Make It Eight: Ole Miss baseball stays hot with SEC-opening win over South Carolina

When you have a baseball league that is as competitive as the Southeastern Conference, where wins are precious and the difference in a win and a loss is razor thin more often than not, the end result always seems to come down to a battle of attrition.

And with that battle of attrition, the outcome usually boils down to one of three things – the timely hit, the right pitch at the right time or a big defensive play.

For Ole Miss (14-5) it was all three in a 5-4 win over visiting No. 20 South Carolina, the eighth win a row for the Rebels.

When the Rebels faced off against the Gamecocks on a misty Friday night in the first game of a three-game SEC set at O-U Stadium, the Rebels went to 1-0 in league play thanks in part to a two-run double by light-hitting – to this point in the season – shortstop Luke Hill in the bottom of the 6^th to give the Rebels a 4-3 lead; then relied on 1-run relief pitching the rest of the way from Mitch Murrell, Mason Nichols and Connor Spencer; and a terrific inning-ending fielding play by freshman 2^nd baseman Brayden Randle to kill a USC rally in the 8th.

Spencer and Randle’s fielding play got the Rebels out of a jam in the 8^th inning and then Spencer mowed down the 2-4 batters in the Gamecocks’ lineup in the 9^th.

Hill was batting .193 heading into the game but he came through when the Rebels needed it the most – trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the 6^th with Ethan Lege and Treyson Hughes singling before him.

“Their pitcher threw me a screwball and I saw what it looked like. I figured he was going to throw me another one and I was ready for it,” said Hill. “It was an amazing feeling to get that hit to help the team, but we had others who made big plays too. This was a team win.

“This is baseball. You are going to go through some rough times. You just can’t get in your own head. I just kept swinging, kept my confidence and knew something good would come from it sooner or later.”

Coach Mike Bianco said he was not surprised with Hill’s offensive heroics.

“He was our leadoff hitter at the start of the season. Luke had played well all fall and into the season, but he started slowly so we moved him down,” Bianco noted. “The last couple of weeks Luke has been swinging it well. I’m not surprised he came through tonight.”

Starting pitcher Gunnar Dennis put five innings of solid work on the board while giving up 5 hits and striking out 7, but he had 4 hit batters and walked a pair.

“Gunnar didn’t have his best stuff tonight and the hit batters were unusual – some pitches just got away from him,” Bianco stated, “but he hung in there and battled to give us 5 innings while holding a good offensive team to just 3 runs. That gave us a chance to get going offensively.”

That’s when Murrell came in for a perfect inning and then Nichols pitched the 7^th beautifully before running into a little trouble in the 8^th and had to give way to Spencer, who got out of a light jam with a pair of ground outs and then closed the game out with a 1-2-3 9^th frame.

For his efforts, Spencer got awarded a t-shirt that read “Difference Maker” and the game ball.

“I relied on my fastball a lot and I just did my job, which was to fill up the zone and let my defense make plays behind me and they did that,” said Spencer. “ Brayden (Randle) made a great play in the 4 hole to back me up. Sliding catch and throwing off his knees – a great play to end the 8^th.”

There you have it.

A big hit (Luke Hill).

A big defensive play (Brayden Randle).

Timely pitching (Connor Spencer).

That’s how you win games in the SEC.