Ole Miss Begins Arkansas Series with Victory

OXFORD, Miss. (WCBI/Ole Miss Athletics) – Behind seven scoreless innings from ace Brady Bramlett, No. 14 Ole Miss won its third straight game by taking the series opener over No. 21 Arkansas 7-3 Friday night in front of 9,051 at Swayze Field. Bramlett tied his career high with 12 strikeouts in a season-long outing to give the Rebels (23-7, 4-6 SEC) the Southeastern Conference victory.

Bramlett’s 12 strikeouts marked the fourth time in his career the redshirt junior has reached double digits. Bramlett allowed only three Razorback hits and issued one walk, retiring 16 batters in a row at one point.

Ole Miss also had a successful night at the plate, chalking up 11 hits. Seven of the Rebels hits occurred with runners in scoring position. Three hitters earned multi-hit games, including Henri Lartigue, Colby Bortles and Errol Robinson. Lartigue went 3-for-4 on the evening, tallying one run and one RBI. Bortles and Robinson had two hits apiece. Both of Bortles hits were doubles, bringing his season total to a team-leading 13. Robinson continued his hot hitting by recording his third straight multi-hit game.

Arkansas (20-10, 4-6 SEC) scored all three of its runs in the eighth inning. Seven different Razorbacks accounted for all of the team’s hits. First baseman Cullen Gassaway had the biggest hit of the night, a two-run double. On the mound, starting pitcher James Teague (2-3) was tagged for seven runs on eight hits in just three innings of work.

After a scoreless first inning, the Rebels broke out the bats for back-to-back three-run innings. In the second, Bortles got things rolling with a double to left field before Lartigue followed with a single to right, putting runners on the corners. Michael Fitzsimmons stepped up to the dish for a standup double that sent Bortles across for the first run of the game. Will Golsan’s sacrifice fly to center field scored Lartigue before Robinson’s single to center plated Fitzsimmons for the third run.

Bramlett posted another 1-2-3 inning in the top of the third before Ole Miss tacked on another three runs in the bottom of the frame. J.B. Woodman walked, followed by a single to left field by Ryan Olenek. Tate Blackman added a sacrifice fly to score a run, making it a 4-0 ballgame. Bortles then ripped his second double of the game as Olenek crossed the plate. An RBI single by Lartigue extended the Rebel lead to 6-0.

Ole Miss tallied one more run in the bottom of the fourth. Robinson reached first on a single to left field. After advancing to second on a stolen base, Robinson scored on a RBI hit by Blackman. The run gave Ole Miss a 7-0 cushion over the Razorbacks.

Bramlett held strong on the mound, retiring 16 batters in a row until the Razorback center fielder Clark Eagan singled in the sixth. Nonetheless, he continued to keep Arkansas scoreless and exited the ballgame after seven complete frames.

After Bramlett’s night concluded, Arkansas took advantage of the pitching change by scoring three runs in the eighth. A leadoff double by senior catcher Tucker Pennell started the inning before a sacrifice fly to center made the score 7-1. Gassaway’s double to the wall was good enough for two RBI, cutting the margin to four runs. Freshman right-handed pitcher Dallas Woolfolk entered the game to get the final out of the inning.

Sophomore Will Stokes took over the mound for the ninth inning. The hard-throwing righty tossed a scoreless ninth and allowed only one hit to cap off the 7-3 conference win for the Rebels.

Ole Miss and Arkansas square off again Saturday night at Swayze Field. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. first pitch and will be nationally televised on SEC Network. Rebel sophomore David Parkinson plans to make his first career start, while Arkansas will hand the ball to junior Zach Jackson, who will be making his first start of the season.

QUICK HITS

• Ole Miss scored runs in three consecutive innings for the fifth time this season.
• Brady Bramlett tied his career high with 12 strikeouts, recording double-digit strikeouts for the fourth time in his career.
• Bramlett retired 16 straight Razorback batters at one point
• Colby Bortles hit two doubles, bringing his season total to a team-leading 13.
• Tate Blackman has now reached base in 16 straight games.
• Henri Lartigue has had three-or-more hits in six games this season.
• Errol Robinson put together his third consecutive multi-hit game.