Ole Miss vs Georgia Baseball: The (22-25, 7-16) Bulldawgs got a strong relief performance for the second consecutive game as Drew Moody went a career-best five innings and surrendered just two runs, but the Bulldogs could not overcome an early deficit and fell 7-3 to the seventh-ranked Ole Miss Rebels (36-12, 14-9) on Saturday afternoon at Foley Field.
Stephen Wrenn and LJ Talley each had two hits and a run to lead the offense, but Georgia fell behind early and never was able to draw even with the Rebels. The difference in the contest came in the field as Ole Miss took advantage of three Bulldog errors to score four unearned runs en route to its 7-3 win on Saturday.
An error cost Georgia in the first inning as a dropped pop up with two outs in the top of the first led to a two-run home run from J.B. Woodman to give the Rebels a 2-0 lead. Ole Miss added on in the second with another run to make the score 3-0, though Connor Jones was able to limit the damage and escape a bases-loaded, one-out jam without giving up more ground.
Georgia got on the board in the third, taking advantage of Talley’s one-out double as Skyler Webercame through with a single to left, trimming the deficit to 3-1.
The Rebels struck for two runs in the following inning, both unearned, after loading the bases with no outs to start the inning. Georgia punched back immediately, responding with two runs of its own on with a bases-loaded single from Michael Curry for one run and a 4-6-3 double play for the other, keeping a two-run deficit at 5-3.
Ole Miss took control of the game over the next two innings, getting leadoff solo homers in each frame to grab a 7-3 lead. Both offenses were quiet after the sixth inning with zeroes on the scoreboard, and Ole Miss clinched the series with the 7-3 final score on Saturday.
Dawg Tracks
– Connor Jones got his third pickoff of the season as he caught Errol Robinson leaning in the first inning.
– Skyler Weber extended his hitting streak with a RBI single in the third to a team-best seven games. It was the second consecutive game in which Weber put Georgia on the scoreboard.
– LJ Talley’s double in the third inning was his seventh of the season, and Wrenn’s double in the sixth was his third of the season.
– Wrenn tallied his 14th multi-hit game of the year and eighth two-hit game of the season.
– Drew Moody tossed a career-best 5.0 innings in relief, allowing two runs on four hits with four strikeouts.
Stricklin Says
Ike Cousins Head Baseball Coach Scott Stricklin
On facing the first-inning deficit…
“It’s pretty tough to really have everyone in the dugout. I mean guys were in the dugout, Connor Joneswas in the dugout and then that happens and the next thing you know the wind is blowing out, and he (Woodman) got it up in the wind, he’s a great player, their best player. You went from putting a zero up in the first inning and having a little momentum to being down 2-0.”
On bouncing back…
“It’s tough to. We bounced back a little bit and we had a chance, but bases loaded nobody out and down 5-2, LJ Talley had a really good at bat and hit it right on the nose, but grounding into a double play right there was a big momentum killer.”
On his message to the team…
“Just that we’ve got to show a little more heart tomorrow. We’ve got to play for our seniors. Their senior season is coming to an end and they deserve to be in postseason. They deserve to be in the SEC Tournament, they deserve to be in the NCAA Tournament. They’ve worked so hard, so I challenged our guys to play with some heart for our seniors.”
Players’ Perspective
Jr. P Drew Moody
On settling in after a rough start to his outing…
“I really wasn’t struggling too bad early. It was just a couple of different pitches. Lefties have had a lot of success on me this year because I’ve been leaving my fastball up a little bit. Those two home runs were fastballs right down the middle. I’ve just got to make sure I keep it down and change speeds.”
On recovering from the current losing streak…
“I think the biggest thing is to not get too low. You know the old saying, don’t get too high don’t get too low. I heard somebody say one time nothing’s ever as good as it seems and nothing’s ever as bad as it seems in baseball. We’re in the dumps a little bit. We know what we need to do. We’ve made it a little tough on ourselves here to do what we want to do. Really (we need to) not get too low and just know that Heath (Holder) is going to give us a great start tomorrow. I know that. He’s going to compete like he always does. That’ll just turn things around for us. The hitting will follow the pitching and we’ll just go from there.”
Jr. OF Stephen Wrenn
On the series loss…
“It’s frustrating, definitely frustrating. I know we’re better than what we showed, period. We’re going to figure out what makes us tick and come out with a lot of fire tomorrow. It’s easy for teams to shy away, but I don’t think this team is going to do that.”
On how to get back into the winning column…
“We put up hits today, just not timely hits. I don’t think we’re far, but I know there’s an improvement that needs to be made so we’re looking forward to tomorrow.”
What’s On Deck
The Bulldogs and Rebels will meet again on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Foley Field.
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