After a hard fought victory on Friday night, the Ole Miss baseball team was looking to build momentum for the impending brutality of their SEC schedule. They were unable to find it in a loss on Saturday and kept the slide going, dropping the series finale at Texas 8-2.
After an abysmal performance with runners on Saturday, going 0-18, the Rebels were not able to improve very much going just 3 for 21 on Sunday.
Wil Libert did not have the performance he was hoping for in his first conference start with the Rebels. Libert collected the loss while going just three innings giving up six runs, five of them earned, on eight hits, striking out three batters and walking one.
After giving up two runs in the bottom of the first, the Rebels seemed poised to strike back. Tristan Bissetta led off the top of the second with a double and Tate Sirmans singled to give Ole Miss runners at the corners with no one out. Consecutive strikeouts by Dom Decker and Austin Fawley left no room for error if the Rebels wanted to score and the inning would quickly conclude with a fly out to right off the bat of Brayden Randle.
In the top of the fifth catcher Austin Fawley hit a double and got to third on a wild pitch with no outs. However, the inability of the Rebel offense to collect hits with runners soon had Fawley standing on third with two down after a pair of strikeouts. Judd Utermark would go down 0-2 in his at-bat, but would deliver a single to drive Fawley home. A ball to the shortstop by Will Furniss would end the Rebel fifth.
Walker Hooks relieved Libert in the bottom of the fourth after Texas was able to pick up a pair of runs with no one out. Hooks would go on to allow a runner he inherited to score, but was able to get out of the inning with no other damage. He would throw 2.2 innings giving up two runs on three hits and issuing a walk.
Landon Koenig took the mound for Ole Miss in the sixth inning with two outs and Texas having scored two already and having a runner on first. He would strike out the first batter he faced to end the sixth. Koenig threw the final 2.1 innings and held the Longhorns scoreless, not allowing a baserunner while striking out three batters.
Ole Miss would try to rally their offense to start climbing back in to the game in the top of the seventh. Austin Fawley led off the inning getting to second off an error and would quickly score after Brayden Randle doubled. At the moment the Rebel offense was looking like they had put it together it all fell apart, with the next three batters going down in order and not driving Randle, who had advanced to third with one out, home.
Next Up
Ole Miss heads home to Swayze Field to regroup against Austin Peay on Tuesday night. First pitch is set for 6:30 PM and the game will be available for streaming on the SEC Network+.
