Tag Archives: Ole Miss Rebels

Corpus Christi’s John Gaddis gets the win in CWS clincher for the Ole Miss Rebels

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Former Corpus Christi Calallen standout John Gaddis emerged as the winning pitcher in relief Sunday afternoon as the Ole Miss Rebels beat the Oklahoma Sooners 4-2 to win their first national title in baseball.

In the College World Series game played in Omaha, Neb., in front of a crowd announced at 25,972, Gaddis entered the game in the seventh and put a stop to a rally.

With the bases loaded and OU leading 2-1, Ole Miss replaced Mason Nichols with Gaddis to pitch to John Spikerman. Gaddis, a lefthander and a transfer from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, promptly struck out Spikerman to end the threat.

In the eighth, Gaddis issued a one-out walk but then got tough, retiring Tanner Tredaway on a fly ball and striking out Jimmy Crooks. In the bottom half, Ole Miss took the lead when the Rebels’ offense produced three runs.

With one out, TJ McCants singled up the middle. At that point, OU replaced starter Cade Horton with Trevin Michael.

Justin Bench greeted Michael by hitting a single to right field, moving McCants to third. From there, Jacob Gonzalez singled through the right side of the infield to score McCants, making it 2-2. Subsequently, the Rebels took the lead on a wild pitch, scoring Bench and moving Gonzalez to second.

Elko grounded out, advancing Gonzalez to third. But on yet another wild pitch, Gonzalez raced home for a 4-2 advantage.

In the ninth, Brandon Johnson closed the door on the Sooners. Johnson struck out three straight batters to start the Ole Miss celebration.

On Saturday, the Rebels got the jump on the Sooners in the CWS title round with a 10-3 victory. Their performance Sunday allowed the remarkable Rebels (42-23) to sweep the Sooners (45-24) in two straight games in the best-of-3 CWS title round.

Ole Miss entered the season ranked No. 5 nationally by D1Baseball. But by late April and early May, the Rebels were sputtering, at one point falling to 7-14 in the Southeastern Conference, which was tied for last.

Even after a surge to the end of the regular season, they barely made the 64-team NCAA tournament field. The Rebels were the last of the teams to receive an at-large bid. All that notwithstanding, Ole Miss went 10-1 in the tournament, including 6-1 in the CWS.

Records

Oklahoma 45-24
Ole Miss 42-23

Notable

In one season with Ole Miss, John Michael Gaddis finished with a 4-2 record and a save. He had a 4.20 earned run average. He struck out 49 and walked 19 in 49 and 1/3 innings. At the CWS, Gaddis pitched in two games. He gave up two home runs and took the loss in a 3-2 setback against Arkansas. Against OU in the title game, Gaddis worked 1 and 1/3 scoreless innings, walking one and striking out two.

Ole Miss routs OU, 10-3, moves to within one victory of a CWS title

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The hard-hitting Ole Miss Rebels slugged four home runs Saturday night to rout the Oklahoma Sooners 10-3 in the first game of a best-of-3 for the College World Series baseball title. The Rebels also blasted out two doubles in a 16-hit attack.

In a pivotal top of the eighth inning, Oklahoma was in the field, and the Sooners had just benefited from an umpire’s decision that went to replay. Ole Miss’ Peyton Chatagnier attempted to take third base on the front end of a double steal. Initially, he was called safe. But after review, the call was reversed.

OU fans were delighted. With two out and an Ole Miss runner at second, the Sooners had a chance to escape trouble. But that’s when real trouble arrived in the form of three straight home runs by the Rebels. First, it was TJ McCants slugging a two-run blast to right. Next, it was Calvin Harris, with a solo shot. Finally, Justin Bench hit another solo homer.

All of a sudden, it was 8-2, and Ole Miss was on its way. The Rebels can wrap up the national title with a victory on Sunday. If necessary, a third and deciding game to determine the national champion in NCAA Division I baseball would be played on Monday.

Ole Miss got off to a fast start, scoring two runs in the first, one in the second and one in the third. A solo homer by Tim Elko lifted the Rebels into a 4-0 lead in the top of the third inning.

In retaliation, Oklahoma scored twice in the bottom of the sixth against Ole Miss starter Jake Dougherty.

Jackson Nicklaus led off with a single and Sebastian Orduno followed with a sharp single to right. Next man up, Kendall Pettis, dropped a bunt that was fielded by third baseman Garrett Wood, whose throw to first base was wild and late. Ole Miss had the play backed up but a throw home was late, and Nicklaus scored the first run for the Sooners.

