The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
9-0
UCF
7-2
Five Homers Highlight No. 2 Baseball's 8-7 Win Over UCF
3/4/2022 | Baseball
Peyton Chatagnier Goes Deep Twice as Reels Claim Series Opener
True freshman Riley Maddox earned his first win in a Rebel uniform, providing 1.1 scoreless innings of relief. Brandon Johnson locked up his first save of the year, finishing the final three frames with five strikeouts.
The Knights (7-2) got off to an early lead, scratching across runs in the first and second innings as the explosive Rebel offense was held at bay for the time being. However, TJ McCants got things turned around in a hurry, turning on an inside pitch and tattooing a three-run shot over the right field fence.
The Knights would respond in the next half inning, reclaiming the lead with a three-run home run and an RBI single to go up 6-3 after five.
The Rebels needed to send just three batters to the plate in their next inning on offense to erase the deficit. Peyton Chatagnier started things off with a line drive home run into the left field bullpen. Jacob Gonzalez took the very next pitch into the bullpen on the opposite side and Tim Elko didn't miss a ball over the middle, making it back-to-back-to-back jacks to deadlock the score at six runs apiece.
After Maddox worked his way out of a jam in the home half, the big fly struck again in the seventh to put Ole Miss (9-0) back in front. Reagan Burford walked and that brought Chatagnier back around. The Texas native turned on one for the second time on the night, pummeling another offering over the wall to give him two dingers in a game for the second time in his career.
UCF pulled one back on a bases loaded walk in the eighth but Johnson came up in the clutch, getting Nick Romano fanning with the bases loaded to keep the lead intact. Shortly after, Johnson trotted back out and finished the job, striking out the side to lock up Ole Miss' ninth win in a row.
The Rebels and Knights will be back at it in Orlando Saturday evening, squaring off at 3 p.m. CT. The game can be streamed live through ESPN+ or listened to via the Ole Miss Radio Network.
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Rebels by following Ole Miss baseball on Twitter at @OleMissBSB, on Facebook at Facebook.com/OleMissBaseball, on Instagram at Instagram.com/officialolemissbsb and on TikTok at @olemissbsb. Also, follow head coach Mike Bianco on Twitter at @CoachMikeBianco.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Maddox, Riley (1-0)
L: Vespi, Ben (0-2)
S: Johnson, Brandon (1)
Batting:
HR: Chatagnier, Peyton 2 ; Gonzalez, Jacob 1 ; Elko, Tim 1 ; McCants, TJ 1
RBI: Chatagnier, Peyton 3 ; Gonzalez, Jacob 1 ; Elko, Tim 1 ; McCants, TJ 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Chatagnier, Peyton 2 ; Gonzalez, Jacob 1 ; Elko, Tim 1 ; Graham, Kevin 1 ; Bench, Justin 1 ; McCants, TJ 1 ; Burford, Reagan 1
Batting:
2B: Romano, Nick 1 ; McCabe, Ben 1 ; Boedicker, Lex 1 ; Josten, Tom 1
HR: Romano, Nick 1
RBI: Freeland, Alex 1 ; Romano, Nick 4 ; Russo, Cole 1 ; Josten, Tom 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Pena, Gephry 1 ; Freeland, Alex 1 ; Romano, Nick 1 ; McCabe, Ben 1 ; Boedicker, Lex 1 ; Taylor, Trent 1 ; Josten, Tom 1
