The University of Mississippi Athletics
Thursday, April 18
Auburn, Ala.
6 PM
Ole Miss
26-13, 9-7
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Auburn
25-13, 9-7
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Ole Miss
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Auburn
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Baseball Falls in Series Opener at Auburn
4/18/2019 | Baseball
Rebels Claim Early Lead but Suffer 7-4 Thursday Night Loss
AUBURN, Ala. – No. 11 Ole Miss jumped out to an early lead on the road in Auburn, but the Rebels couldn't hold on in a 7-4 defeat in Game 1 of the series against the No. 23 Tigers.
The Rebels held a 4-1 advantage after two innings, but the Auburn bullpen quieted the Rebel bats as the Tigers strung together six unanswered runs down the stretch.
Three consecutive singles by Grae Kessinger, Tyler Keenan and Thomas Dillard put Ole Miss ahead in the first. Kessinger's single extended his reached-base streak to 27 games, and Dillard's base knock into left field gave Kessinger his 45th run scored this season. Auburn tied it right back in the bottom half, though. Judd Ward opened it up with a leadoff double and later came home on a sacrifice fly by Edouard Julien.
The Rebels got the lead right back in the second thanks to some solid hitting and a couple of miscues in the field by the Tigers. Jacob Adams started the rally with a one-out walk. It appeared as though the inning would end there when a check-swing ground ball by Josh Hall went right back to Auburn pitcher Garrett Wade, but Wade's throw sailed into center field.
Anthony Servideo then came through with an RBI base hit through the right side to bring Adams home. Kessinger then plated Adams on a sacrifice fly to make it 3-1, Rebels. Finally, Thomas Dillard made it a three-run advantage when his ground ball back to the pitcher led to another errant throw by Wade and allowed Servideo to score.
The Tigers got two back in the third after a single, walk and hit-by-pitch loaded the bases for Julien. The Auburn three-hole hitter doubled off the wall in left field to bring two home. Will Ethridge escaped the inning with a strikeout and pop-out to keep the Rebels in the lead, 4-3.
After the tough inning, Ethridge came back in a big way, striking out the side in the fourth to preserve the one-run Rebel lead. The junior out of Lilburn, Georgia, walked the nine-hole hitter to start the following inning, but he worked out of it. A sacrifice bunt moved the runner to second, but Ethridge then fanned Kason Howell and induced an easy groundout by Julien to escape the frame with no damage done.
The Rebel starter wasn't as fortunate in the sixth as a pair of walks to start the inning brought Tyler Myers out of the bullpen. A bloop single then loaded the bases, allowing the Tigers to tie the game on a fielder's choice and take a 5-4 lead with a sacrifice fly.
The Tigers tacked on one more in the seventh on a two-out solo home run by Julien, then another in the eighth on a sacrifice fly. That proved to be enough for the home team to take Game 1 of the series.
Ole Miss will look to even things up in Game 2. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. CT Friday night as freshman left-hander Doug Nikhazy will get the start for the Rebels.
Quick Hits
- Ole Miss fell to 26-13 overall and 9-7 in SEC play.
- Grae Kessinger has reached base in 27 straight games. He has hits in 10 of his last 12 games.
- Will Ethridge had a streak of 9.1 innings without a walk snapped in the third inning tonight.
- Kessinger recorded his 17th multi-hit game of the season, the most on the team.
- Anthony Servideo notched his 11th multi-hit game of the season. He has hits in 10 of his last 12 games, including six multi-hit games.
- Cole Zabowski extended his hitting streak to 13 games. In that span, he has nine extra-base hits, including five doubles.
The Rebels held a 4-1 advantage after two innings, but the Auburn bullpen quieted the Rebel bats as the Tigers strung together six unanswered runs down the stretch.
Three consecutive singles by Grae Kessinger, Tyler Keenan and Thomas Dillard put Ole Miss ahead in the first. Kessinger's single extended his reached-base streak to 27 games, and Dillard's base knock into left field gave Kessinger his 45th run scored this season. Auburn tied it right back in the bottom half, though. Judd Ward opened it up with a leadoff double and later came home on a sacrifice fly by Edouard Julien.
