No. 5 Ole Miss Takes Series Opener Over LSU

Ryan Rolison goes 7 complete innings against LSU on Thursday night. Photo by Steven Gagliano

The No. 5 Ole Miss baseball team had an offensive explosion in the sixth inning with 11 runs against the LSU Tigers to take the opening game of the series 14-3.

Ole Miss’ (33-10, 11-8 SEC) ace left hander Ryan Rolison was in a pitchers duel with the Tigers hurler Zack Hess with the game knotted at 3-3. When the Rebels came to bat they sent 16 batters to the plate, 11 runs came across on six hits, seven walks or hit-by-pitches, and two wild pitches. Three Rebels even earned free passes from third to home in the frame, scoring on bases-loaded walks.
The Rebels southpaw worked 7.0 innings, giving up three runs on six hits while fanning five Bayou Bengals on the night.
Tim Rowe continued his hot streak at the dish in the absence of Ryan Olenek, as he went 3 for 4 with three doubles, his third, fourth and fifth in the past two games, respectively, after a pair in the midweek game against Mississippi State. The Rebel right fielder upped his batting average to .389 on the year while Ole Miss awaits the return of Olenek.
In the eighth inning, Coach Mike Bianco brought Max Cioffi out of the bullpen for the final two innings. He did not allow a run to cross the plate and struck out to batters.
Ole Miss scratched the first run of the night after two back-to-back singles off the bats of Nick Fortes and Cole Zabowski to take a 1-0 lead.
LSU answered with runs in the second and third innings to take the lead. The Rebels responded quickly with a pair of one-run innings in the fourth and fifth.
Game two of the series is tonight with first pitch slated for 6:30 p.m. The Rebels will hand the ball off to Brady Feigl. Fans can watch it on the SEC Network+.

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