Another weekend of Ole Miss baseball is GONE! How did the Rebels fare? How is the season shaping up? All that and more in this weekend recap segment.
This weekend, the Rebels brought the brooms to Swayze and took care of business against the Golden Grizzlies of Michigan. In three games, the Rebels outscored their northern opponent 28-6. Matt Smith, Zach Miller, and Drew Pomeranz all had big weekends. Find out more after the jump...
Friday the Rebels won 9-1 on the back of a huge performance from Drew Pomeranz once again as he struck out 15 in 7 innings and gave up only one run. He finished one K shy of the school and his career record as his ERA moved to 1.64 on the season. Freshman Jordan Cooper made his first appearance in the Red and Blue pitching 2.0 innings. He struck out three and allowed no hits. Offensively, the bats of Matt Smith, Matt Snyder, and Taylor Hightower kept the scoring in high gear. Smith notched two hits in three plate appearances and scored three runs. Matt Snyder went 3-for-4 with two homeruns, a walk, and four RBIs. Taylor Hightower went 2-for-2 with two walks.
Saturday the Rebels kept the bats hot in a 10-2 victory. Aaron Barrett provided another strong performance with 6.0 IP, 7 Ks, 2 H, and 1 ER. Eric Callender pitched the final three innings and only allowed one run. Offensively, Zach Miller and Mike "the other" Snyder both went yard to pace a great offensive day. Mike had a solo shot in the fourth and Miller's long ball in the fifth scored two of his four RBIs. Matt Smith had another positive offensive performance by going 2-for-4 with 1 RBI and 1 run scored.
Sunday was swept by the Red and Blue by a scored of 9-3. Junior Trent Rothlin pitched a solid 5 innings and allowed no runs while striking out one. Rory McKean continued his struggles on the mound by allowed 2 runs and 4 hits in just 1.1 IP. However, Brett Huber only allowed one run and Goforth kept them scoreless to finish off the game. In the batter's box, Ole Miss had another positive day. David Phillips got his fourth homerun on the season and had two RBIs. Matt Smith went 2-for-3 with 2 walks. Matt Snyder was 0-for-2 but coaxed 3 walks.
Weekend Thoughts: Even taking the sub-level of competition into account, the pitching of this team has come as quite a surprise. Some new faces like Brett Huber, Eric Callender, and Jordan Cooper are having great outings. Hopefully they will continue to develop and will contribute during the SEC slate. Offensive, Matt Smith, Matt Snyder, and Zach Miller have been beasts. Smith was 6-for-10 with 1 RBI and 4 BBs and is now batting .375 on the season. Snyder was 4-for-8 on the weekend with 5 walks and 5 RBIs and is now batting .346 on the year. Miller was only 3-for-11 on the weekend but had 9 RBIs and a BB. His average is currently .318.
Fun with numbers: According to Warrennolan.com, the Rebels' RPI is currently sitting at 12. David Phillips and Matt Snyder lead the team with homeruns with 4 and 3 each. Zach Miller may only bat .318, but he leads the team with 13 RBIs. At the top of the order, Tim Ferguson has an OBP of .529 and is 5-for-5 in steals. Tanner Mathis is absolutely lighting it up with 8 hits in 16 at bats. Aaron Barrett leads the team with a 0.75 ERA and opponents batting average of .108. A nice surprise is the amount of walks this Ole Miss team is coaxing this season. Typically, Bianco teams do not get walked a lot, but we've been walked 43 times compared to our opponents 20.
On Deck: Memphis @ Ole Miss, 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday.