OXFORD — The Ole Miss baseball team used a five-run sixth inning and clutch pitching from a familiar face to claim an 8-6 victory and a series sweep of No. 6 East Carolina on Sunday afternoon at Swayze Field.
The five-run inning helped Ole Miss (3-0) erase a four-run deficit. Sophomore Dallas Woolfolk worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth to help keep the undefeated season intact.
With the comeback victory, the Rebels swept a top-10 team for the first time since 2010. Ole Miss is off to a 3-0 start for the fifth time in the past seven seasons, and 10th overall under coach Mike Bianco.
The Rebels scored six of their eight runs in the sixth or later, while giving up zero runs in the last three innings. Freshmen Cole Zabowski and Grae Kessinger had half of the team’s 10 hits. Zabowski was 2-for-4 with four RBIs, including a two-run home run in the second for the first home run of his career. Kessinger was 3-for-4 to provide a spark at the bottom of the lineup.
Former New Hope High School standout Will Golsan was 1-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI. He was 4-for-10 with four runs scored and three RBIs on the weekend.
Sophomore Connor Green and freshman Greer Holston combined to keep the Pirates off the scoreboard in the seventh, but ECU loaded the bases with nobody out one inning later. The threat caused Bianco to call on Woolfolk, who set the Pirates down to get Ole Miss out of the inning unscathed. The three consecutive strikeouts led to a roar from the 9,459 in attendance.
Woolfolk came back out in the ninth to strike out two more and earn the six-out save.
Ole Miss will play host to Arkansas State at 4 p.m. Tuesday. It will be the first Dollar Hot Dog Night of the season. The game can be caught on SEC Network+ with Will Kollmeyer and David Dellucci on the call.
n Southern Mississippi 8, Northeastern 7: At Hattiesburg, Storme Cooper’s walk-off, run-scoring single to left field with two outs in the bottom of the ninth helped the Golden Eagles rally from a seven-run deficit before a crowd of 3,302 at Pete Taylor Park.
Cooper lined a full-count slider off reliever Nate Borges just beyond the outstretched glove of left fielder Charlie McConnell. Cooper’s second hit scored third baseman Taylor Braley from third base with the game-winner as the Golden Eagles (3-0) rallied to sweep the season-opening series.
“It just seems like he gets it done every time,” said Southern Miss senior first baseman Dylan Burdeaux, who drove in three runs with a two-run single and his second home run of the season. “If somebody’s on second or third with two outs, we almost know its automatic with that guy.
“He’s huge for us. It seems like he always comes up in those situations and gets it done.”
Freshman right-hander Cody Carroll allowed seven runs on six hits through 2 2/3 innings. Junior right-hander Colt Smith allowed a double on his first pitch to shortstop Max Burt, but he retired 11 of the next 12 batters in four innings of shutout baseball.
“What he did on this particular day was he had good downward tilt to his fastball, and throwing his secondary pitch (a cutter) for strikes,” Southern Miss coach Scott Berry said. “He really pitched down in the zone and he had a presence on the mound. He took the mound with the intent to keep them in check and have us come back. I just felt like that was his whole attitude.”
Nick Sandlin (1-0) allowed one hit and struck out three in the eighth and ninth.
Southern Miss will play Alabama 6 p.m. Tuesday.
n Presbyterian 4, Alabama 3: At Tuscaloosa, Alabama, the Blue Hose used a solo home run in the eighth to beat the Crimson Tide in the finale of the three-game series at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.
With the loss, the Crimson Tide moves to 2-1 on the overall on the early season.
“I thought Presbyterian came out today and the guy on the mound (Hayden Deal) did a really good job early on,” Alabama coach Greg Goff said. “It was a great game and a great series. We had two one-run games, and I feel good we won the series at home the first weekend. Hopefully we can learn from today.”
Making his first career start, sophomore Dylan Duarte provided a solid outing. The left-hander worked five innings and allowed two earned runs on three hits. He struck out four. Duarte retired the first 12 batters he faced before finally surrendering a hit to lead off the fifth. Junior college transfer Garret Suchey (0-1) entered the game in the sixth and suffered the loss. The right-hander threw three innings and allowed two earned runs on five hits. He struck out two.
Kyle Kaufman and Gene Wood had two hits to lead Alabama. Chandler Taylor had a solo home run.
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