Rebels Shutout Skyhawks 6-0

In the opening home game of the 2014 season for the Ole Miss Rebels at Swayze Field they shut out the University of Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks by the score 6-0.
Ole Miss (4-0) and UT-Martin battled pitch for pitch in the first two and a half innings. Then in the bottom of the third, freshman Dalton Dulin plated the first run for the Rebels off of a Skyhawks wild pitch.
“It’s nice to win, but at this point, we didn’t play very well,” said Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco. “We certainly didn’t play anywhere close to the way we did this past weekend. We looked a little nervous. One of the things we worried about at the beginning of the season, and we challenged the guys about, was to not play like we did tonight.”
The Rebels found ways to push across runs in the later innings and really lit up the score board by adding a run in the seventh on a balk called on Skyhawks pitcher Chris Ross to bring home Braxton Lee from third base.
Then in the eighth inning, Ole Miss’ bats really came to life as they added a total of four runs as Jamison and Robinson both crossed the plate. Dulin also came home to score off of an RBI single from Auston Bousfield in the inning. Then senior Will Allen grounded out to second to bring in Bousfield from third for his 11th RBI of the season.
Coach Mike Bianco sent Jacob Waguespack, Preston Tarkington, Evan Anderson, Austin Blunt, Scott Weathersby and Jeremy Massie to the mound to face the Skyhawks of UT-Martin.
The starter Waguespack went four complete innings, only giving up two hits, while striking out two batters and walking only three. He picked up his first win of the season.
The rest of pitching staff only worked one inning each. They combined for four strike outs on two hits. Massie was the other pitcher who allowed any hits.
Ole Miss returns to the Swayze Field diamond on Friday to host Georgia State in a three-game weekend series. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.
–Adam Brown, Sports Editor of HottyToddy.com