Rebels fall in Game 3 of series

As The Ghost of Jay Cutler has already informed you, the Rebels took the series from Vanderbilt in Nashville.  The Rebels again put together a nice offensive performance, and they took the first game of Sunday’s double-header 6-1.  Philip Irwin battled hard as he pitched a complete game (7 innings) and only allowed a run.  However, game 2 was not as good for the Rebels.  Mike Bianco started the third game of the series against Vanderbilt off with a grave error:  letting Aaron Barrett pitch.  I’m not sure if Mike is watching the same guy pitch that I am, but he is starting a guy in the SEC rotation that has an 11.20 ERA. 

The issues of the second game:

First, our starting pitching was atrocious.  Secondly, I feel bad for Scott Bittle.  He came in to record the final out of the 5^th inning, and he accomplished that.  He did not allow a hit in 2.1 innings, but he gets the loss due to an unearned run.  That drops him to 1-2 on the season, and it isn’t looking like he will have the same impressive stats as last year.  We still have 9 weeks to go, but I am worried that he isn’t the same shut-down pitcher from last year. 

We scored 6 runs, and that is satisfactory, especially against Vandy pitching.  We have to find a way to string it all together. 

All in all, we cannot be disappointed with the Rebels showing in Nashville this weekend.  I am very impressed with started the season 2-1. 

The Rebels return to action on Tuesday in Jonesboro against Arkansas State.  Wednesday, the Jort Nation comes to Oxford when the Memphis Tigers make the drive from the Bluff City.   

This just in....

The new weekend rotation for the Rebel Baseball team will be:

Drew Pomeranz on Friday
Philip Irwin on Saturday
Aaron Barrett on Sunday


The Rebels will take on the Governors of Austin Peay at 6:30 on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Weekend preview: Ole Miss vs. Vermont

I don't know much about Vermont. They make maple syrup, they usually have one of those "BraCKetBUSter!!!" teams in basketball. I've heard there's a great place to get ballin' lasagna near the university (Bove's...do it).

Vermont is ending their baseball program at the end of this season. It's polar bear ass cold there, so it makes sense. Apparently, the athletic department was going to be operating at a $1.1 million deficit, so they had to cut the programs. Just throwing it out there, do they have a football team that's open for Sept. 12? We'll help you out with that little deficit.

The Catamounts are 0-3 this year after getting slammed by Vandy last weekend(7-2, 14-3, 14-1). Vermont is forced to do what many teams above the Mason-Dixon do: come to where it's moderately warm and play against superior teams. We need the sweep, and we should get it unless temperatures drop and snow becomes imminent. Surely that only happens once a year.

Pitching match-ups:
FRIDAY
Aaron Barrett- Jr. RHP
Joe Serafin- Sr. LHP

Serafin pitched 6.1 innings against Vandy allowing four runs, three earned and ten hits. He induced eight ground outs and seven fly outs. In my opinion, this means Vandy was knocking the ball around pretty good, but just didn't get it to the gaps for extra base hits. Barrett has a great chance to prove some consistency to the bright spots he's shown so far.

SATURDAY
Drew Pomeranz- Soph. LHP
Justin Albert- Sr. RHP

Pomeranz only has action against Arkansas State, so it's hard to say if he has progressed from last season. He got a couple innings in, and even a mediocre effort should keep us in the game. Albert let up six runs, five earned in five innings against Vandy. It looks like he had some control issues with four walks, one wild pitch and one hit batsman. "Throw it in the dirt" chant may not be needed.

SUNDAY
Phillip Irwin- Jr. RHP
Keith Rakus- Sr. RHP

Irwin hasn't walked a batter all season and has nine innings of solid work giving up only two earned runs. If Barrett continues to struggle, Bianco might have to move Pomeranz or Irwin to the big timerz Friday role. On the flip side, Keith Rakus has only 4 outs to his credit this season with an ERA over 20. Wow,

Predictions
Friday: Ole Miss 8 Vermont 4
Saturday: Ole Miss 11 Vermont 5
Sunday: Ole Miss 13 Vermont 3