Five on Fire: Rebels who stood out during the first weekend of intrasquads

Ole Miss completed its first round of preseason intrasquads this past weekend, playing a couple games against itself in anticipation of the first pitch of the season on February 15 against Wright State.

Here are five of the Rebels who stood out with their play from the weekend.

Roth is a favorite to land a weekend spot in the rotation, most likely Saturday, as the right-hander has an excellent mindset for the role and has improved each year in Oxford. The local product’s candidacy for a major role took a positive step on Friday, with Roth striking out five of the seven batters he faced — four of which went down swinging. He threw two scoreless innings around a hit and a walk to lead the Ole Miss staff.

Cockrell may get time in the outfield and designated hitter throughout the season thanks to his power potential, and that was on full display this past weekend. The senior went 5-for-9 with two home runs and a double in the two games.

He scored two runs, had three RBIs and put up a scorching 1.889 OPS in the limited work. Three strikeouts in the nine at-bats somewhat soured the showing, but his ability to backspin the baseball and drive it out of the yard will get him plenty of playing time in 2019.

Adams finished fourth on the team last season in on-base percentage, showing decent discipline for his first year with the program following junior college baseball. He’s currently competing with Anthony Servideo at second base and the plethora of options in the outfield, so Adam’s bat needs to play for him to duplicate his extensive playing time from a year ago.

This past weekend was a good start, as he had a single and trip in five at-bats while also walking three times. The .625 weekend OBP tied Tyler Keenan and Thomas Dillard for the weekend lead, and he also stole a base.

This spot could have gone to Tyler Myers who struck out three and faced the minimum for two innings, but Ethridge’s importance to this team as the likely Friday night ace can’t be overstated. He consolidated that standing on Friday, seeing just six batters in two innings. He struck out two — both swinging — without a walk and forced three ground outs. It was limited work, but it was a sharp appearance for the right-hander expected to face the best for other opponents all season.

There was no sophomore slump the first intrasquad weekend, as Keenan went 3-for-6 and also had a walk and a hit by pitch. Keenan impressed quickly last season and had one of the better freshmen offensive seasons in the Mike Bianco era when you consider the bats now used.

The weekend showed the correct signs for him and what he likely will have to work with around him in the lineup. Dillard, Anthony Servideo and Grae Kessinger combined for nine stolen bases in the three games. They stole three apiece, and Servideo and Dillard were caught once and twice, respectively. Kessinger was successful every time.