MORE: Box Score
OXFORD | For a while it looked like last season.
The free passes piled up for Ole Miss offensively but so did the wasted chances. Even the one run through the first six innings came with a modicum of disappointment, as bases loaded and no outs turned into just enough to tie it at the time.
Then, in the seventh, a gift was given and a play was made.
With two runners on, Winthrop reliever Dalton Whitaker sent a pitch to the backstop, allowing both Rebels to move into scoring position. Grae Kessinger had two strikes and just wanted to hit the ball somewhere. He chose a good spot, as it stayed in the left side of the infield but was enough to plate two runs and give Ole Miss enough margin for the 3-1 win to sweep the series.
Winthrop entered the weekend nationally ranked by two different polls.
“It takes all kinds,” Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco said. “They run out, arguably, their ace today, and we knew it would be a challenge… We talk about the little battles in the game, and that was one of them. Last year we may pop it up in the infield or strike out. Today we get them in.”
The No. 9 Rebels host Memphis at 4 p.m. Tuesday. Sophomore right-hander Houston Roth will start for Ole Miss.
Kessinger’s well-placed ground ball ricocheted away from Winthrop infielder Mitch Spires, and third base coach Mike Clement sent Jacob Adams home despite Spires regaining control as Adams moved past the third base bag. Home plate umpire umpire Marcus Pattillo correctly ruled that Adams slid fingers in just ahead of the tag. A lengthy review confirmed the call.
“A lot of offspeed was coming because he was trying to get a big strikeout, and I was trying to move the ball,” Kessinger said. “The infield was in, and we found a hole. (Not capitalizing more) was for sure frustrating, but you have to win them all. With this pitching staff you don’t have to always score a bunch.”
From there, Ole Miss’ dynamic bullpen took care of things. Freshman lefty Jordan Fowler threw two scoreless innings in his college debut, and Will Ethridge and Dallas Woolfolk each made sure a late inning was uneventful.
Winthrop scored only one earned run the entire series.
That dominance was needed on Sunday after two days of at least 13 hits — something the Rebels didn’t do back-to-back in all of last season. On Sunday the Rebels had only three hits and couldn’t take significant advantage of Winthrop pitchers walking six batters and hitting two more.
Winthrop ace and Big South preseason pitcher of the year Nate Pawelczyk gave up one hit and one run in six innings.
“We had a lot of tentative swings and check swings,” Bianco said. “That showed just how good he was.”
Ole Miss loaded the bases in the fourth inning with no outs, and a Ryan Olenek sacrifice fly came between a strikeout and line out.
A day after having 11 hits with two outs, Ole Miss was 0-for-8 in that situation — and were also 3-of-16 with runners on base and 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position.
The Rebels had early fortune in the field with starter James McArthur giving up only one run through five stressful innings. The junior threw 54 strikes in 89 pitches but survived four hits, three walks and a hit by pitch.
McArthur stranded at least one runner each innings and five over the first two frames. The one run came when McArthur fielded a chopper and threw the ball over Tyler Keenan’s head at third base in an attempt to get the lead runner. He followed it up with two strikeouts to end the threat.
“I put myself in some predicaments out there today and got behind some guys but I’m proud of the way I battled and got my stuff back in the zone,” McArthur said.
