The University of Mississippi Athletics
Game 2: Ole Miss 3, Missouri 1
4/22/2017 | Baseball, Blog
Today's game was played on a Saturday, but it had the vibe of a Friday night contest between two high-quality arms. Opportunities were limited for both sides, but Ole Miss freshman Ryan Rolison won the showdown against Missouri ace Tanner Houck for Ole Miss to grab the game two victory, 3-1. Despite not finding out he was starting today until 8:30 this morning, the freshman worked six one-hit innings to lead Ole Miss to the game two victory.
Player of the Game: Ryan Rolison. What a gutty performance from the Ole Miss freshman. Moved up a day with David Parkinson being under the weather, Rolison came through for Ole Miss with a spectacular performance in a game Ole Miss really needed to win. Despite struggling at times with finding the strike zone, the freshman struck out a career-high nine batters while limiting Mizzou to just one hit over six strong innings. Rolison allowed 0 hits in the seven at bats where a Missouri batter came to the plate with a runner on base.รย
Key Moment: Ole Miss led from the first inning, but a one-run lead isn't the most comfortable. Against potential first rounder Tanner Houck, baserunners were difficult to come by. In the fifth inning, Ole Miss was able to add to the one-run lead with a two-out rally jumpstarted by a walk. Tate Blackman drew a four-pitch walk and advanced to third on a single by Will Golsan. Smart baserunning by Golsan led to him taking second on the throw, giving the Rebels 2nd and 3rd for three-hole batter Colby Bortles. Bortles shot an 0-1 pitch back up the middle to drive in both Rebels and give Ole Miss the 3-0 lead. That would be enough runs for Rolison and the Ole Miss bullpen. Missouri threatened in the ninth, but only could get the one run across for the Ole Miss victory.
Quotable: "(Rolison) had a big fastball today," Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco said. "In the first couple innings, he struggled to get it down into the zone. Usually when they're up in the first inning, it's not so much overthrowing as adrenaline taking over and mechanics rushing a little bit. He was able to fix that up. He had a dominant fastball. Not many breaking balls, a few curveballs, a few changeups, but a lot of good fastballs today."
