Fast Five: Quick thoughts from 12 innings with Ole Miss and Little Rock

OXFORD | Ole Miss finished its second and final fall scrimmage against another opponent on Saturday, beating Little Rock -- of the Sun Belt Conference -- 6-5 in the combined segments. The Rebels won 3-0 over the first six innings and fell 5-3 during the final six innings.

Ole Miss beat Delta State 20-3 on October 13 in the other 12-inning fall get-together, and it will conclude fall practice with the Pizza Bowl on Friday at 6 p.m.

Here are a few things that stuck out on Saturday.

Grae Kessinger and Anthony Servideo are going to the Ole Miss middle infield, and they have gelled well together during the fall -- despite Servideo playing both shortstop and second base.

Mike Bianco told me after the game Ole Miss may have the two best defensive shortstops in the league with Kessinger and Servideo, so expect the latter to start and second and go with Kessinger to form an excellent double play tandem.

[Related: Rebs split the 12 innings with the Trojans]

They converted two tough chances into twin killings yesterday, including one that saved a run, as Servideo ranged well up the middle and glove flipped to Kessinger who caught it with his throwing hand and completed the turn.

Servideo moves well to his left, as well, and he can cover ground into the shorter segments of the outfield. And while he's not rangy, Cole Zabowski has become above average picking balls at the bag and using his feet to help bail out some errant throws.

A lot of time was spent talking about how freshmen could use these "games" to face a similar atmosphere to the spring and acclimate to an extent earlier than in previous years when only intrasquads were allowed.

That's true, especially for Gunnar Hoglund, Kaleb Hill and Doug Nikhazy, but it's also true for junior college transfers, who often have the same transition situations as those coming straight out of high school.

Phillips, the Grayson College transfer, can get up to 93 or 94 MPH from the left side and while still somewhat inconsistent, the stuff is there for two other quality offerings. He's a candidate for a major role in 2019, but against Delta State he seemed uncomfortable and didn't have his best day, as he left the ball up in the zone and didn't spot his secondary pitches.

But against Little Rock, despite giving up two hits, he didn't allow a run and was settled in for the two innings. The fastball shows some late life, and he's going to help the Rebels in some capacity.

Ole Miss needed him to get his feet wet in a positive fashion this fall. He entered the week with a .333 batting average against in 10.2 innings.

Ole Miss scored six runs in 12 innings on Saturday, and Cole Zabowski had four RBIs and two runs scored, so the math is pretty simple that the junior first baseman carried the Rebels at the plate.

Zabowski, who is hitting .390 with an OPS of more than 1.000 this fall, went 3-for-3 with a home run and a walk, while all other hitters were a combined 7-for-36 on the day.

The middle-of-the-lineup hitter made tremendous strides from freshdynman to sophomore seasons, and he's in line for another jump. There should be ample protection all around him in the order, and he's minimized his swing and miss while not sacrificing any power.

Zawbowski has only struck out six times in 48 plate appearances this fall, and he's a more patient hitter than in the past. Selectiveness was an early issue, but if this trend continues he will be a dynamic bat for an Ole Miss offense that should be one of the league's best.

Will Ethridge threw two scoreless innings on Saturday, despite allowing two hits and a hit by pitch. He got himself out of trouble and ran his fall numbers to one run allowed in 13 innings.

The junior has 15 strikeouts and two walks in fall ball, featuring a tighter breaking ball in the mid 80s that should be more of a primary pitch as a starter.

There's still a logjam of options for starter roles, but Ethridge is as proven as anyone else, and he's not made it a secret that headlining the rotation is a goal. The Rebels have a lot of very good arms without an obvious elite one, but Ethridge may be the best option to develop into one.

You can't win a spot in the fall, but he started as a primary candidate and has done nothing but solidify that possibility.

Saturday wasn't Ole Miss' best effort.

The pitchers worked out of trouble but didn't dominate many innings. The offense went eight straight frames without scoring at one point. The defense was excellent for the most part, but a miscue allowed Little Rock's first run.

Ethridge admitted he was complacent early in his outing, and there were a lot of empty at-bats. Bianco said the positive was the late right in the second segment to get the go-ahead run to the plate, but for the most part he wasn't impressed with the approaches.

It's just the fall, but it should be an early lesson to the newcomers because it resembled what a midweek loss would look like in the spring. Last season Ole Miss was excellent in the midweek, and that intensity is the difference in a national seed or just a host that could be on the road in the second week of the NCAA Tournament.

It was a teachable day that the Rebels should learn from.