Ole Miss Falls in Game 1 at South Carolina

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The South Carolina bats found every gap there was to find at Founders Park as No. 3 Ole Miss baseball fell 13-5 in Game 1 on the road.

Ryan Olenek homered in the first inning to extend his SEC-best hit streak to 21 games and sprayed the ball all around the park, going 4-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored, but the Gamecock offense generated too much for the Rebels to open the series.

USC answered Olenek’s early homer, plating three runs after an error and an infield single in the bottom half of the first. Olenek added another RBI with a base hit to right center to make it a 3-2 game in the third, but the Gamecocks racked up nine runs over the next two innings to take control.

The Rebel defense, which ranked 10th in the nation in fielding percentage going into the night, had an uncharacteristic night with three errors. The miscues coupled with a number of seeing-eye and infield singles snowballed, and Ole Miss found itself trailing 12-2.

Ole Miss chipped back with two runs in the fifth. Grae Kessinger led off the inning with a deep home run to center field, followed by an Olenek single. Olenek later scored on a Cole Zabowski base hit. In the sixth, Olenek doubled to right to plate Jacob Adams, but the Rebel comeback stopped there.

The South Carolina offense found success against Ryan Rolison and Max Cioffi, but Austin Miller was brilliant in relief, going 2.1 innings, allowing just one baserunner and striking out two.

The Rebels and Gamecocks are set for a 3 p.m. CT first pitch on Saturday with Brady Feigl set to take the hill.

Quick Hits
– Ryan Olenek extended his SEC-best hitting streak to 21 games.
– Olenek has tallied 16 multi-hit games during that streak.
– Olenek’s four hits tied a career-high. He went 4-for-5 in Game 1 at Vanderbilt earlier this season.
– Grae Kessinger launched his fourth homer of the year, becoming the sixth Rebel with four or more this season.
– Cole Zabowski had a strong night at the plate, going 2-for-3 with an RBI.
– Jacob Adams and Chase Cockrell each had a hit and a run scored.
– Austin Miller turned in an outstanding relief performance, shutting the Gamecocks down over 2.1 innings, allowing no runs on just one hit and no walks, striking out two.
– Cooper Johnson and Anthony Servideo each had pinch-hit singles in the ninth.
– The Rebels fall to 36-12 and 12-10 in SEC play. Six of those 10 SEC defeats have come on the road.
– This was just the Rebels’ second loss this season by more than three runs.