The University of Mississippi Athletics
Game 1: Ole Miss 7, Alabama 2
4/7/2017 | Baseball, Blog
Tonight, everything clicked for Ole Miss. The bats provided plenty of runs while the pitching staff, led by the strong start of James McArthur, was dominant to give Ole Miss the strong game one win against Alabama. The most encouraging sign was at the plate, five different Rebels drove in a run. That shows there was timely hitting up and down the order.รย
Player of the Game: James McArthur. In the top of the first, it didn't looked like McArthur was on top of his game. Alabama's run was gifted by way of a walk, back-to-back wild pitches, and a ground out. After walking two in the first, he found his groove. McArthur from that point forward baffled the Crimson Tide batters. He struck out seven in his seven innings while allowing only two hits. In his final five innings of work, Alabama managed just one baserunner.รย
Key Moment:รย Alabama struck first by getting a run across before McArthur had settled in, but Ole Miss took control of the game for good in the fourth inning. Ole Miss broke out the extra-base hits in the inning by racking up three doubles. Will Golsan led off the inning with a single and was followed by RBI doubles from Colby Bortles and Ryan Olenek that gave Ole Miss a 2-1 lead. After back-to-back outs, Thomas Dillard gave the Rebels some more cushion with an RBI double and a 3-0 changeup. Two wild pitches later, Dillard was score. Ole Miss would add on from there, but the four runs in the fourth was enough on its own.รย
Number of the Game: 1. When Alabama managed to get a player on base, Ole Miss gave the Tide next to nothing. Alabama recorded only one hit (1-for-10) when a runner was aboard, and that single hit came in the ninth inning when the game was already decided.รย
