No. 4 Ole Miss Opens Conference Action Defeating Auburn in Series Opener

By Adam Brown
Sports Editor
adam.brown@hottytoddy.com

No. 4 Ole Miss opens SEC conference baseball action with a 1-0 win over the Auburn Tigers on Friday night.

Calvin Harris  pinched hit in the eighth and scored the Rebels winning run with a solo home run to right field.

“I went up there looking for a barrel,” Harris said. “Just get on base any way possible. I got a pitch that I could hit and thankfully I got a good barrel to it.”

Ole Miss’ (14-4, 1-0 SEC) Gunnar Hoglund and Auburn’s hurler Cody Greenhill got into a pitchers dwell all game.

Hoglund kept the Tigers off balance through the first six frames while he struck out ten batters and only allowed three hits.

Auburn put the Rebels in a jam in the seventh as they got their first extra base knock off the barrel of third baseman Rankin Woley followed by a walk to Tyler Miller they advanced to second and third on a wild pitch. Hoglund worked out of the jam as he fanned the next three Tiger sluggers.

“Commanding all three of my pitches,” Hoglund said. “Just trying to find a way to keep them off the board. It was such a big moment I knew not to give up any runs, I knew it was a tight game and runs like that in that type of a game are a premium. It was huge to get out of it.”

Coach Mike Bianco talked about how far Hoglund has come as a player.

“It was nice to see him have enough stuff to get out of that,” Bianco said. “(Auburn) is a really good lineup probably about one of the best offenses in the Southeastern Conference and a lineup that doesn’t strikeout a lot. (Hoglund) struck out 13 tonight his stuff was real good.”

The Tigers make a call to the bullpen and bring in Joseph Gonzalez in the eighth.

Greenhill worked seven innings allowed four hits and no runs. He retired four Ole Miss batters by strikeout. His teammate Gonzalez (0-1) surrendered the lone run as he faced four sluggers.

Hoglund (3-0) tossed eight complete innings allowed five hits on no runs and gave up a walk.

Bianco brought Taylor Broadway (2 saves) into the game in the ninth to close the door on the Tigers. Broadway faced three batters struck out one in his appearance.

As a staff, Ole Miss retired a total of 14 Auburn Tigers by strikeouts.

Ole Miss and Auburn return to the diamond on Saturday for game two of the series. The first pitch is set for 1:30 p.m. on SEC Network+.