5 days Ago
The No. 11 Ole Miss Rebels suffered a crushing series loss to the newly named No. 4 Tennessee Volunteers this past weekend after falling short in Sunday's rubber match.
Despite the series loss the Rebels had a few positive takeaways but also contributed to some negatives as well, so what are the three biggest takeaways from this weekend? Three Observations: Rebels Fall to Volunteers in Swayze The Rebels bats were on fire this weekend despite being struck out 14 times on Friday night. Even in Game 1, Austin Fawley smacked the first of his three home runs in three games to make it a one-run ball game in the fifth. After being held to just two runs on Friday, they responded with eight runs in the following two games.
In that span, the Rebels recorded 21 hits, 10 walks and a hit by pitch to drive in 16 runs; therefore converting on 50 percent of their base runners that they manufactured. Ole Miss also jumped on some defensive errors after five unearned runs over the weekend; making pitchers and fielders pay for mistakes in many different fashions. Pitcher is one of the most difficult positions in baseball, however the continued inconsistency of this Rebels squad has cost them some important ball games, including last weekend against a top-five foe.
Most notably, Sunday's rubber match loss where the Rebels allowed five runs in the sixth to allow Tennessee to regain the lead. Once Ole Miss entered the ninth after a comeback, the Rebels pitching put the program in trouble, eventually leading to the Volunteers plating three in the final frame for the win. Rebels pitching also needs to limit free passes.
The program did well in the first two games of the series, but once Sunday came around, they walked 7 of the 14 total batters walked on the entire weekend. With all the negatives, Ole Miss had some positives this weekend from their pitching; including Mason Morris who came out of the pen on Friday and shoved. He allowed no runs and finished the final 5.
0 innings recording 8 strikeouts and no free passes. Another bright spot was Connor Spencer, who closed out Saturday's victory after going 1.1 innings for the save.
While the pitching was all over the place throughout the weekend, Ole Miss has the talent to dominate games, and they have shown it, however if the pitching staff continues to stay inconsistent, it could be a major problem in an important spot of the year. Ole Miss has been all over the place on the defensive side and last weekend was more of the same. While the program only recorded one error on the scoresheet, the Vols were gifted a couple of costly base runners.
Most notably this weekend was the Vols first run on Sunday, who was only on-base due to a dropped fly ball. That runner then came around to score on a sac fly and advanced around the bases without Tennessee recording a single hit in the inning. Another notable defensive moment occured in the ninth inning of Sunday's loss, when a hard hit ground ball off the edge of the mound was tipped by pitcher Brayden Jones, which allowed a Tennessee batter to reach safely at first; rather than groudning into a routine double play.
The Rebels will return to the diamond on Tuesday as they host the Little Rock Trojans at 11 a.m. CT before hitting the road to Columbia for an SEC showdown against the South Carolina Gamecocks.
More Ole Miss News: Ole Miss Quarterback Confident He's "The Best" QB in the 2025 NFL Draft Top-10 Quarterback in America Locks in Ole Miss Visit Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss Rebels Confirm Spring Game Plans in April Join the Community: Follow Zack Nagy on Twitter: @znagy20 and Ole Miss Rebels On SI: @OleMissOnSI for all coverage surrounding the Ole Miss program..
