Long Beach rattles Rebels, hands Ole Miss first loss of season
LONG BEACH | The first foray of the season into West Coast baseball didn’t go so well for Ole Miss.
In the opening game of the Saturday doubleheader because of a rainout Friday, Long Beach State stole five bases in one inning and rattled the visiting Rebels with first-move steal attempts and aggressiveness on the bases.
Things settled down in the middle innings, but the early runs held up to give the Dirtbags a 4-3 victory, handing Ole Miss its first loss of the season. The Rebels committed three errors and went insufficient in advantageous offensive opportunities.
Game two begins at 7:30 p.m. CT.
Long Beach (4-6) started Clayton Andrews, who is typically its No. 2 man in the rotation but was moved up because he’s also a position player. Dirtbags coach Troy Buckley didn’t want him to pitch following nine innings in the field.
Andrews, using loopy breaking balls and just enough fastballs to show he can do it, flummoxed Ole Miss through seven innings and 81 pitches (57 strikes). He scattered five hits and three runs — two earned — for his first win of the season.
The Rebels scored a runner from third with less than two outs on just one of three opportunities. They were also 2-of-11 with two outs, 2-of-14 with runners on base and 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position. The leadoff batter reached four times but scored only once.
Ole Miss also committed three errors including a dropped fly ball by Ryan Olenek that led to a run.
Ole Miss ace Ryan Rolison wasn’t his best self but gave the Rebels a chance, lasting 6.2 innings and giving up four runs, three of which were earned. Long Beach, a .221-hitting team entering the day, hit .307 against the likely first round pick. Rolison had a .118 batting average against before this start.
The third inning was pivotal on both sides. Ole Miss freshman Anthony Servideo doubled to open the frame and moved to third on a Grae Kessinger sacrifice. However, Ryan Olenek lined out to shortstop, and Servideo was doubled off third after moving on contact.
The bottom half opened innocently with a ground out before a single and walk started the weirdness. The two runners stole into scoring position before Luke Rasmussen tapped a ball back to Rolison who got a rundown going between third and home. Instead of getting a routine out at third in the rundown, Tim Elko was called for interference, allowing a run to score and the other runners to be called safe.
Two more stolen bases, a walk and a sacrifice fly continued the inning and led to two total runs. Long Beach added single runs in the fourth and fifth off Rolison, as well.
The Rebels scored all three runs in the fifth. Andrews hit Cooper Johnson with a pitch, and Cole Zabowski singled, setting up an Elko double. Two errors by Dirtbag third baseman Shaq Robinson — on separate plays — allowed runs to score.
Zabowski and Fortes combined for four of Ole Miss’ six hits, but neither had a run scored or an RBI.
Will Ethridge threw the final 1.1 innings for Ole Miss.