The University of Mississippi Athletics
Thursday, April 22
Oxford, Miss.
7 PM
Ole Miss
27-11, 9-7
4
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LSU
23-14, 5-11
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LSU
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Ole Miss
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No. 9 Baseball Falls in Game 1 to LSU
4/22/2021 | Baseball
Diamond's Strong Start Not Enough as Rebels Fall 5-4
OXFORD, Miss. – No. 9 Ole Miss squandered a terrific start from its starting pitcher Derek Diamond and blew a late lead as LSU came from behind to take the series opener at Swayze by a score of 5-4. The Rebels' defeat comes despite three different homers from three different batters, but the four-run total was simply not enough to match LSU's late comeback bid.
Diamond was excellent in his first ever career start in a series opener, even with his late addition to the starting role today as traditional Game 1 starter Gunnar Hoglund was a late scratch due to arm soreness. Diamond weathered through 6.0 IP today, tying his career best mark, and allowed just one earned run and four hits while striking out four. Most notably, Diamond endured a stretch of 11 straight Tigers retired, and was also able to escape the first despite three Rebel errors and two Tigers runs.
Jacob Gonzalez, Kevin Graham, and Hayden Leatherwood all homered today to score the only four Rebel runs of the day, but LSU's three-run seventh inning simply proved to be too much for Ole Miss to overcome.
In the top of the first, LSU took a quick and early lead over the Rebels thanks to multiple uncharacteristic mistakes from the Ole Miss infield. Rebel infielders granted the Tigers two runs, both unearned, by way of three errors, including a throwing errors from Dunhurst, Bench and Diamond. The Tigers mustered just two hits off of Diamond in the first, but the sloppy defensive play allowed them to cash in with a pair of runs.
Kevin Graham came right back in the bottom half of the inning with a solo homer to left-center field, and the Rebels were able to cut into the Tiger lead early.
Three frames later, in the fourth, Hayden Leatherwood followed it up with a solo shot of his own, his fourth home run in as many games, and just like that, the Rebels evened it up at two.
Diamond worked extremely well with the newfound tie ballgame. He didn't allow another runner to reach until the fifth inning and worked a stretch of 11 straight Tigers retired after the first.
The Rebel starter was holding the game tight on the mound, but his offense wasn't giving up much run support early in the action. Besides the two solo shots from Graham and Leatherwood, the Rebels had stranded eight runners on base through five and were simply failing to capitalize on good opportunities.
That changed, however, in the sixth. After a Cael Baker single led off the frame, Jacob Gonzalez ripped a line drive home run to right field, and with one swing of the bat, the Rebels had their first lead of the night, a 4-2 advantage through six complete.
Diamond went back out for the seventh, but after a leadoff double and 95 total pitches thrown on the night, he was relieved by Taylor Broadway in a tie ballgame. One single and subsequent two-run homer from Dylan Crews, however, and LSU had their lead right back, on top by a score of 5-4 heading into the eighth.
Broadway found himself in a similar situation in the eighth, backed into a bases-loaded situation with just one out and LSU threatening to add to its lead. With one down, he was able to induce a fly out to deep right field, and John Rhys Plumlee threw a laser to second to double up the runner attempting to tag from first, with Plumlee's assisted out coming before the runner at third crossed the plate to save a run.
Broadway came back out to work a scoreless ninth by stranding a pair, but it mattered little as the Rebels squandered an opportunity in the bottom half, and left the tying run 90 feet away as Calvin Harris struck out with the bases loaded to end the game and hand LSU the victory.
Ole Miss will be back in action to try and even the series tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. from Swayze Field.
Quick Hits
- Ole Miss falls to 27-11 on the year, and 9-7 in the SEC.
- The Rebels are now 160-181-1 all-time against LSU.
- Ole Miss hit three home runs in a game for just the fourth time all season, and the first time against an SEC opponent.
- Gonzalez hit his fifth homer of the year, Graham his seventh, and Leatherwood his sixth.
- Derek Diamond tied his career best with 6-plus innings pitched tonight.
- Cael Baker now has three multiple-hit showings in the past six games, after just one such performance in his first 17 games of the season.
- Taylor Broadway allowed just his first home run of the season today in the seventh to Dylan Crews.
For all Ole Miss Baseball news and information, visit the official athletics site OleMissSports.com. For more social media updates, follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissBSB, on Facebook at Ole Miss Baseball and on Instagram at olemissbsb.
Diamond was excellent in his first ever career start in a series opener, even with his late addition to the starting role today as traditional Game 1 starter Gunnar Hoglund was a late scratch due to arm soreness. Diamond weathered through 6.0 IP today, tying his career best mark, and allowed just one earned run and four hits while striking out four. Most notably, Diamond endured a stretch of 11 straight Tigers retired, and was also able to escape the first despite three Rebel errors and two Tigers runs.
Jacob Gonzalez, Kevin Graham, and Hayden Leatherwood all homered today to score the only four Rebel runs of the day, but LSU's three-run seventh inning simply proved to be too much for Ole Miss to overcome.
In the top of the first, LSU took a quick and early lead over the Rebels thanks to multiple uncharacteristic mistakes from the Ole Miss infield. Rebel infielders granted the Tigers two runs, both unearned, by way of three errors, including a throwing errors from Dunhurst, Bench and Diamond. The Tigers mustered just two hits off of Diamond in the first, but the sloppy defensive play allowed them to cash in with a pair of runs.
Kevin Graham came right back in the bottom half of the inning with a solo homer to left-center field, and the Rebels were able to cut into the Tiger lead early.
Three frames later, in the fourth, Hayden Leatherwood followed it up with a solo shot of his own, his fourth home run in as many games, and just like that, the Rebels evened it up at two.
Diamond worked extremely well with the newfound tie ballgame. He didn't allow another runner to reach until the fifth inning and worked a stretch of 11 straight Tigers retired after the first.
The Rebel starter was holding the game tight on the mound, but his offense wasn't giving up much run support early in the action. Besides the two solo shots from Graham and Leatherwood, the Rebels had stranded eight runners on base through five and were simply failing to capitalize on good opportunities.
That changed, however, in the sixth. After a Cael Baker single led off the frame, Jacob Gonzalez ripped a line drive home run to right field, and with one swing of the bat, the Rebels had their first lead of the night, a 4-2 advantage through six complete.
Diamond went back out for the seventh, but after a leadoff double and 95 total pitches thrown on the night, he was relieved by Taylor Broadway in a tie ballgame. One single and subsequent two-run homer from Dylan Crews, however, and LSU had their lead right back, on top by a score of 5-4 heading into the eighth.
Broadway found himself in a similar situation in the eighth, backed into a bases-loaded situation with just one out and LSU threatening to add to its lead. With one down, he was able to induce a fly out to deep right field, and John Rhys Plumlee threw a laser to second to double up the runner attempting to tag from first, with Plumlee's assisted out coming before the runner at third crossed the plate to save a run.
Broadway came back out to work a scoreless ninth by stranding a pair, but it mattered little as the Rebels squandered an opportunity in the bottom half, and left the tying run 90 feet away as Calvin Harris struck out with the bases loaded to end the game and hand LSU the victory.
Ole Miss will be back in action to try and even the series tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. from Swayze Field.
Quick Hits
- Ole Miss falls to 27-11 on the year, and 9-7 in the SEC.
- The Rebels are now 160-181-1 all-time against LSU.
- Ole Miss hit three home runs in a game for just the fourth time all season, and the first time against an SEC opponent.
- Gonzalez hit his fifth homer of the year, Graham his seventh, and Leatherwood his sixth.
- Derek Diamond tied his career best with 6-plus innings pitched tonight.
- Cael Baker now has three multiple-hit showings in the past six games, after just one such performance in his first 17 games of the season.
- Taylor Broadway allowed just his first home run of the season today in the seventh to Dylan Crews.
For all Ole Miss Baseball news and information, visit the official athletics site OleMissSports.com. For more social media updates, follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissBSB, on Facebook at Ole Miss Baseball and on Instagram at olemissbsb.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Garrett Edwards (2-2)
L: Broadway, Taylor (3-1)
S: Devin Fontenot (3)
Batting:
2B: Giovanni DiGiacomo 1
HR: Dylan Crews 1
RBI: Tre' Morgan 1 ; Dylan Crews 2 ; Jordan Thompson 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Tre' Morgan 1 ; Dylan Crews 2 ; Cade Doughty 1 ; Giovanni DiGiacomo 1
SB: Dylan Crews 1
HBP: Alex Milazzo 1
Batting:
HR: Gonzalez, Jacob 1 ; Graham, Kevin 1 ; Leatherwood, Hayden 1
RBI: Gonzalez, Jacob 2 ; Graham, Kevin 1 ; Leatherwood, Hayden 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Gonzalez, Jacob 1 ; Graham, Kevin 1 ; Leatherwood, Hayden 1 ; Baker, Cael 1
CS: Dunhurst, Hayden 1
HBP: Gonzalez, Jacob 1 ; Graham, Kevin 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
1
H
3
RBI
0
AB
5
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
2
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
IF/C
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP/IF
/ BaseballIF
/ BaseballIF/OF
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
RHP/IF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
OF
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