No. 6 Ole Miss made history and kept its focus on 'midweek challenge' ahead of No. 5 Tennessee showdown
There is a plenty to get excited about this weekend with No. 5 Tennessee coming to Oxford but No. 6 Ole Miss had to take care of business first and not get ahead of itself.
The boxes can be checked after the Rebels made history in a 29-1 win over Alcorn State on Wednesday, 24 hours after shutting out Memphis, 10-0.
A pair of midweek games is always tough in the midst of Southeastern Conference play but this week was probably the toughest for Ole Miss (26-7).
“We had tow midweeks and these are two wins that are going to matter at the end of the year,” Luke Hill said. “One of our goals as a team is to have 40 wins and you can’t have 40 without getting number (25 and 26).”
With the Volunteers set for a matchup of Top 6 teams this weekend at Oxford-University Stadium it would be easy for distractions to get in the way.
Not the case for the Rebels as they show maturity in handling the challenge.
“Just proud of our guys,” Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco said. “We’ve always talked about the midweek challenge. Now you got two games in the middle of the week. Been on the road, went to Kentucky, lot of rain and then we get home and go up to Memphis. Be where your feet are and that was the challenge in the middle of the week. You can’t look ahead. You got to play these games. I thought we played real mature.”
The Rebels outscored the Tigers and Braves 39-1 in the two games and Wednesday’s 29 runs is a new program record for runs scored in a single game. The previous record was 28 set against Illinois College in 1989.
Ethan Surowiec got the honor with his three-run home run in the bottom of the sixth, setting the new record for Ole Miss
Ole Miss hit five home runs on the day, including two from Luke Cheng for his first multi-home run game as a Rebels. Though he once again took a ball to the face, hitting his left cheek that took him out of the game.
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“I feel so bad for him because it always seems to happen to him,” Hill said. “I was at third the inning before and coach B just took me out. I feel bad, I feel like that’s my fault partially. But he’s a warrior. I like to think he’s one of our leaders. Everyone does as well.”
Cade Townsend had one of his better outings in his second start of the season. The right-hander went four innings allowing only a hit and striking out five Alcorn batters. He lowered his earned run average three points with his performance, picking up his first win of the season.
As the lead ballooned to 11-0 by the third inning Townsend felt the challenge of staying focused with each pitch.
“That’s definitely tough. It’s just always, in the dugout locking in no matter what,” Townsend said. “You’re ready to go and just keeping the same mindset throughout the game, no matter what.”
Ole Miss and Tennessee (29-4, 9-3 SEC) will open their series on Friday at 6:30 p.m. CT. The game will air on SEC Network+