When Dougherty walked John Spikerman, that was it for Dougherty. He was lifted for Mason Nichols, who put out the fire. The freshman struck out a pair of OU hitters and then walked one, forcing in a run to make it 4-2. From there, he got Jimmy Crooks on a come backer, and the Rebels escaped what could have been a very big inning for the Sooners.

Records

Ole Miss 41-23
Oklahoma 45-23

Notable

The CWS is being played at Omaha, Nebraska. Oklahoma won its bracket by beating Texas A&M, 13-8, before downing Notre Dame, 6-2. Advancing to the semifinals, the Sooners beat the Aggies again, 5-1, to make the finals. Ole Miss, in winning its bracket, beat Auburn, 5-1. Then it knocked off Arkansas, 13-5. In the semifinals, Arkansas edged Ole Miss, 3-2. But the Rebels rebounded to beat the Razorbacks, 2-0, to make the finals.

The coaches

Mike Bianco is the Ole Miss coach. Bianco has been at Ole Miss since 2000. This is his second trip to the CWS after making it in 2014. Skip Johnson is the coach at OU. Johnson’s first year in Norman was 2018. This is his first trip to the CWS as a head coach. Johnson was pitching coach under the late Augie Garrido at Texas for 10 seasons.

Ole Miss shuts out Arkansas, 2-0, advances to CWS title round

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Tied for last place in the Southeastern Conference standings in early May, the Ole Miss Rebels hardly seemed worthy of the NCAA tournament, much less the championship round of the College World Series.

Ole Miss players and coaches weren’t listening to their critics then, and they certainly aren’t paying too much attention to them now.

The Rebels are headed for the CWS title round after a 2-0 victory Thursday against the Arkansas Razorbacks.

They’ll meet the Oklahoma Sooners in a best-of-three series for the national title starting Saturday in Omaha, Neb.

In a winner-take-all, CWS semifinal for a chance to play in title series, Dylan DeLucia pitched a nine-inning gem, blanking the Razorbacks on four hits.

DeLucia struck out seven and walked none.

Trailing by two runs, the Razorbacks had a chance to do some damage in the bottom of the seventh but couldn’t score.

Robert Moore reached base with a two-out, infield single. San Antonio’s Jalen Battles kept it going when he hit a ball toward the middle that was misplayed by Ole Miss shortstop Jacob Gonzalez.

At that point, Moore was at second base, and Battles was standing on first on a play that was scored as an error on Gonzalez.

Brady Slavens, who hit a long home run in Arkansas’ 3-2 victory over Ole Miss on Wednesday afternoon, stepped to the plate. But he grounded out to second base to end the inning and the threat.

Ole Miss took a 1-0 lead in the fourth on Kevin Graham’s RBI double. The Rebels made it 2-0 in the seventh on Calvin Harris’ run-scoring single.

While DeLucia (8-2) earned the victory, Arkansas ace Connor Noland (8-6) took the loss.

Noland worked eight innings. He yieded two runs, both earned, on seven hits. Noland was sharp with his control, walking none while fanning seven.

Coming up

CWS championship round (Oklahoma vs. Ole Miss, best of three)
Saturday — 6 p.m.
Sunday — 2 p.m.
Monday — 6 p.m. (if necessary)

Records

Oklahoma 45-22
Ole Miss 40-23

Notable

In early May, Ole Miss was 7-14 in the SEC and was in danger of missing the conference’s postseason tournament. From there, the team started to click and won eight of 11 games. It was good enough for a spot in the NCAA tournament as the last at-large team selected.

Once they made the NCAA postseason, the Rebels got hot. They clicked off wins against Arizona and Miami and then Arizona again to win the Coral Gables regional. On the road again in the Super Regionals, they won two straight — both by shutout — at Southern Miss, the Conference USA champion, in Hattiesburg.

In all, they had strung together five straight wins leading into the CWS.

Ole Miss continued to play well in Omaha. DeLucia got the victory in a 5-1 victory over Auburn. Freshman left-handed pitcher Hunter Elliott followed by leading the Rebels in an 13-5 victory over Arkansas. In the semifinals, the Rebels met the Razorbacks again. Arkansas won the first game, 3-2, but Ole Miss responded with DeLucia going the distance in the 2-0 shutout.

Ole Miss has two Texans on its roster. One is pitcher John Gaddis, from Corpus Christi’s Calallen High School. The other is infielder Peyton Chatagnier from Cy-Fair High School in the Houston area.

Arkansas holds off Ole Miss, 3-2, to stay in the CWS title hunt

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Arkansas junior Zack Morris, pitching in relief in a harrowing ninth inning, shut down an Ole Miss rally Wednesday night as the Razorbacks held on to beat the Rebels 3-2 at the College World Series.

