Luke Dunavant
The Ole Miss Baseball team’s losing streak continued on Tuesday, April 2, as they fell to the Memphis Tigers on the road. After a valiant effort to make things close going into the seventh inning, Memphis blew the lid off the game, pulling out the win and halting any hopes Ole Miss had of righting the ship.
Ole Miss’ pitching was disappointing, as the bullpen came in early — and even they struggled. The pitchers were consistently missing the zone and walked player after player.
Staying on the defensive side, Ole Miss also gave up two home runs, both of which zapped any momentum that the Rebels thought they could muster. Young phenom and left-handed pitcher Austin Simmons was the team’s best pitcher, and he only pitched two innings as a reliever.
The team as a whole cycled through eight pitchers, each pitching around one inning, with Simmons being the exception.
The Rebels struggled from the plate as well. Even though they scored four runs, they were walked three times and struck out four. They did outdo Memphis’ strikeout total, having 12 to Memphis’ four. Even with this going their way, though, Ole Miss could not capitalize on anything when it mattered most.
The Rebels committed one error, which came from infielder Luke Hill, the transfer shortstop from Arizona State.
The Rebels left eight runners stranded on base, something that has been a common theme this season. As a pitching staff, the Tigers did not have to do much, as they cycled through five pitchers, each pitching around two innings. They all more or less took care of business, halting Ole Miss’ momentum at crucial points in the game.
From an outside view, the Tigers were a team that should not have beat the Rebels. From top to bottom, position by position, an eye test says Ole Miss is the better team. However, Ole Miss is faltering as the dog days of the season roll in. We will have to wait and see if they can pick up the pace and start to play with some sense of urgency.
Weird stat of the game
The best batting average for the game was from Ethan Lege with a .366 batting average. This means that he was hitting about 40% of his at bats. On the surface, this stat is incredible, but for this to be the leading average of the game is a big contributor to the loss. The hitting was overall atrocious.
What’s next?
The Rebels look to move on from Memphis as they go to Fayetteville, Ark., this weekend to take on the No. 1 Razorbacks. This will be a tough outing for the Rebels, and it will be interesting to see if they can get their swagger back against the top-ranked team in the nation.
