LOOK: Ole Miss needed Grayson Saunier to step up. He did, and now he’s an SEC awards honoree.
Small as they might be, Ole Miss baseball, over the weekend, showed some signs of life.
The Rebels took two of three from Georgia to move to 23-21 overall and 5-16 in SEC games. Ole Miss also claimed its first conference series win of the year.
True freshman right-handed pitcher Grayson Saunier was a big reason why.
Saunier gave a desperate Ole Miss pitching staff the best start of his young Rebel career. The third spot in the rotation was again vacated by staff ace Hunter Elliott, who felt more discomfort after his return start two weeks ago against LSU.
Elliott sat for two months because of a UCL sprain and has made just two rotation turns this season. He’s likely done for the year.
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Saunier worked a career-high six innings in the Rebels’ series-clinching Sunday win.
His six strikeouts were the second-most he’s ever produced at Ole Miss, and it was Saunier’s first career start without issuing a walk.
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Saunier was named SEC Freshman of the Week as a result.
Saunier retired the first 10 batters he faced and 15 of the first 16. His is the first weekly award for Ole Miss this season. Saunier also faced Mississippi State last week, and in all, he surrendered only one run over 9.2 combined innings.
The national-title-defending Rebels next host Arkansas-Little Rock Tuesday at 11 a.m. CT. They’re tied with Missouri in the SEC standings and will visit the Tigers for a three-game series this weekend.
In-state rival Mississippi State was swept by Tennessee over the weekend and sits just a game in front of both Ole Miss and Missouri. The Bulldogs (24-20, 6-15) also hold the tiebreaker. Two of their three series to close out the regular season are against No. 7 Arkansas and at No. 1 LSU.
Let’s take a look back at Saunier’s impressive week, in highlights provided by Ole Miss Athletics.
