From Special Reports
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — No. 4 Ole Miss baseball rode the arm of Ryan Rolison and used a sixth inning RBI from Will Golsan to earn a 3-2 win in the series opener at Alabama.
Ole Miss picked up its 41st regular season victory, the most in program history. The Rebels now sit at 41-13 on the season 17-11 in SEC play, remaining just one game back of Arkansas for the SEC West lead with two games left in conference play.
Rolison, a sophomore from Jackson, Tennessee, struck out eight Alabama batters in six innings of work, allowing just two runs on two hits. Will Ethridge and Parker Caracci combined to work the final three innings to slam the door on the Tide.
Ole Miss got on the scoreboard first in the second inning when Will Golsan and Tyler Keenan tallied back-to-back one-out singles to set the table for junior Chase Cockrell. Cockrell took a 1-0 pitch and lined it down the left field line to score Golsan and give the Rebels an early 1-0 lead.
Alabama would tie the game in the bottom half of the inning on Chandler Taylor’s 13th home run of the season.
The Rebels would regain the lead in the fourth on a Cole Zabowski opposite field solo home run to give Ole Miss a 2-1 lead.
The Tide answered back again a half inning later, loading the bases with no outs in the inning. Rolison was able to get a strikeout for the first out of the inning, but Alabama tied the game after Ole Miss second baseman Anthony Servideo fielded a slow roller and fired to first, but Zabowski couldn’t hold on to the throw.
With Alabama threatening to take its first lead of the game, Rolison recorded a strikeout and fly out to center to escape the jam. Rolison walked a season-high five in the game, but was able to pitch around the free passes with eight strikeouts and allowing just two hits, a SEC season-low for the lefty.
With the game still knotted at 2-2 in the sixth inning, Thomas Dillard took a 3-1 fastball and hit it off the wall in right-center for a one-out double. Dillard advanced to third on a groundball out by Zabowski. Golsan would take advantage with an infield single to short that he was able to beat out the throw to first. It was Golsan’s second hit of the day and all the Ole Miss bullpen would need to help the Rebels pick up the win.
Ethridge worked a hitless seventh with one strikeout before handing the ball off to Caracci, who struck out two over two innings of work to earn his 10th save of the season.
Golsan, Keenan and Dillard tallied six of the Rebels’ nine hits on the day.
The Rebels will be back in action tonight looking to take the series at Alabama. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
n Southern Miss 10, Marshall 2: At Beckley, West Virginia, Gabe Montenegro doubled three times in support of Nick Sandlin as Southern Mississippi clinched its second consecutive Conference USA regular-season baseball championship Thursday with a 10-2 win over Marshall
In snapping a short-lived, two-game losing streak, the 18th-ranked Golden Eagles (37-15, 21-6 C-USA) not only locked up the season title, but secured the top seed at next week’s 21018 Conference USA Baseball Tournament at MGM Park in Biloxi.
Southern Miss will play in the 4 p.m. game Wednesday when the tournament opens.
“To come up here and get the first game to win a conference championship, which was one of the goals we had as a team and established at the beginning of the year, I’m very proud of the guys for getting that done,” Southern Miss coach baseball Scott Berry said.
Sandlin (8-0) allowed two runs on seven hits over eight innings. He walked no one and struck out eight.
“If you’re trying to get back on a winning streak, it certainly helps when you have a Nick Sandlin going for you,” Berry said.
Montenegro had three of Southern Miss’ 13 hits, driving in two runs and scoring twice. Matt Wallner had a double and single and knocked in two runs, while Matthew Guidry scored twice.
The Golden Eagles jumped to 7-0 lead after two innings over the Thundering Herd (19-29, 7-20).
Montenegro led off the game with a two-strike double, moved to third on a Luke Reynolds’ single and scored on Wallner’s single. Guidry, who had walked, moved up two bases on the singles by Reynolds and Wallner, then stole home to give Southern Miss a 2-0 lead in the first inning.
The Golden Eagles finished off Marshall starting pitcher Ryan Falls (0-2) with five runs on four hits in the second inning.
With one out, Cole Donaldson walked and moved to second base as Mason Irby extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a single. LeeMarcus Boyd doubled to score Donaldson and send Irby to third base, and Montenegro’s grounder scored Irby for a 4-0 lead.
Posteason honors
Chase Cockrell of Ole Miss has been named a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy, given annually to the top player in college baseball, the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association announced Thursday.
Cockrell has been one of the most lethal bats in the Ole Miss lineup this season. He leads the Rebels in slugging percentage at .607 and is second in batting average at .348. The junior out of Bastrop, Louisiana, has clubbed eight home runs and 11 doubles and has tallied 33 RBI and 34 runs scored. He has 11 multi-RBI and 11 multi-hit so far games this season.
One of the most powerful bats in the Rebel order, Cockrell has two multi-homer games to his name this season, including two bombs in a crucial Game 3 win at South Carolina in early May. Three of the top-five hardest-hit balls at Swayze Field this season have come off of Cockrell’s bat, including a groundout at the top of the list that left at 113.9 mph.
n Southern Miss junior right-handed pitcher Nick Sandlin has also been chosen a semifinalist for the 2018 Dick Howser Trophy, as voted on by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. The award, given to the top player in collegiate baseball, is based on two rounds of national voting.
n Amid an outstanding season behind the plate for Ole Miss baseball, junior Nick Fortes has been named a Johnny Bench Award semifinalist.
Fortes is one of two Southeastern Conference catchers, joined by JJ Schwarz of Florida, to make the list of 16 semifinalists.
Fortes is hitting .299 on the season with an OPS of .949. The Winter Park, Florida, native has tallied 58 hits and 11 doubles and is second on the team with 11 home runs.
Fortes has scored 46 runs and has 46 RBI as well.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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