OXFORD — Redshirt sophomore Brady Feigl threw eight scoreless innings Saturday to lead the No. 21 Ole Miss baseball team to a 5-0 victory against Furman at Swayze Field.
Feigl (2-1) struck out 10 in the longest outing of his career to help Ole Miss improve to 10-5. He allowed only three hits and one walk. The Chesterfield, Missouri, native retired 24 of the 28 batters he faced, while reaching double digits in strikeouts for the first time in his career.
For the second-consecutive day, Will Stokes secured the shutout by keeping the Paladins (8-6) off the scoreboard in the final inning.
In his second career start at first base, redshirt sophomore Michael Fitzsimmons hit a two-run home run in the second inning. While opportunities were few and far between, the Rebels took advantage of them with five runs on three hits. Each of the first five hitters in the lineup scored a run.
Former New Hope High School standout Will Golsan singled in the eighth and advanced to second on a passed ball. He scored on a sacrifice fly by Tate Blackman.
Ole Miss will go for the sweep at 1:30 p.m. today. Freshman Greer Holston will make his second career start, while the Paladins will counter with senior Matthew Quarles.
n On Friday, David Parkinson threw eight scoreless innings of one-hit baseball to lead Ole Miss to a 2-0 victory against Furman.
Parkinson (3-1) kept the Paladins hitless through seven innings. He struck out a career-high nine and didn’t walk a batter in his longest outing as a Rebel. The Henrico, Virginia, native had a no-hitter intact until a leadoff single to center in the eighth inning, but the baserunner was wiped off the bases on a groundball double play
Stokes earned his fourth save to complete the shutout.
Sophomore Ryan Olenek matched his career high with three of the Rebels’ six hits. Blackman added an RBI single, while Golsan and Grae Kessinger scored runs. The Rebels recorded all six hits off Will Gaddis (1-2). The Furman starter lasted seven innings and allowed two runs (one earned). He struck out six.
Parkinson’s no-hitter was broken up in the top of the eighth when first baseman Brandon Elmy singled to center. The southpaw completed the inning by retiring the next two hitters. He finished the eighth by forcing a 5-4-3 double play to cap his scoreless outing.
n Southern Mississippi 2-10, Xavier 0-0: At Hattiesburg, junior right-hander Hayden Roberts and sophomore J.C. Keys delivered strong starts Saturday to help the Golden Eagles earn a doubleheader sweep at Pete Taylor Park.
The teams played a pair of games Saturday to avoid expected inclement weather forecast for Saturday night and this morning.
“You give up those two runs (Friday) night and then go 25 scoreless innings, I thought that was a major, major contribution from all those guys, from starters to relievers,” Southern Miss coach Scott Berry said. “I was very pleased (Saturday) after coming off a disappointing loss.
In the opener, the Golden Eagles (11-4) scratched across two runs in the fourth inning for Roberts (1-1), who came within an out of a complete game. He limited Xavier to two hits in a career-high 8 2/3 innings. He walked two and struck out eight. In the ninth, he issued a one-out walk and then gave up a two-out single before Nick Sandlin came in to strike out the final batter and pick up his first save.
In the second game, Keys (1-1) scattered three hits in a career-best six innings in his first Southern Miss start. The Golden Eagles backed him with five home runs, including the first two of Casey Maack’s collegiate career.
Daniel Keating and Taylor Braley hit solo shots in the first off starter Greg Jacknewitz (0-2) for a 2-0 lead, and Dylan Burdeaux’s fifth homer of the season, a two-run shot, sparked a three-run third.
Southern Miss will play host to Columbia at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
n On Friday, Xavier left-hander Zac Lowther allowed one hit and four baserunners in six innings, and two relievers combined to polish off a 2-0 victory against Southern Miss.
The Golden Eagles were shut out for the first time in 36 games, going back to a 12-0 loss on April 19, 2016, at Tulane.
“Sometimes you just have to tip your cap to that other guy,” Berry said. “He did a great job.”
Left-hander Kirk McCarty tied a career-high with nine strikeouts in eight innings, the longest stint by a USM starting pitcher this season.
But the Musketeers (7-7) nicked McCarty for a run in the first on Nate Monastra’s single and another run in the second on a fielder’s choice grounder by Will Larue.
n Alabama will play doubleheader against
Arkansas-Pine Bluff today: At Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Rain forced Alabama’s scheduled game Saturday against Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Sewell-Thomas Stadium to be postponed.
The teams will play a doubleheader at 1 p.m. today. Game 2 will start 30 minutes after the final out of Game 1. Both games will be nine-inning affairs.
Tickets to Saturday’s game will be recognized for today’s second game.
n On Friday, Alabama had 13 hits and scored a season-high runs in a 14-1 victory against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
“I told our guys tonight that we had to come out and finish 27 outs,” Alabama coach Greg Goff said. “I felt like our guys did a really good job of getting out to a lead early and then letting Jake (Walters) settle in. Tonight, we had an opportunity to relax a little bit. This is the first game we had where we kind of extended a lead, so it’s good to have an opportunity to see some other guys get to play.”
Alabama also worked a season-high 10 walks.
Chandler Avant went 3-for-5 with two doubles and two runs scored, Cobie Vance was 3-for-4 with a double, a team-high tying three RBIs and one run scored, and Tanner DeVinny had three RBIs, including his second home run in as many starts.
Walters (3-1) struck out five in six innings. The junior tossed a season-high 95 pitches and limited the Golden Lions to five hits, a walk, and one earned run. Zac Rogers, Tyler McMurray, and Tyler Adams combined to pitch the final three scoreless frames, with each reliever throwing an inning apiece. McMurray and Adams both made their first appearances of the season.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.