Ruby DraayerNo. 3 Ole Miss baseball was able to dominate Alcorn State in an 11-1 victory on Tuesday night. The Rebels are now 2-0 all-time against the Bravehawks. The Rebels are also on a six-game winning streak. The team won every single game last week against the Memphis Tigers, one midweek matchup against the Jackson State Tigers and the first weekend series sweep of the season against the Belmont Bruins.
Last year’s game against Alcorn State ended in extra innings, after the teams tied 8-8 going into the 10th inning. The last game against the Bravehawks ended with a score of 9-8, with the Rebels coming out on top.
However, this year Alcorn State didn’t put up as much of a fight.
Freshman pitcher Josh Mallitz had his first career start for the Rebels. The Florida native had a career day after six strikeouts in only four innings pitched. Following Mallitz, freshmen Luke Baker and Cody Adcock, junior Brandon Johnson and sophomore Wes Burton came in to pitch for an inning each. Every pitcher struck out at least two batters, combining for 14 total strikeouts in eight innings.
While the pitchers remained dominant for the entire game, Ole Miss offensively struggled for the first few innings. Senior pitcher Tim Elko continued to showcase his National and SEC Player of the Week accolades after going 2-for-3 with three RBI’s. If you’re keeping track, that’s 17 in the senior’s last six games.
Sophomore Hayden Dunhurst has forgotten what it is like to get out. The Mississippi native was walked four times, and he hit by a pitch to round the bases three times. Meanwhile, senior Hayden Leatherwood was also able to have a great night, going 2-for-3 and adding an RBI. After Tuesday’s game, junior Justin Bench leads the SEC in hit-by-pitches this season with a total of six.
Ole Miss baseball will now look to keep its win streak going as they take on the University of Louisiana at Monroe Warhawks this weekend.
The ULM Warhawks are 5-4 on the season and will be coming off a 10-3 loss to Louisiana Tech at home. ULM has a range of capable hitters on their roster and could be a problem for whoever will be on the mound this weekend. In order to come out with another series win, the Rebels will need to make sure that they are on top of things offensively.
On the other side of the ball, Ole Miss will rely heavily on shortstop Jacob Gonzalez to continue to make big plays. Overall, the pitching has done a great job of limiting hits, but because of the hitting capabilities of ULM, there will be very little room for errors. Through 13 games of this season, Ole Miss has a combined 11 errors on the team.
Head coach Mike Bianco announced on Tuesday night that ace pitcher Doug Nikhazy will not pitch this weekend due to a chest strain. It looks like a minor injury, but he will be reevaluated in a few days. In his place will be junior Gunnar Hoglund and sophomores Drew McDaniel and Derek Diamond to start each day of the series. The average earned run average (ERA) for these three pitchers sits at 3.53.
This series will air on the SEC Network and will start at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, March 12 and 1:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, March 13-14.
