Ruby DraayerThe Ole Miss baseball program swept Belmont this weekend to improve to 10-2 on the season.
The Rebels started the series off hot with a 12-4 win over the Belmont Bruins. The win came quickly as Ole Miss scored its 12 runs in the first three innings. Sophomore Hayden Dunhurst and senior Hayden Leatherwood had multiple RBIs Friday night and were a huge reason the team had so much success.
Senior captain Tim Elko had a stand-out night after he batted three for five with five RBIs and a three-run home run in the third. Elko has scored a home run in the last three games. As a result of his performance this weekend, Elko was named National Player of the Week from Collegiate Baseball and SEC Player of the Week on Monday.
“You can tell he’s feeling a little bit better now, and when he does make contact, special things can happen,” head coach Mike Bianco said on Tim Elko’s hitting. “Unique talent — I think he’s seeing it and feeling a lot better now.”
In the second game of the series, the bats were unable to pick up where they left off.Belmont got a couple of runs in early and put the Rebels down 3-0 to start the game. The Rebels came back from a three-run deficit and won 4-3 in the eighth inning. Junior Kevin Graham was the hero, hitting a home run that won the game.
While the numbers weren’t quite as high as the previous night, it is clear that the Rebels have a solid lineup. Junior Justin Bench, freshman Jacob Gonzalez, and Dunhurst were the key difference makers in game two. They mimicked each other with singles to get the ball rolling, andElko continued on to go two for three and a walk.
The second game of the series marked head coach Mike Bianco’s 500th win at Swayze Field. Due to the new attendance policy, he was able to celebrate this milestone with 50% capacity, instead of the 25% crowd that the crowd had been limited to earlier in the season.
After two wins and with the series win guaranteed, the final game of the weekend still brought all of the drama. Dunhurst proved to be the clutch hitter as he hit a walk-off single to bring Bench in to win the game, 8-7.
The Rebels also had four home runs, and a double in eight innings. Two of those home runs came from the third baseman Elko, making it five in a week for the senior.
Sophomore Derek Diamond started on the mound for the Rebels and gave up three runs on five hits in four innings. Diamond was unable to make it through five innings, his first failure to do so of the season.
Things began to look scary for Ole Miss in the ninth inning, as the Bruins scored three runs to tie it up 7-7. Eventually, the Rebels were able to get the outs they needed and headed into the ninth inning tied. Bench was able to hit a single to kick off the inning and steal on a wild pitch. Dunhurst came and hit a single to bring the center fielder home in a wild walk-off win.
“Just where you want to be … you’ve got to score, you want your best hitter, your three-hole guy at the plate,” Bianco said on Dunhurst’s bat in the ninth. “I think we were pretty comfortable he was going to move it somewhere. Proud of him and the growth he’s made as a hitter.”
The Rebels will now take on Alcorn State on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
