MORE: Rolison finds 'another gear' | Three Outs: Ole Miss 9, SLU 2
OXFORD | Miller Hogan took a quick glance at the swing and the contact, peeking as his momentum carried him off the mound.
The sound of bat connecting with ball sent the message, and the scene of the swing told the Saint Louis ace all he needed to know about the pitch’s eventual destination.
It was the final thunderous message in a two-inning surge that carried No. 4 national seed Ole Miss to a 9-2 win over the Billikens and Hogan to his worst result of the season, as SLU gets Missouri State at noon in an elimination game and Ole Miss faces Tennessee Tech at 4 p.m. with a regional final spot on the line.
"We tried to get the ball elevated," Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco said. "In that environment you need to get the fans involved with offense. We needed someone to break the ice."
On Monday when the brackets were announced, Hogan’s first comment publicly was that Saint Louis would “really take it to them,” speaking of the host Rebels (47-15). He expressed excitement about the crowd to come for his outing to start the regional, and there was confidence because of his season to date and the Atlantic-10 title the Billikens won a day before the bracket reveal.
But back to that glance. Tyler Keenan had gotten every bit of Hogan’s offering, and it went over the centerfield wall, setting off the second beer shower of the game and putting another highlight on Hogan’s night of getting knocked around.
Hogan entered with a 2.19 ERA and 1.96 batting average against, but Ole Miss blistered him, going 9-for-21 and scoring nine runs with two doubles, two home runs and a triple mixed in. The Rebels hit for the cycle and added another double all in the second inning, scoring six runs to take the lead and put to bed an early two-run advantage for the Billikens.
Cole Zabowski hit a two-run home run to tie it, Chase Cockrell and Ryan Olenek both doubled, and Jacob Adams hit a triple. A frame later, Keenan’s two-run missile finally made the Saint Louis bullpen stir.
“I just thought he made some bad mistakes where damage could be done,” Saint Louis coach Darin Hendrickson said. “Sometimes throughout the season you can get away with it, but that’s an SEC club that doesn’t give an inch, and it caught up with us tonight.”
Hendrickson mercifully made the change with the bases loaded and no outs in the fourth inning, after Hogan had given up his season highs in most every category.
The junior, who is expected to be taken on day two of the MLB First Year Player Draft, had gone at least six innings in all 15 previous starts this season and hadn’t allowed more than four earned runs in any of those outings. His worst start before Saturday was a five-run, four-earned run, six-inning effort against Notre Dame back in February.
And while he faced teams with RPIs of 227 or lower in half of his regular season starts, he had also given up only one run in 13 innings against the two top 50 teams he had faced this season — Jacksonville and Purdue.
Hogan didn’t get much help defensively either, as Saint Louis (38-19) made two critical errors and seemed to get rattled when the crowd of 11,304 came alive in the early innings.
While he wilted in his biggest appearance of the season, Ole Miss ace Ryan Rolison shook off early struggles and finished with a career-high 13 strikeouts in seven innings. He threw 115 pitches in what’s his final start before likely becoming a first round selection on Monday.
The effort saved the bullpen, and the Ole Miss offense gave enough cushion to allow the main relievers to take the night off. Freshman Max Cioffi made quick work of the Billikens in the late innings.
Ole Miss absorbed talk all week about the difficulty of its regional, partly because of Hogan and his lack of ability to be intimidated in the environment. And it’s impossible to know his emotions in the moment, but Ole Miss made plenty of loud contact to show it was up to the task of taking him on.
Zabowski’s home run started the momentum, Will Golsan sent a scary comebacker that glanced off Hogan’s glove before making direct striking him, and Keenan sent the atmosphere into a frenzy.
A different challenge awaits on Sunday, as Tennessee Tech leads the nation in multiple offensive categories and has bludgeoned many opponents this season. The Golden Eagles are the only team in the nation with more wins than Ole Miss.
But the first test is done. It was emphatic and chaotic and so certain off the bat that Hogan couldn’t even muster a look.
