No. 23 Ole Miss avoids midweek stumble in comeback win over Austin Peay
Entering this week there were two midweek games remaining on the schedule for No. 23 Ole Miss and both were equally important in the postseason conversation.
Neither game needed to be a loss but in the early to middle stages of Tuesday’s game against Austin Peay it was looking like the Rebels were going to suffer a résumé-damaging defeat.
Instead Ole Miss put up a crooked number in the seventh inning to beat the Governors 6-3 at Oxford-University Stadium, saving itself from a RPI disaster.
The Rebels (32-13) took the early 1-0 lead after two innings off a solo home run from catcher Austin Fawley. It was Fawley’s 13th of the season, which is the most home runs by an Ole Miss catcher in a single season during the Mike Bianco era.
Austin Peay (34-11) responded with a run in the third and then a two-run home run in the top of the fourth inning. Then the response from Ole Miss came with the five-spot to re-take the lead for good.
In a pinch-hitting situation Collin Reuter got the scoring going with a RBI-single to bring Fawley home.
“That was a really big hit and just doing it for the guys and for the team, that was a big spark inning,” Reuter said.
“(Pinch-hitting situations are) definitely tough. But once you know you’re in the game it’s just playing ball again.”
On the mound it was a bullpen game kind of night for Ole Miss, facing one of the top offenses in the country. Entering the game the Governors were sixth in the country in home runs with 88 and the fifth-best batting average at .328.
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Cade Townsend got the start working 4.1 innings, allowing three runs — two earned — off three hits while striking out four and not issuing a walk.
Coming in the game in relief was Brayden Jones, working 1.2 innings, followed by Ryne Rodriguez, Landon Waters, Hudson Calhoun and Connor Spencer. Spencer picked up his fourth save of the season, striking out a pair and issuing the only walk of the game by the Ole Miss staff.
“A lot of the midweeks are like that, but I thought we were really good,” Bianco said. “Even with Cade at the beginning. I think, certainly, one of his best outings of the year. …I thought we pitched it really, really well against a really good offense over there.”
In the injury department infielder Brayden Randle will out of action for the foreseeable future. He is set to have surgery on his fractured middle finger, according to Bianco, after getting hit by a ball this weekend during warm ups. The injury required stitches to sew up a cut on the finger, too.
No concrete timeline was given but Bianco said Randle could be out up to three weeks. Though it could be longer, or shorter, depending on how he comes out of the surgery set for Wednesday.
Next up for Ole Miss is a trip to No. 21 Oklahoma (30-13, 11-10 SEC) for a weekend series and rematch of the 2022 Men’s College World Series Final.
