Rebels Sweep Georgia State on the Diamond

The No. 6 Ole Miss Rebels baseball team had an explosive day at the plate as they defeated Georgia State 16-2 to secure the sweep.
Ole Miss (17-1) pounded out 14 hits including two home runs off the bats of Cole Zabowski and Tim Elko. The Rebels tailed a new season high of runs scored in a game with 16 against GSU.
The Rebels hurler freshman Jordan Fowler was outstanding on the mound against the Panthers only allowing one hit while striking out three batters in five scoreless innings of work. Fowler moved to 3-0 on the season.
Ole Miss jumped out to a 4-0 early lead in the first inning and never looked back. Ryan Olenek singled followed by two walks brought in to the plate by the hot bat of Chase Cockrell. He delivered a base clearing double to right center field. Zabowski drove him around with a single to left.
In the third inning, the Rebels added to their lead as Zabowski crushed a towering three-run bomb over the scoreboard in right field. Zabowski finished the day going 3 for 4 and driving in four RBIs.
The Rebels catcher, Nick Fortes drove a run across in the fourth inning and then brought two more in in the sixth on a RBI single.
In the seventh, Ole Miss’ lead ballooned out to 14-0 after a four-run inning that was capped off by sophomore Thomas Dillard with a two-RBI single, scoring Michael Spears and Anthony Servideo.
The Rebels weren’t done scoring as Tim Elko got his first career home run in the eighth inning. He belted a two-run shot to right field push Ole Miss’ led out to 16-0.
Georgia State did get the goose egg off the board as Tanner Gullman hit a line drive over Olenek to score two runs.

---

Game 1 Wrap-Up

The No. 6 Ole Miss Rebels baseball team took Game 1 of the midweek series against Georgia State by a score of 5-3.
Georgia State jumped out in front of the Rebels (16-1) after a two-run home run by Brandon Bell off the arm of sophomore righty Houston Roth. Roth soon settled in and retired the side by strikeout to limit the damage.
Roth struck out a career-high seven batters in five innings of work to improve to 2-0 on the season.
Sophomore left fielder Thomas Dillard continued his offensive production going 2 for 3 at the plate with two runs scored while driving in an RBI.
The Rebels got the goose egg off the scoreboard in the fourth as Nick Fortes sent a bomb over the left field wall to cut the lead down 2-1. Ole Miss was not finished as Dillard drew a free pass to come home by a hit off the center field wall by Will Golsan that knotted the game up at 2-2.
Ole Miss garnered the lead for good in the fifth as Grae Kessinger sent a ball down the left field line for a double to bring Tim Elko in to score. The Rebels then added on a run in the sixth and the seventh.
Coach Mike Bianco brought sophomore Will Ethridge out of the pen in the sixth inning in relief of Roth. Ethridge was perfect in two innings as he struck out four Panther batters and did not allow a hit. In the eighth, Parker Caracci was called on and struck out the side.
The Panthers tried to make a come back in the bottom of the ninth after a leadoff double and an RBI single that chased Caracci out of the game. Dallas Woolfolk was called on to limit the damage. He induced a weak ground ball off the bat of GSU’s Mike Huggins to third base as Elko fired the ball home for the first out.
Woolfolk then wrapped the game up for the Rebels with a game-ending 2-3-2 double play. The Rebel closer picked up his sixth save of the season.
The Rebels return to Swayze this weekend as they host Tennessee to open conference play.

---

Adam Brown is the sports editor of HottyToddy.com. He can be reached at adam.brown@hottytoddy.com.