Rebs find their bats in the 11-3 victory over UCA

One change in the stadium is the fence protecting the dugout. This should keep more balls in play.

Logan Power was obviously hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, and the umpire did not agree. Mike Bianco was pissed. Power proceeded to hit a single that scored one.

Mort leads off...

I had the privilege of making my first game at the newly renovated/expanded baseball stadium today, and I came away very impressed with the renovations. Also, I was impressed with the Ole Miss Baseball team...

We totaled up 11 runs on 15 hits, and we only committed one error defensively. Brett Bukvich (1-0) got the win as he worked five innings, and he only allowed one run! After Brett came out, McKean, Corrigan and Park all got a taste of action on the mound.

Offensively, Tim Ferguson and Logan Power are on fire! Ferguson went 4 for 5 with two doubles, two RBIs, and two runs scored. Power went 3 for 5, hit his third dinger of the season, had two RBIS and two runs scored.

One thing that the Rebels did today was string hits together and score in bunches which is something they lacked this past weekend in Mobile. If the bats stay hot, this weekend's match up against TCU looks a little less daunting. One Man to Beat will have the TCU series preview up on Friday.

Random Notes:

-Kevin Mort looked a lot better at short today as he made an incredible dive to stop a ball from going into the outfield. He also had two hits.


-Kyle Henson got his first start at catcher today, and he looked serviceable. I saw one hit of his, and I am unsure of his total stats.

-Jordan Henry might not have a very high batting average, but he gets walked A LOT. So, his on base percentage is high which is the point of being first in the order anyway.

Mercer???? WTF?

One Man to Beat, his wife and I were thoroughly disgusted with the defensive effort of the Rebels today. The Rebels fell 13-11, and they looked like they were lost defensively.

After getting up 11-6, the Rebel defense gave up 7 unanswered runs. Yesterday, the bullpen was the strength of the team, and today the bullpen was awful. That compounded with poor fielding spelled disaster.

THREE ERRORS? Beside the three errors, Jordan Henry dropped a ball in center field that was ruled a hit. Absolutely pitiful on the defensive side of the ball.

THE GOOD:

-Brett Basham was really good at and behind the plate. Not only did he throw a runner out, he went three for five with a three run homer.
-Logan Power was also good at the plate with a MONSTER two run shot that traveled at least 400 feet over the left field wall.
-Matt Smith has much better plate discipline this season and has shown the ability to take the ball to opposite field. He only had one hit today, but he looks much better at the plate.
-Overall, the team has shown much better plate discipline.

THE BAD:

-The team didn't show much motivation or desire for victory. In the eighth and ninth innings, they finally had some yelling and shouting going on from the players in the dugout. It seemed like a heartless effort.
-Matt Smith and Jordan Henry went a combined 2-9.

THE UGLY:

-3 errors? My goodness... When it really mattered, our infield did not have the ability to make the plays or communicate. Button dropped a force out that was thrown to him at third, Corrigan made an error throwing to first and Basham was called for an error by being called for catcher interference.
-Our bullpen was atrocious. David Goforth WALKED in the go ahead run. They allowed seven runs overall (5 earned).


Random notes:

Scott Bittle was not even dressed out until the ninth inning when he was sent to the bullpen.

This team has a large following, and there was a great crowd there to support the Rebels.

Taylor Hightower made his first appearance as a Rebel by pinch running for Brett Basham.

Day 2 of Coca Cola Classic: Ole Miss vs Mercer

Yesterday's victory should have been a good confidence builder for our team. We played good small ball with a sacrifice fly to bring in the go-ahead run but also had the big three run bomb from Logan Power early on to show the line-up has some pop in their bats. 

Pitching was a little touch and go with Aaron Barrett. He made a couple mistakes, and Liberty made him pay. Lesson learned, hopefully. Our bullpen gave four solid innings in relief, and if it is any foreshadowing, I feel comfortable giving them a lead this season.

Mercer got lit up by USA last night 9-2. We could've gone to the game with our all day tickets, but we decided to eat massive amounts of hot wings and drink beer instead. The entertainment value was roughly the same. 

We're not expecting Mercer to come from behind like the Flames did yesterday if the Rebels jump out to a lead. I and Brian Walker's Elbow fully expect a thrashing today. 

Chris Corrigan will be taking the mound for Ole Miss at a striking physique of 6'3'' 157 lbs. according to our AD website. If this is true, his body is basically a bullwhip flinging a ball towards home plate. He's got game, though, as Toronto drafted him in the 18th round out of Juco.

There were approximately 12 scouts with radar guns at the game yesterday for Barrett's appearance, so we'll see how many turn out for today.

Kevin Mort didn't have a great game against Liberty, so we're wondering if he'll get another chance today. Bianco may consider moving Button to SS and getting a Snyder or Logan Williams to play 3B. Obviously, it's a little early to write off a player, but while it's early, this is when you have to experiment with the line-up before you get into SEC play.