My wife and I made the trip over to Oxford for the alumni baseball game on Saturday. When the game was first announced by in January, I was overly excited to see the likes of Lance Lynn and Stephen Head on Swayze again. Though Saturday's game was fun, it was not necessarily full of excitement. However, I did get a chance to use my new Olympus 620 I got for Christmas. I was impressed with the Olympus. Oh, and yeah, the current squad looks pretty good too.
The current Rebels won by a score of 7-0. Except for the fifth inning, both teams defenses held steady. Drew Pomeranz started for the alumni (I miss him already), and Matt Crouse started for the current squad. In the first inning, both pitchers struck out the side.
Crouse doused Jordan Henry, Matt Tolbert, and Chris Coghlan in order. That's impressive.
Both pitching staffs cruised through the first four innings almost effortlessly. Pomeranz, Lynn, and Holliman made it through the first four frames unscathed. The only hit of note for the current Rebels was Jordan King's double, but he did not score.
We had Lynn (above), Pomeranz, Satterwhite, and Bittle on the same team in 2008. Wow.
The toughest part of watching former and current Rebels play against one another is the fact that someone was going to get shelled at some point. When Brett Bukvich came in, I joked that the current squad should score because that was going to be their only chance. They must have heard me because they scored a bundle. I genuinely felt bad for Brett Bukvich out there. He is a good Rebel, and no one wants a Rebel embarrassed on Swayze. All seven runs scored came against him. Matt Tolbert came in in relief and got out of the inning.
Chris Coghlan fouls one off.
Philip Irwin, Aaron Barrett, Stephen Head, and Ryan Bukvich all made appearances for the older Rebels, and none of them allowed runs.
Other thoughts......
- Matt Crouse was amazing on the mound. He does not overpower anyone, but he places the ball well and has good movement.
- David Goforth looked great. I know that he was facing wooden bats, but no one made solid contact against him while he was on the mound.
- Austin Wright turned down a good bit of money to play for our Rebels. I am so glad that he did. He will be a good southpaw to have in the rotation.
- Our defense was solid. Our new shortshop Blake Newalu looked good defensively. Preston Overby, our third baseman, was very good defensively as well.
What to think of the possibilities for 2011? With Matt Crouse, David Goforth (gasp), Austin Wright, Brett Huber, and Jake Morgan on the mound, we will have a chance to win some games. I could not tell much about our offense because of the pro-pitching and wooden bats, but it will more than likely be Bianco-esque.
Yes, David still brings the heat.
We open our season on February 18th against Wright State at Swayze. Look for more Ole Miss Baseball information here as the season nears.
I would encourage you to check out the highlights at www.olemisssports.com.