Ole Miss loses rubber match, drops sixth straight series to Mississippi State – The Oxford Eagle

OXFORD, MISS — Whereas Ole Miss could run the ‘Sip in soccer, basketball, golf, rifle, tennis and cross nation, they positively do not need a declare to the title of one of the best baseball crew within the state.

The Rebels (21-17, 6-12 SEC) have misplaced six straight collection to rival Mississippi State relationship again to 2016. Their win on Thursday night time marked simply their fourth victory in opposition to the Bulldogs over that stretch, throughout which they’ve posted an abysmal 4-18 file in opposition to their in-state rivals.

Ole Miss had an opportunity to safe their first collection victory in opposition to Mississippi State on Saturday, however their bullpen woes and questionable offensive strategy got here again to chew them as soon as once more as they fell 7-6 in 11 innings.

Their feast-or-famine strategy on the plate has led to loads of crowd-pleasing moonshots into the outfield stands, however has additionally proved ineffective with runners on base, particularly late in video games. Greater than half of their runs in SEC play have come on the lengthy ball, which is nice for fan-fare and short-lived pleasure however doesn’t normally translate into postseason success.

The Rebels have posted a 31.4% strikeout price in convention play, recording virtually 50 extra strikeouts that hits in opposition to SEC opponents. 4 gamers have struck out greater than 20 instances in SEC contests, and 6 common a couple of strikeout per convention recreation.

These statistics bore out on Saturday, when Ole Miss struck out 12 instances in 39 at-bats whereas going 2-for-11 with runners on base and 0-for-7 with runners in scoring place.

The Rebels wrestle to win convention video games even once they do rack up runs. They’re 5-6 in SEC contests the place they rating not less than 4 runs because the offense struggles to maintain tempo with a pitching workers that’s permitting virtually seven runs per recreation in convention play.

Ole Miss is presently on the surface trying in with regards to the SEC match, as they sit at thirteenth within the convention and only one recreation above last-place Missouri with highway collection in opposition to No. 2 Arkansas and No. 22 LSU nonetheless on the horizon.

The Rebels are shortly operating out of time to safe their tenth consecutive SEC match look. They are going to attempt to get again on monitor in opposition to Mississippi State on Tuesday within the annual Governor’s Cup at Trustmark Park in Pearl, however that recreation is not going to depend in the direction of their convention file.

They get again to convention play subsequent weekend once they journey to Fayetteville to tackle No. 2 Arkansas. Sport two of that collection can be obtainable on ESPN2, whereas Sunday’s collection finale would be the solely regular-season SEC baseball recreation broadcast on the primary ESPN channel.