Ole Miss Baseball Loses At Texas A&M In Game Two

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (Ole Miss Athletics) – No. 6 Ole Miss scored three runs in the first inning to jump out to an early lead, but a six-run second inning helped lift No. 2 Texas A&M to an 11-5 victory in the second game of the weekend series at Blue Bell Park.

Sophomore David Parkinson (4-3) was saddled with the loss, despite only two of his eight runs surrendered being earned. Freshman Connor Green pitched a career-high 4.1 innings out of the bullpen. Green also struck out a career-high seven.

At the plate, six Rebels recorded hits, including Henri Lartigue who led Ole Miss (39-16, 17-12 SEC) with a pair of RBI. Will Golsan increased his hitting streak to 13 games, while also reaching base for the 20th consecutive contest.

Third baseman Boomer White had a big day for the Aggies (41-12, 20-9 SEC), going 4-for-5 with one home run and three RBI. J.B. Moss knocked in three runs as well, and Nick Banks added three hits for Texas A&M.

The Rebels forced Texas A&M starter Turner Larkins out of the game after 1.1 innings, scoring three runs off the right hander. Stephen Kolek (3-0) collected the victory in relief, while Andrew Vinson (2) pitched the final five innings to pick up a save.

Ole Miss got off to a hot start with three runs in the first inning. Errol Robinson began the game with a single before back-to-back walks by Tate Blackman and J.B. Woodman loaded the bases. Once again coming through in the clutch, Lartigue singled through the right side of the infield to score Robinson and Blackman; Woodman motored from first to third on the base hit as the Rebels took an early 2-0 lead. One batter later, Colby Bortles hit a deep fly to right field to plate Woodman and increase the Ole Miss advantage to three runs.

In the bottom of second, Texas A&M flipped the three-run deficit into a three-run lead with six unearned runs. After Parkinson retired the first hitter of the inning, three consecutive singles loaded the bases with one out. Bortles stopped a hard grounder at third to throw the lead runner out at home for the second out. The Rebels looked to be out of the inning on another ground ball. However, the ball was mishandled, allowing the batter to reach base, a run to score and the inning kept alive. The Aggies took advantage with two hits to drive in five more runs, including a three-run homer by White. The extra out turned the game upside down as the Rebels found themselves down three after two.

Bortles made his way around the bases to give Ole Miss a run in the fourth. The junior doubled down the right field line to begin the inning before coming home with the help of two groundouts. Michael Fitzsimmons made contact to plate Bortles, making it a 6-4 game.

The Aggies answered with two runs in the bottom half of the inning to double their lead to four. Five hits in the inning lifted Parkinson from the game, but Green got Ole Miss out of the inning.

Ole Miss continued to fight to trim the margin. Robinson walked to begin the inning, and Ryan Olenek singled to get the shortstop into scoring position. Blackman brought Robinson home on a single up the middle to give the Rebels their fifth run of the contest. Green came back out of the dugout to pitch and kept the Aggies off the board. Through five innings, Texas A&M held an 8-5 advantage.

Jonathan Moroney hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh to give the Aggies a pair of insurance runs. Texas A&M added another run in the eighth, which led to the 11-5 final score.

The Rebels will look to salvage the series with a win in the final game of the regular season. Junior Chad Smith takes the hill tomorrow, going up against Texas A&M’s Kyle Simonds. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT on SEC Network.