Baseball
No. 1 Ole Miss Drops Series to No. 5 Tennessee
No. 1 Tennessee continued its solid play against No. 1 Ole Miss with the Volunteers winning game two of the series, 10-3, Saturday night.
On Saturday night, Tennessee (22-1, 5-0 SEC) scored two runs in the first inning and another in the second. Rebel starter Jack Dougherty appeared close to getting out of the first with no damage, but a two-out RBI double by Drew Gilbert followed by a Trey Lipscomb RBI single put the Vols up 2-0.
After Tennessee got another run in the second inning, the Rebels’ best chance for early runs came in the bottom of the third. Two UT infield errors gave Ole Miss (16-6, 2-3 SEC) an opportunity for perhaps a big inning to get back in it. But Volunteer starter Chase Dollander got the next three Rebels to fly out, pop up, and strike out, and the threat was over.
Three runs for Tennessee in the fourth chased Dougherty, and Hunter Elliott entered to get the final out of the inning. But in the fifth, the Vols added two more runs.
Ole Miss appeared to be set to score in the seventh. Singles by Reagan Burford and Kemp Alderman eventually had the two in scoring position with one out. Dollander was replaced on the mound by reliever Will Mabrey. A strikeout by Leatherwood followed by a foul out by Hayden Dunhurst to UT third baseman Trey Lipscomb ended the opportunity for the Rebels.
In the eighth after the Volunteers added a run, Elliott was replaced by Mitch Murrell. The Vols got one more run, unearned, that inning.
The Rebels got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the eighth when Tim Elko sent a 100-mph fastball from UT reliever Ben Joyce over the wall in right center for two runs after Justin Bench had reached on an error.
Josh Mallitz pitched the top of the ninth for the Rebels. Alderman added a solo homer to right off UT reliever Wyatt Evans in the bottom of the ninth to close the gap to seven.
The Rebels have an opportunity for a win on Sunday as the two teams meet again at 1:30 p.m. CT. The game will be streamed live on SEC Network +, with the call being heard on the Ole Miss Radio Network.
Courtesy of Ole Miss Sports