No. 1 Ole Miss baseball steamrolls Arkansas State, improves to 4-0

John Rhys Plumlee had more runs batted in than Arkansas State on Wednesday night as Ole Miss knocked off the Red Wolves 12-1.

Yes, you read that right. In the bottom of the eighth, noted piano player and dual-sport athlete John Rhys Plumlee hit a two-run nuke to give the Rebs a 12-1 advantage. Honestly, I was at the grocery store (foolishly) when it happened, and I hate myself for it, but here’s a tweet from the football team about the shot heard round the world.

Anyway, Ole Miss bullied the boys from Jonesboro on Wednesday behind a stellar start from COVID-freshman Drew McDaniel. McDaniel struck out eight in his outing, and the Rebel bullpen did the rest.

Some other notes of interest from the midweek game:

• Cael Baker hit a tank for his first hit of the season after missing opening weekend. We cheered, and there were scattered beer showers.
• Peyton Chatagnier did not play due to his hamstring, but T.J. McCants got the start and a double in his debut.
• Jacob Gonzalez is still good.

I’m not going to do a deep-dive into the box score for a midweek game where the home team won by 11, but I will discuss where this team stands after four games: they’re undefeated, which is better than not being.

Three top-10 wins followed by a blowout midweek win is a good start, but can they sustain it? This team has the depth and the talent, but time will tell if that No. 1 ranking will hold as the season moves closer to conference play.

I’m high on this team, which may lead to my ultimate emotional demise in the near future, but, hey, enjoy the ride. They’re good, the baseball is good, and they’re No. 1 in the nation. Fun!