Baseball: #2 Ole Miss vs. Northwestern State

[Cianne]

The Rebels had a fantastic opening weekend series against Minnesota and will look to keep that up during a midweek set of games against Northwestern State. In 2005, the Demons split the series with the Rebels.

Pitching Matchups

Tuesday
Miss: Phillip Irwin RHP 6-3 205, 2-0, 3.07
NSU: Heath Hennigan RHP 6-5 195, 4-3, 4-76

Wednesday
Miss: Drew Pomeranz LHP 6-5 220, 20-6, 2.21 (High School career)
NSU: Kyle Broughton RHP 5-10 170, 2-5, 4.94

[Cianne]

The Rebel bats are still out in force pounding out 15 runs on 14 hits and taking advantage of 3 Demon errors. Brett Basham has been on a tear lately in what was considered the only weak bat in the lineup. It wasn't the best outing for sophomore, Phillip Irwin, who drew the start but a good defense behind him limited the eight hits he gave up to only two runs.

Friday

Ole Miss 15
NSU 4

Box Score (http://www.olemisssports.com/pdf7/112736.pdf?ATCLID=1398580&SPID=748&DB_OEM_ID=2600&SPSID=13045)

OXFORD, Miss. – The Rebel offense continued to click on Tuesday as No. 2 Ole Miss (4-0) used a balanced attack to claim a 15-4 win over Northwestern State (2-2) at Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field.

Brett Basham and Jordan Henry paced the Rebel offense as both players tallied three hits on the afternoon. Basham was 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored, while Henry was 3-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI.

Sophomore right-hander Phillip Irwin (1-0) picked up the win for the Rebels as he worked 5.0 innings, allowing three runs on eight hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Three other pitchers saw time on the mound to close out the game, highlighted by freshman southpaw Matt Tracy’s five strikeouts in 2.0 innings of work.

Heath Hennigan (0-1) suffered the loss for Northwestern State as he allowed seven runs on six hits, including a two-run home run from Michael Hubbard. Hennigan struck out three and walked three.

“It is nice to win another game where you have a big lead,” said Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco. “I thought we swung the bats well. Tonight the key different than this weekend is we were able to get some runners in when they were in scoring position. Hubbard had a big home run and I thought Basham had a tremendous day at the plate with the double that I thought broke us open.”

Northwestern State got on the board in the first inning as the Demons loaded the bases before a two-RBI single through the right side from Brett Johnson put Northwestern State in the early lead. Irwin got the next batter to ground into a double-play to end the inning and the Rebel offense took over from there.

The Rebels answered with a single run in the bottom of the first when Henry led things off with a single before stealing second and third. He then scored on a ground out to third from Cody Overbeck.

Ole Miss then exploded for the six-run second inning, sparked by a double to the wall in left center from Basham that tied the game at two. Ole Miss would take the lead a batter later when Henry would drive a single through the right side to score Cullan Kight before Hubbard would hit his two-run shot.

The Rebels never trailed from that point forward.

Northwestern State would score two more runs in the game. Dylan Libadisos hit a home run in the fifth inning and Jordan Nipp capped the scoring for the Demons with an RBI single in the sixth inning.

Ole Miss will return to action on Wednesday when the Rebels and Demons conclude the two-game set at 3 p.m. at Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field.

[crawfish]

Congrats to the Rebels.

[Cianne]

The Rebel offense has now produced 60 runs in 4 games for an obvious 15 runs per game. The 2007 team scored 409 in 65 games for 6.29 runs per game. It's early, but hopefully they can keep swinging the bats later during SEC play like they are now.

[Cianne]

The Rebels scored 14 runs against the Demon pitching and actually managed to lower their runs per game average. It's early in the season, but it's still awfully impressive that you can say that. Drew Pomeranz, a true freshman, made his first career start for the Rebels today and pitched pretty well for the freshman he is. He struck out eight Demons in 3 1/3 IP, but walked four, gave up a run, and hit a couple batters before Rory McKean came in relief. However, his velocity stayed high despite a little control issues. Logan Power decided to bring the big stick this afternoon going 3-5 with 2 HRs and 2 RBI while Fuller Smith came in as the LF in the 7th inning to go 2-2 with 1 HR and 4 RBI.

Overall impressive showing going into the second weekend series with the Indiana State Sycamores.

Saturday

Ole Miss 14
NSU 1

Box Score (http://www.olemisssports.com/pdf2/113015.pdf?ATCLID=1399241&SPID=748&DB_OEM_ID=2600&SPSID=13045)

OXFORD, Miss. – The Rebel offense continued to produce as six players recorded multiple hits, paced by Logan Power’s 3-for-5 performance that included two home runs, as No. 2 Ole Miss (5-0) defeated Northwestern State (2-3) by a score of 14-1 on Wednesday.

Power led the way with his two home runs and a double as he scored three runs and notched two RBI. He was joined in the offensive outburst by Fuller Smith, who also hit a home run as he went 2-for-2 with four RBI and two runs scored.

Freshman southpaw Drew Pomeranz (1-0) picked up the win for the Rebels as the designated pitcher of record, going 3.1 innings as he allowed one run on three hits with four walks and eight strikeouts.

Kyle Broughton (0-1) suffered the loss for Northwestern State as he allowed eight runs, five earned, on eight hits with one walk in his 3.0 innings on the mound.

“We continued to swing the bat well and we did a good job of capitalizing on opportunities,” said Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco. “I thought Drew Pomeranz did a good job in his first start and our pitching staff did a good job of continuing to put zeros up on the board despite walking a few more batters than we would like.”

Four other Rebel pitchers saw time on the mound as the staff combined for 15 strikeouts and held the Demons to only two hits in the final 5.2 innings of play.

Ole Miss started scoring early, plating three runs in the first inning. Jordan Henry opened the game with a single before moving to second on grounder from Michael Hubbard that saw Hubbard reach safely on a fielding error by the Demon first baseman. Cody Overbeck then singled down the left field line to score Henry. Michael Guerrero singled to load the bases before Zach Miller would be hit by a pitch and Cullan Kight would draw a bases loaded walk to push two more runs across. The inning ended on an infield fly rule that caught Guerrero off the bag at third, resulting in two outs to let the Demons escape the inning with no more damage.

The Rebels added to the lead in the third inning on a sac fly from Sean Stuyverson that scored Power.

Ole Miss would add four runs in the fourth inning before Power and Fuller Smith would close out the scoring for the Rebels the rest of the way. The duo drove in the remaining runs as Power hit a solo shot in the sixth and Smith notched a two-run shot in the seventh. Power then homered again in the eighth before Smith added a two-RBI double to cap the scoring for the Rebels.

Northwestern State’s lone run came in the top of the fourth when Denny Choate singled to left field after back-to-back walks to score Dylan Libadisos from second.

Ole Miss will return to action on Friday when the Rebels open a three-game set against Indiana State. Friday’s game is set for a 6:30 p.m. start at Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field.