No. 5 Diamond Rebels Take Series from LSU

It was a true nail-biter at Swayze Saturday afternoon as the No. 5 Ole Miss Rebels took on the LSU Tigers. Ole Miss pulled out a 9-8 victory in Game 3 to take the series.
Ole Miss (34-11, 12-9 SEC) had home runs off the bats of Chase Cockrell and Thomas Dillard. Dillard’s bomb was his 10th of the season and proved to be the game winner.
LSU got on the board first in the second, but the Rebels took the lead early by answering with four runs, three from the bat of Cockrell, in the bottom of the inning. But LSU’s six-run third quickly discarded the inning leaving Ole Miss in the hole.
Ole Miss’ starter James McArthur got lifted in the third inning as LSU had the bases loaded. Coach Mike Bianco brought Max Cioffi in from the pen. The Tigers hung six runs on the board to take a 7-5 lead in the game.
Cioffi struggled with the tough Tiger line and was relieved by Will Ethridge. Ethridge was dominating on the hill as he kept LSU sluggers at bay for 5.2 innings worked.
Ryan Olenek made his return to the Rebels lineup Saturday with a start at second base. Olenek continued to have a hot bat as he went 2-for-5 in the game and pushed his hitting streak to 20 games.
Tim Rowe sparked the scoring spree for the Rebels in the seventh inning as he delivered an RBI double. Grae Kessinger then had an RBI single to setup Dillard’s home run.
In the ninth inning, LSU had the bases loaded, and Parker Caracci entered the game to pick up the save. The Tigers scored one run to cut the score to 9-8. Caracci then induced a fly ball to right field to end the game.
Ole Miss returns to the diamond Wednesday as they play host to Arkansas Pine Bluff. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m.

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