The University of Mississippi Athletics
Game 3: Ole Miss 6, Texas A&M 3
5/14/2017 | Baseball, Blog
Ole Miss battled and manufactured runs at the plate on Sunday, and that would be enough for the Rebel pitching staff that allowed the Aggies just three runs. Ole Miss scored in some less traditional ways to get the lead, with the first three runs coming off of a sac fly, rundown play, and safety squeeze. Ole Miss had plenty of chances to increase the lead but couldn't get the hit to bring guys home. David Parkinson's performance on the mound made up for the runners left on base, however. In the bottom of the eighth inning, the team captains put the game away with home runs in the final home game of the season. Both Tate Blackman and Colby Bortles sent deep shots over the left field fall to stretch the Rebel lead out.Â
Key Moment: With Ole Miss leading 2-0, the Aggies had their biggest opportunity to put a big number on the scoreboard in the top of the third. Four of the first five A&M batters reached to bring in a run and keep the bases loaded with one out against Rebel leftie David Parkinson. Instead of letting the game get away from Ole Miss, Parkinson battled back in impressive fashion. He fanned the next two batters to leave them loaded with just the one run crossing the plate. Ole Miss would never trail in the game.Â
Player of the Game: David Parkinson. Parkinson had struggled in is last three starts, but on Sunday he returned to the form Ole Miss fans are accustomed to. He worked around some base runners to work six strong innings of one-run baseball. Since he battled the way he did, he mitigated the effect of Ole Miss' offense struggling to get the hit with runners in scoring position.Â
Quotable: "Today, (Parkinson) was terrific," Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco said. "He had a big inning where he comes and gets a couple big strikeouts of (Braden) Shewmake and (Joel) Davis. That was probably the biggest turning point in the game. It was early. People forget that, but those are the pitches that win games."
