positives from its young arms.
And that includes Hunter Elliott, who got the last two outs in the 10th, including dropping in a nice breaking ball in the final at-bat of the inning. He also stranded a runner in the 11th. Elliott lost control in the 12, throwing eight of nine pitches for balls to put two men on with no out -- one of which eventually scored the winning run. He got squeezed on a couple of them, but it was a good learning experience, and it's almost all positives so far with Riley Maddox, Nichols and Elliott.
Now that offense. An offense that scored at least eight runs in each of its previous nine games was just awful on Saturday. It's an anomaly until it happens more, so I'm not going to spend a ton of digital ink on it. Connor Staine was really good, giving up two hits in seven innings, and then Chase Centala gives up one hit in five innings, and that is the issue in this one. You can't let a bullpen arm do that and extend to that amount.
Instead of staying in their approach, Ole Miss started pressing halfway through the game and didn't stop the rest of the way. And I know Staine has a big fastball up into the high 90s, but the most disappointing thing for Ole Miss is how many fastballs they just missed -- off both pitchers. And they had way too many at-bats that weren't competitive. The Rebels were 3-for-37 as a team offensively, so no matter how I break it up, the stats are going to be terrible. But Peyton Chatagnier, Jacob Gonzalez, Tim Elko and Kevin Graham were 1-for-19 with six strikeouts. Ole Miss walked only four times and give Hayden Dunhurst credit for two of those. It wasn't just the not hitting that looked so bad and seemed like pressing yesterday, it was the bad at-bats and the pressing to try to hit it out instead of just playing.
As soon as Ben Van Cleve was announced as the pinch hitter, I knew he was about to bunt. Mike has been vocal for two years that Van Cleve is the best bunter on the team, and that was the only explanation at the time. I know Calvin Harris was 0-for-3 with two strikeout but just let him swing there. Getting the bunt down isn't a guarantee, and that's never factored enough into things at the college level. The analytics say don't bunt even with a successful bunt, but in college it gets bungled too often, as well. And Ole Miss was sort of mentally fragile offensively yesterday, so I just didn't like it. It set a weird tone, and unless Harris was going to ground into a double play, it was the only way to not get Gonzalez to the plate. There are several ways for bad bunts to be double plays. Ole Miss hadn't hit well, so I know Mike was trying to do anything to mix it up, but even if it works, I'm not sure it's your best route at the time.
Speaking of Dunhurst, he's completely stopped UCF from running. I don't mind what they did there in extra innings testing it. I like a steal more than a bunt if the runner is one of the better base-stealers, but it wasn't a high percentage play.Most teams don't even try or stop trying.
Today is a good mental test for Ole Miss. You don't need to lose the series, and yesterday didn't go well. After so many run-rules and blowouts, they had to sleep on a clunker last night. It's a veteran team so that's fine, but it's the first time this exact group has had to do it. It's a big spot for Drew McDaniel. With Derek Diamond on Friday, his achilles heels were tested with limiting big innings and keeping the ball in the ballpark. Today is McDaniel's test -- handling the pressure of a split-series Sunday. Just pitching and not thinking. Ole Miss will learn some things today.
