The University of Mississippi Athletics
Game 3: Ole Miss 10, Vanderbilt 8
3/19/2017 | Baseball, Blog
Ole Miss had been struggled at the plate lately. On a day where the pitching wasn't as dominant as it's been for nearly all of this season, the bats came to life to put up eight runs over the final four frames and take the series with a 10-8 win against Vanderbilt. When the Rebels fell behind 5-2, and then 6-3, it felt like a lead that would be too much to overcome. Ole Miss would cut into the lead, but then Vandy would add back to the lead. After allowing Vandy to answer in the sixth and seventh inning with runs of their own, Ole Miss finally put up a zero in the top half of the eight. Then in the bottom of the eighth, Ole Miss put up the runs that would complete the comeback.
Player of the Game: Colby Bortles. Bortles has been making good swing after good swing, but the hits haven't been falling in. It seemed like he was consistently hitting the ball hard, but right at fielders. Well, if you hit it over the wall, they can't catch it. He was 2-for-3 on the day with two RBIs, but his no-doubt solo home run tied the game up for Ole Miss in the eighth and set the table for the three-run Ole Miss inning that secured the victory.
Key Moment: Obviously after the Bortles home run, there was still work to do. The game was only tied. Might as well win it at that point. Will Golsan drew a full-count walk to reach, but Ole Miss needed to move him around the bases. The very last position player to come off the bench in the game, Chase Cockrell, gave the hit that would do just that. A hot shot into the right field corner on a 2-1 pitch gave Ole Miss the lead as Golsan went from first to home to score. From there, Nick Fortes gave Dallas Woolfolk an extra run to play with by driving in Cockrell with a single. Woolfolk sat Vandy down in order in the ninth for the win.
Number of the Game: 15. Ole Miss dressed 15 position players for Sunday's game. All 15 entered the four hour marathon of a rubber match. In total, 20 players entered the game for the Rebels on Sunday. It took nearly the entire team to get the series-clinching win.