“Everyone in the dugout had faith in him,” Arkansas starting pitcher Hagen Smith said in a post-game interview with reporters on-site in Omaha, Neb. “Nerves were high. But we knew he was going to get out of it.”

By claiming the victory, the Razorbacks forced a deciding game Thursday against the Rebels, with the winner advancing to play the Oklahoma Sooners in the championship round.

The best-of-three championship round will start on Saturday night. Earlier Wednesday, Oklahoma earned the right to play for the title by beating the Texas A&M Aggies.

In the night game, the Razorbacks took a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the ninth, only to see the Rebels open the frame by loading the bases with a single and two straight batters hit by pitch.

Morris entered the game in relief at that juncture and struck out Hayden Leatherwood.

The next batter, TJ McCants, flied out. One out away from a loss, the Rebels found life when Justin Bench’s RBI single drove in a run.

The ball was hit into the hole between third and short. Gliding toward his right, Arkansas shortstop Jalen Battles gloved it and kept it from going into the outfield, which likely prevented a second run — the tying run — from scoring.

At the same time, the San Antonio Madison High School alumnus had no other play to make after fielding the ball, and so the bases remained loaded.

Ole Miss’ Jacob Gonzalez was up next, with the game hanging in the balance. Arkansas was one out away from winning, but it also remained a possibility that a two-run single could end its season.

Gonzalez swung and struck the ball well. Slicing into left field, it was caught by Zack Gregory for the last out.

“Zack (Morris) has been clutch for us all year,” Arkansas designated hitter Brady Slavens said. “He’s done a great job. We all had faith in him. We all had belief in him. You know, he didn’t have the best start the other day. But he came out and proved himself tonight.”

With the teams tied in the early innings, Slavens’ 436-foot solo home run to center field in the top of the fifth staked Arkansas to a 2-1 lead.

“I guess I was just looking for a fastball over the plate,” Slavens said. “Luckily I got it. It might be the farthest home run I’ve ever hit. I don’t know. Not sure.”

In the deciding game, Ole Miss is expected to start ace Dylan DeLucia, who beat Auburn on the second day of the tournament last Saturday.

“We’re going to have to really fight,” Slavens said. “It’s going to take all of us to win.”

Southern Miss falls 4-1 to Ole Miss as UTSA series looms

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The Ole Miss Rebels held Southern Miss scoreless for the last seven innings Wednesday night, downing the 11th-ranked Golden Eagles, 4-1.

In the wake of the loss, coming at home in Hattiesburg, Miss., Southern Miss will turn its attention to a weekend series in which it will host the UTSA Roadrunners.

The series starting Friday will go a long way toward determining the Conference USA regular-season championship.

The Golden Eagles (36-13, 18-6) lead the conference, followed by the second-place Roadrunners (32-16, 16-8).

Louisiana Tech and Florida Atlantic (both 15-9 in the C-USA) trail the Roadrunners by one game.

UTSA closes the regular season with three games at home against the UAB Blazers. The series is set for May 19-21.

Teams have six games to play in the regular season before the C-USA tournament, which is scheduled May 25-29, also in Hattiesburg.

UTSA, a C-USA member in baseball since 2014, has never won either the regular-season or the tournament title.

The Roadrunners have never won more than 17 C-USA games or finished higher than fifth in the standings. UTSA finished fifth in both 2015 and 2018. The Roadrunners went 17-13 in 2015.

Mid-week schedules

In San Antonio, the Roadrunners had Monday and Tuesday off for final exams before they staged a workout on Wednesday. They were scheduled to travel to Hattiesburg Thursday afternoon.

On Wednesday night at Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field, Ole Miss’ Drew McDaniel started and pitched five innings, allowing the only run of the game in the second, for the victory.

Jackson Kimbrell, Josh Mallitz and Brandon Johnson finished with shutout relief. All told, the Rebels held the Golden Eagles to five hits.

Records

UTSA 32-16, 16-8
Southern Miss 36-13, 18-6

Recent struggles

UTSA has lost three of its last five games overall, and the Roadrunners are hitting only .206 in that stretch. Southern Miss has dropped five of its last eight. In its last two C-USA series, the Eagles have dropped two of three both at UAB and at home against Old Dominion.

C-USA leaders

Southern Miss 18-6
UTSA 16-8
Louisiana Tech 15-9
Florida Atlantic 15-9
Charlotte 14-10
Middle Tennessee 14-10
Old Dominion 13-11
UAB 11-13

Coming up

Friday — UTSA at Southern Miss, 6:30 p.m.
Saturday — UTSA at Southern Miss, 2 p.m.
Sunday — UTSA at Southern Miss, 11 a.m.

