The University of Mississippi Athletics
Game 3: Ole Miss 8, ECU 6
2/19/2017 | Baseball, Blog
For the second-consecutive game, ECU held a lead in the late stages of the game. ECU scored four runs in the top of sixth and appeared to be on its way to salvaging the third game of the series. Ole Miss had other plans, answering immediately with five runs in the bottom half. Ole Miss had to hang on but did so for the opening weekend sweep of a top-10 ranked team. Dallas Woolfolk was dominant out of the pen to get out of a bases loaded jam, striking out five of the six batters he faced. Through the first three games of the season, the Rebels have shown that they are a very difficult team to put away and have a knack for escaping jams.
Player of the Game: Dallas Woolfolk. Cole Zabowski had a great day at the plate, driving in half of Ole Miss' runs and homering in the second inning. However, Woolfolk gets the nod for closing out the game with his Houdini-like escape of a bases-loaded jam in the top of the eighth and scoreless ninth inning. He struck out five of the six batters he faced in the teeth of a very talented ECU order to get the save and secure the series sweep. He was dominant.รย
Key Moment: Ole Miss had increased the lead to two runs in the bottom of the seventh, but ECU wasn't going to go quietly. A defensive miscue by Ole Miss in the outfield gave ECU a spark of life, and the bottom of the Pirates' order would load up the bases with the top of the order coming to the plate with no outs. Ole Miss turned to Woolfork out of the bullpen. Strike out. Strike out. Strike out. Crisis averted and series swept.รย
Quotable: "I don't know if I've ever seen a more dominant performance," Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco said. "I don't know if there can be. The situation, the talented team he's facing, and to strike out five out of six in the middle of their lineup is just terrific."
