Rebels Take Series from Georgia Bulldogs

Will Golsan. Photo by Steven Gagliano

No. 7 Ole Miss took the series from the No. 12 Georgia Bulldogs over the weekend by taking two of three.

Game 2 of Saturday’s doubleheader opened in a pitchers’ duel that lasted for three innings. Ole Miss’ starter Brady Feigl just wasn’t rattled by the Bulldogs batters.
In the fourth, Georgia took an early lead off of a home run to left by Aaron Schunk.
Ole Miss (32-9, 10-8 SEC) quickly answered with a run of their own in the home half of the frame. Thomas Dillard came into score on a sacrifice fly by Tyler Keenan.
The Bulldogs took the lead back in the fifth with a short-lived run as the Rebels quickly answered. Ole Miss plated four runs in the frame to take the lead and never looked back. Jacob Adams got the scoring started reaching plate on an RBI double by Grae Kessinger.
Coach Mike Bianco brought Will Stokes in from the bullpen in the sixth to relieve Feigl. Feigl finished the day working 5.1 innings giving up seven hits, allowing three runs and striking out one batter.
Stokes was strong in his outing, helping save the Rebels bullpen for the second game of the doubleheader. He struck out four sluggers on two hits, only allowing one run in 3.2 innings of work.
Ole Miss picked up an 8-4 victory to knot the series up at one win apiece.

Game 1 (Doubleheader)

Ole Miss’ centerfielder Will Golsan was the hero of the sweep as he delivered two home runs in Game 1 of the doubleheader. In the fifth inning, he launched a 3-2 curveball over the left field fence to take a commanding 5-0 lead over the Georgia Bulldogs.
Golsan’s first home run came in the second inning when he obliterated a fastball for a solo shot to put the Rebels on the board. Two batters later, Tyler Keenan followed in Golsan’s tracks by roping a double into the right-field corner and plating Chase Cockrell from first base. Golsan’s pair of blasts to left helped secure a career-high five RBIs and bring his season total to 32. He’s pulled his batting average up more than 70 points since late March and is now on the verge of hitting .300.
The Rebels starter James McArthur dominated the zone for six innings, allowing two hits and only giving up one run while striking out four Bulldog batters. McArthur picked up his fifth win of the season.
Georgia plated one run in the seventh and one run in the eighth to cut into the Ole Miss lead.

Friday 

Ole Miss and Georgia got into a low scoring pitchers’ duel in the first game of the series. The Bulldogs scored the winning run in the ninth to secure a 3-2 win in the series opener. 
The Rebels ace Ryan Rolison was masterful on the hill in an outstanding seven-inning outing. Georgia plated one run in the first, and then the southpaw settled in as he struck out six hitters and left nine stranded on base.
A leadoff double in the eighth inning ended Rolison’s night. The double later scored two batters on a sacrifice fly to give Georgia a 2-1 lead. A quality two-strike hit from Thomas Dillard on a high fastball pulled an even score in the eighth. Dillard’s one-out base hit up the middle made good on base hits from Ryan Olenek and Nick Fortes. Olenek went from first to third with the help of a nifty slide on Fortes’ base hit before Dillard knotted up the game with the third consecutive single of the inning.
Parker Caracci took the ball from Will Ethridge in the ninth and the Bulldogs Tucker Bradley delivered a one-out RBI single that scored the winning run.
Ole Miss returns to the diamond Tuesday as they travel to Pearl, Mississippi to take on the Mississippi State Bulldogs in the Governor’s Cup.

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