Pitching

Edge: Southern Miss

The Golden Eagles have relied on their pitching all season. Entering the week, the Tanner Hall-led staff was second in the nation in both earned run average (3.07) and WHIP (1.12).

Hall (7-1) is the presumed starter for Southern Miss on Friday night. He was undefeated before he took the loss in a 4-1 setback last week against the Monarchs. Regardless, Hall enters the UTSA game with a 2.31 ERA and 109 strikeouts in 78 innings. Hall is sixth in the nation in strikeouts.

Last week, Southern Miss used Hall, grad student Hunter Riggins and sophomore Hurston Waldrep, in that order, in a three-game series against Old Dominion. UTSA went with sophomore Daniel Garza, junior Luke Malone and sophomore Drake Smith.

Hitting

Edge: UTSA

UTSA’s calling card is offense. The Roadrunners, with 393 runs scored in 48 games, are patient at the plate and usually don’t strike out much. They’re 28th in the nation with a .300 batting average and 29th in on base percentage at .401. In most games down the stretch, they’ve have started lineups with six or seven players at .300 or better.

That said, Roadrunners coach Pat Hallmark has been concerned about the hitting of late. UTSA is only 32 of 155 at the plate in its last five.

Shane Sirdashney (.360) and Josh Killeen (.341) have the highest averages on the team, though they aren’t listed atop the statistical leaders. Leyton Barry, Sammy Diaz, Jonathan Tapia, Chase Keng and Garrett Poston are all hitting .300 or better. Home run leaders include Ian Bailey (with 12) and Ryan Flores (eight). RBI leaders include Keng (50), Bailey (44), Flores (41) and Tapia (40).

Can LSU turn it on this week against No. 4 Arkansas?

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The LSU Tigers always seem to conjure up some baseball magic this time of year.

As one of the dominant programs in the country, LSU traditionally turns it on when April gives way to May, and then to June.

If you don’t believe it, check the record — 29 NCAA tournament appearances, 18 trips to the College World Series and six national titles.

Last year, the Tigers won 52 games.

They advanced all the way to the championship round in the CWS, only to lose in two straight games to Florida.

Oddly, LSU has found itself in something of a struggle ever since.

The Tigers are only seven games over .500 this season.

They’ve lost six of their last eight, including two of three last week at Ole Miss.

Even more mysterious, LSU might be viewed as something of an underdog this weekend when its hosts the fourth-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks.

A three-game SEC series between Arkansas (32-13, 13-8) and LSU (26-19, 10-11) opens Friday night at Alex Box Stadium.

It’s strange, really.

With the month of May looming, LSU is not among the hot teams in the SEC.

Florida is coming off a 2-2 week, but the Gators (36-10, 16-5) are still ranked No. 1 in the nation by Baseball America.

Ole Miss (34-11, 12-9) is third and Arkansas fourth.

The Hogs have played perhaps the best ball of anyone of late, knocking off Texas Tech last Wednesday before sweeping Alabama for a 4-0 week.

Meanwhile, LSU has lost its last two SEC series, losing all three at South Carolina two weeks ago and then dropping the series at Ole Miss after blowing a late three-run lead and losing 9-8 Sunday.

The Tigers have had trouble with their pitching all year. The team’s ERA is 4.56, which is 12th out of 14 SEC teams.

Middle relief pitching, in particular, has haunted LSU in series-opening losses to South Carolina and Ole Miss over the past few weeks.

If it happens again this weekend, the explosive Razorbacks could put up a lot of runs.

We’ll see if the Tigers’ mojo or magic, or whatever you want to call it, can start to turn that around against the Hogs, who lead the conference in batting (.310) and home runs (69).

After all, it is that time of year.

Baseball America Top 25

1. Florida 36-10 SEC
2. Stanford 33-6 Pac-12
3. Ole Miss 34-11 SEC
4. Arkansas 32-13 SEC
5. North Carolina 31-13 ACC
6. Oregon State 32-7 Pac-12
7. North Carolina State 31-11 ACC
8. UCLA 29-10 Pac-12
9. Texas Tech 33-12 Big 12
10. Clemson 34-11 ACC
11. Duke 33-11 ACC
12. Kentucky 29-15 SEC
13. Southern Miss 32-11 Conference USA
14. East Carolina 30-12 American
15. Coastal Carolina 31-14 Sun Belt
16. Florida State 31-14 ACC
17. Vanderbilt 25-18 SEC
18. Indiana 31-10 Big Ten
19. Oklahoma State 27-14 Big 12
20. Texas 30-17 Big 12
21. Houston 28-16 American
22. Minnesota 28-12 Big Ten
23. South Florida 29-15 American
24. Georgia 30-14 SEC
25. Tennessee Tech 37-6 Ohio Valley