Ole Miss Baseball Falls In Finale At Georgia

ATHENS, Ga. (Ole Miss Athletics) – A pair of five-run innings by Georgia doomed No. 7 Ole Miss in a 13-2 series finale setback Sunday afternoon at Foley Field. The Bulldogs (23-25, 8-16 SEC) hit three homers and recorded seven RBI with the bases loaded to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Rebels (36-13, 14-10).

Errol Robinson was one-of-seven Rebels with a base knock, increasing his hitting streak to 14 games. Kyle Watson belted his first career home run in pinch-hit fashion, while Henri Lartigue doubled and scored the Rebels’ other run. Ole Miss pinch hitters went 3-for-4 at the dish.

Making his 10th start, freshman James McArthur (5-1) suffered the first loss of his Ole Miss career. Fellow classmate Andrew Lowe finished the game on the mound for the Rebels, tossing 1.2 scoreless innings.

Michael Curry, Skyler Weber and Nick King all hit home runs for Georgia. King hit a grand slam, and Curry knocked in four runs as well. Starting pitcher Heath Holder (3-3) allowed one run on three hits in 7.0 innings to earn the victory.

The first three innings were a pitcher’s duel with both teams failing to score. Holder kept Ole Miss hitless, while McArthur tallied five strikeouts through the three frames. In the bottom of the fourth, Georgia broke open the floodgates with a five-spot. After three hits led to a pair of runs, Adam Sasser’s 3-RBI double cleared the bases and forced McArthur out of the game. With the help of back-to-back fine defensive plays by Ryan Olenek and Tate Blackman, Andy Pagnozzi got the Rebels out of the inning. However, the damage was done as the Bulldogs found themselves ahead 5-0 after four complete.

Georgia doubled its lead with another five-run inning thanks to back-to-back homers. In the bottom of the sixth, King’s grand slam and Weber’s solo shot brought the Bulldogs their first runs against the Rebel bullpen and made it 10-0.

Ole Miss plated a run in the seventh. Lartigue doubled to center field and Will Golsan followed with a base hit to left, putting runners on the corners with one out. Designated hitter Holt Perdzock brought Lartigue home on a sacrifice fly to center, marking a run on the scoreboard for the Rebels. UGA added a three-run homer in the bottom half of the inning to build its lead.

Despite the deficit, the Rebels continued to fight until the end. Three straight pinch hitters recorded hits for Ole Miss. Watson led off the inning with a solo homer to left-center field before Nick Fortes and Michael Fitzsimmons added back-to-back singles. However, it wasn’t enough as Georgia claimed the victory.

Due to finals week at Ole Miss, the Rebels will not play a midweek game next week. Instead, Ole Miss will return to action for its final homestand of the regular season, hosting the University of Kentucky (May 12-14). The SEC series begins Thursday night on national television; first pitch is slated for 6:30 p.m. on ESPNU. Seniors Connor Cloyd, Matt Denny, Cameron Dishon and Holt Perdzock will be recognized prior to Friday night’s game, which will also begin at 6:30 p.m. and can be seen on SECN+. The final regular season game at Swayze Field is set for 4 p.m. Saturday afternoon.

QUICK HITS

Sophomore Kyle Watson hit his first career home run, a pinch-hit solo shot in the ninth.
With a bunt single in the seventh, Errol Robinson increased his hitting streak to 14 games.
Tate Blackman has reached base in 33 of the last 35 games.
Georgia’s runs in the sixth inning broke a streak of 15.0 consecutive scoreless innings by the Ole Miss bullpen.
The Rebels hit pinch-hit home runs in back-to-back games and now have three pinch-hit homers this season.
Ole Miss is now 12-4 in its last 16 SEC games.