Paradise Lost: Ole Miss baseball said aloha to Hawaii with a 2023-level stinker
Bullpen ace Josh Mallitz returned and two-sport freshman Austin Simmons debuted for Ole Miss baseball Sunday in Hawaii.
Mallitz was nails as the Rebels’ closer over the course of their National Championship run in 2022. However, he devastatingly missed all of last season because of a torn UCL and Tommy John surgery. Ole Miss won a combined six SEC games and missed the postseason altogether for the first time since 2011.
Simmons (and his fascinating backstory) is following in the footsteps of such Rebel footballers as Senquez Golson, Jerrion Ealy, John Rhys Plumlee and Tywone Malone. Each tried to keep up baseball in college, too, but to mixed results. Simmons is a quarterback in the fall and pitcher in the spring. He entered in relief in the seventh and impressively struck out two of the three batters he faced.
But that, Rebel fans, about covers the Ole Miss positives.
“It’s a really disappointing day to finish off a disappointing weekend,” Mike Bianco, in his 24th season leading Ole Miss baseball, said afterwards.
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He was referring to a 13-4, series-splitting loss.
Ole Miss opened the 2024 season with four games at Hawaii over the weekend. The new-look, transfer-heavy Rebels needed extras in Game 1, but, ultimately, they pulled off wins in each of the first two.
Hawaii proceeded to outscore them 22-5 in back-to-back beatdowns, including a 9-1 hammer job Saturday night, the second game of a doubleheader.
More alarming, the Rebels fell apart on the mound. Pitching (or a serious lack of it) proved fatal for Ole Miss a year ago. If not for Mallitz, who knows if/when Hawaii would have stopped scoring.
Mallitz covered the fifth and sixth innings — the first frames in which Hawaii didn’t plate runs. In all, Mallitz gave up a hit and walked a batter. He also struck out three.
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“I can’t remember (an Ole Miss game) in 24 years (where we) played so poorly in all three phases,” Bianco said. “There’s some bright spots, but they’re hard to mention now when you play like we have the last two games.”
Ole Miss (2-2) committed six errors and issued 10 walks.
Freshman catcher Campbell Smithwick notably notched his first Ole Miss hit. He also had one of the Rebels’ two RBI over his three at-bats. Smithwick is the highest-ranked signee Ole Miss was able to get to campus from its Top 10 2023 recruiting class.
Everything else was more or less a re-run of last season, just with a not-so-fresh set of paint.
“They have to find their own courage and confidence,” Bianco said. “You can’t give somebody confidence. They played really well and really confidently for about six months (during fall and preseason practices).
“When you collectively don’t play that way, you gotta find yourself. That’s the great thing about this game — you get to play again.”
Ole Miss plays again on Wednesday (February 21). The Rebels host Arkansas State in their home opener at 4 p.m. CT on SEC Network+.