The Rebels got the lead right back in the second thanks to some solid hitting and a couple of miscues in the field by the Tigers. Jacob Adams started the rally with a one-out walk. It appeared as though the inning would end there when a check-swing ground ball by Josh Hall went right back to Auburn pitcher Garrett Wade, but Wade's throw sailed into center field.
Anthony Servideo then came through with an RBI base hit through the right side to bring Adams home. Kessinger then plated Adams on a sacrifice fly to make it 3-1, Rebels. Finally, Thomas Dillard made it a three-run advantage when his ground ball back to the pitcher led to another errant throw by Wade and allowed Servideo to score.
The Tigers got two back in the third after a single, walk and hit-by-pitch loaded the bases for Julien. The Auburn three-hole hitter doubled off the wall in left field to bring two home. Will Ethridge escaped the inning with a strikeout and pop-out to keep the Rebels in the lead, 4-3.
After the tough inning, Ethridge came back in a big way, striking out the side in the fourth to preserve the one-run Rebel lead. The junior out of Lilburn, Georgia, walked the nine-hole hitter to start the following inning, but he worked out of it. A sacrifice bunt moved the runner to second, but Ethridge then fanned Kason Howell and induced an easy groundout by Julien to escape the frame with no damage done.
The Rebel starter wasn't as fortunate in the sixth as a pair of walks to start the inning brought Tyler Myers out of the bullpen. A bloop single then loaded the bases, allowing the Tigers to tie the game on a fielder's choice and take a 5-4 lead with a sacrifice fly.
The Tigers tacked on one more in the seventh on a two-out solo home run by Julien, then another in the eighth on a sacrifice fly. That proved to be enough for the home team to take Game 1 of the series.
Ole Miss will look to even things up in Game 2. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. CT Friday night as freshman left-hander Doug Nikhazy will get the start for the Rebels.
Quick Hits
- Ole Miss fell to 26-13 overall and 9-7 in SEC play.
- Grae Kessinger has reached base in 27 straight games. He has hits in 10 of his last 12 games.
- Will Ethridge had a streak of 9.1 innings without a walk snapped in the third inning tonight.
- Kessinger recorded his 17th multi-hit game of the season, the most on the team.
- Anthony Servideo notched his 11th multi-hit game of the season. He has hits in 10 of his last 12 games, including six multi-hit games.
- Cole Zabowski extended his hitting streak to 13 games. In that span, he has nine extra-base hits, including five doubles.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Fitts, Richard (3-2)
L: Ethridge, Will (5-3)
S: Greenhill, Cody (9)
Batting:
2B: Adams, Jacob 1
RBI: Servideo, Anthony 1 ; Kessinger, Grae 1 ; Dillard, Thomas 1
SF: Kessinger, Grae 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Servideo, Anthony 1 ; Kessinger, Grae 1 ; Adams, Jacob 1 ; Hall, Josh 1
SB: Servideo, Anthony 1 ; Kessinger, Grae 1 ; Hall, Josh 1
HBP: Keenan, Tyler 1
Batting:
2B: Ward, Judd 1
HR: Julien, Edouard 1
RBI: Julien, Edouard 4 ; Holland, Will 1 ; Williams, Steven 1 ; Bliss, Ryan 1
SH: Ward, Judd 1 ; Holland, Will 1
SF: Julien, Edouard 1 ; Williams, Steven 1 ; Bliss, Ryan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Ward, Judd 2 ; Julien, Edouard 1 ; Davis, Conor 1 ; Scheffler, Matt 2 ; Bliss, Ryan 1
HBP: Howell, Kason 1
Game Leaders
rf/cf
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
IF
/ BaseballC/OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
IF
/ BaseballIF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
LHP/OF
/ BaseballIF
/ Baseball
IF
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