The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
21-14, 5-10
South Carolina
18-17, 6-9
Baseball Walked Off in 9-8 Loss at South Carolina
4/16/2022 | Baseball
Gamecocks Clinch Series in Dramatic Fashion
After starter Jack Washburn was lifted early due to injury, Jack Dougherty and Brandon Johnson made strong relief appearances, striking out five and six batters, respectively.
After a double play helped the Rebels (21-14, 5-10 SEC) get out of the first inning unscathed, South Carolina (18-17, 6-9 SEC) put a run on the board in the second, taking advantage of an error to go up 1-0.
The Gamecocks added two more in the fourth, going double, single, double to get the first run in before Dougherty issued a bases loaded walk. However, the righty was able to escape further damage with back-to-back punchouts to keep the deficit at 3-0.
After TJ McCants reached on a throwing error in the fifth, Hayden Leatherwood took advantage, pulling a ball into the right-center gap and legging out an RBI triple.
The next frame, Jacob Gonzalez sent a ball towering into the Gamecock bullpen, making it a one-run ball game.
Just as momentum was building in the Rebels' favor, South Carolina turned it back in the other direction, getting a two-run home run off the bat of Carson Hornung to restore the three-run advantage.
The Rebels continued to fight, getting both runs right back in the seventh on a two-run single through the right side by Calvin Harris, bringing around McCants and Leatherwood.
Ole Miss had a chance to pull even in the eighth, starting off the inning with a Kevin Graham leadoff double and a Kemp Alderman single. However, a strikeout and double play ended the threat and South Carolina came back with a pair of home runs in the bottom half to push the lead to 8-4.
Undeterred, Ole Miss went back to work. Reagan Burford led off with a walk and Ben Van Cleve followed with a pinch hit double. Justin Bench and Gonzalez then notched back-to-back RBI singles to cut the USC lead in half. With two outs on the board, Kemp Alderman came up clutch, driving a double to the left-center gap to bring both around, deadlocking the score at eight runs apiece.
The wind came out of the sails in the ninth, though, as South Carolina led off with a walk and eventually scored the winning run on a sacrifice fly to center field.
Ole Miss returns home for a midweek matchup with Southeast Missouri on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. CT. The game can be streamed through SEC Network + 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: Cade Austin (2-1)
L: McDaniel, Drew (3-1)
Batting:
2B: Graham, Kevin 1 ; Alderman, Kemp 1 ; Van Cleve, Ben 1
3B: Leatherwood, Hayden 1
HR: Gonzalez, Jacob 1
RBI: Bench, Justin 1 ; Gonzalez, Jacob 2 ; Alderman, Kemp 2 ; Leatherwood, Hayden 1 ; Harris, Calvin 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Bench, Justin 1 ; Gonzalez, Jacob 2 ; McCants, TJ 2 ; Leatherwood, Hayden 1 ; Burford, Reagan 1 ; Diamond, Derek 1
CS: McCants, TJ 1
HBP: Bench, Justin 1
Batting:
2B: Josiah Sightler 1 ; Talmadge LeCroy 1
HR: Braylen Wimmer 1 ; Josiah Sightler 1 ; Carson Hornung 1
RBI: Braylen Wimmer 2 ; Josiah Sightler 1 ; Talmadge LeCroy 1 ; Michael Braswell 1 ; Carson Hornung 3 ; Jalen Vasquez 1
SH: Talmadge LeCroy 1 ; Colin Burgess 1
SF: Jalen Vasquez 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Braylen Wimmer 1 ; Josiah Sightler 2 ; Andrew Eyster 2 ; Talmadge LeCroy 1 ; Colin Burgess 1 ; Carson Hornung 1 ; Evan Stone 1
SB: Evan Stone 1
CS: Evan Stone 1
