Mike Bianco felt like he had already said it because he had; the frustration and disappointment of another Vanderbilt blowout victory on his mind after two days of recounting similar occurrences.
The Commodores swept Ole Miss to start league play, finishing off the three-game set with a 7-2 win over the Rebels on Saturday. It was a hell-of-a week in a bad way for Ole Miss, which went 0-4 counting a road loss to Jacksonville State on Tuesday prior to the no-shows in Nashville.
Ole Miss is winless after a weekend of SEC play, but it wasn’t just the losses. It was how they happened.
Vanderbilt, a team that struggled offensively twice against Loyola Marymount fewer than 10 days ago and has made a habit of playing low-scoring games, averaged nine runs per game during the series, scoring 27 runs in 24 innings.
Bianco credited the Commodores on Thursday and Friday, and he did it again on Saturday, though it was mostly about his team’s poor play.
"Just not much to say,” Bianco said. “They beat us up all weekend long and played better than us in all the phases of the game. We gave up 27 and we scored four. There is not much to say after that. It's disappointing. We are a better baseball team than that. We just didn't give ourselves any opportunities.”
Vanderbilt dominated each game, but Ole Miss did plenty of damage to itself.
The SEC is a meat-grinder, and teams are going to have difficult weekends. Week one of 10 — especially a series at Vanderbilt — isn’t going to dictate the possibilities for postseason positioning or success.
The Rebels’ lack of clean baseball is the thing that must be better fast, however, to avoid a severe hole. Florida, Arkansas, Texas A&M and LSU are four of Ole Miss’ next five series along with a road trip to Mississippi State for Super Bulldog Weekend.
Ole Miss didn’t enough in any phase.
The Rebels had only two hits on Thursday and only four on Saturday — totaling 13 for the weekend. Calvin Harris’ 4-for-4 game on Thursday was the only time a Rebel had multiple hits.
Ole Miss committed four errors on Friday and had multiple defensive mental lapses that contributed to Vanderbilt’s offensive innings.
And, quite simply, the Rebels aren’t good enough on the mound right now. Hunter Elliott’s absence continues to be a tremendous blow, and Josh Mallitz and Riley Maddox are majorly missed in the bullpen. Those are facts, but it’s also reality. The season doesn’t stop because of the injuries.
Ole Miss starters got into trouble the second time through the order during the entire series.
Jack Dougherty allowed 11 hits and six runs (five earned) in four innings, giving up three runs in the fourth. Grayson Saunier was excellent through four innings, but the uber-talented freshman ran into some issues once the Commodores got on base in the fifth.
Xavier Rivas went five innings with just one hit, but a hit by pitch and a walk to start the fourth led to three runs.
Mason Nichols was the only reliever out of six to not give up multiple runs, and he walked three Commodores. Ole Miss walked six batters in two of the three games.
The pitching is a work in progress, and experienced depth is non-existent outside of Dougherty and Nichols. Ole Miss doesn’t have a starter more likely than not to reach thhe third time through an opponent’s order, and it’s a band-aid situation until Elliott returns and the young talent take steps.
Bianco’s challenge is figuring out how best to use Dougherty and Nichols over the next month to maximize their participation over 27 innings in each series.
The Rebels won a national title in 2022, but eight of the 10 postseason victories were started by Dylan DeLucia or Elliott. Ole Miss scored more than 20 runs against Arizona, and Dougherty was sensational for five innings against Oklahoma.
Ole Miss won despite a lack of starting pitching depth. It’s a credit to Bianco, but it’s again necessary — at least right now. He may need to alter rotation and bullpen roles.
That may not be a quick fix, which shifts things to the offense.
Vanderbilt has one of the best SEC rotations and three left-handed starters, so there’s no shame in not scoring a ton of runs against the Commodores. That’s Ole Miss’ strength, though, and that’s the path to survival at this point in the season.
The at-bats weren’t competitive enough from an offense that had lit up worse pitching during non-conference play. Ole Miss struck out 23 times and walked just four versus Vanderbilt.
The pitching puts pressure on the offense — we saw that often last season — but three straight slumbers isn’t going to get it done. Carter Holton having a career night is what it is, but no runs and two hits followed in the next two games, respectively.
There’s a get-in-a-better-mood game against Arkansas Pine Bluff Tuesday before the Gators come to Oxford.
Such is life in the SEC.
No one will feel sorry for the defending national champions. There are nine more weekends in the gauntlet. For now, it’s just a blip and a terrible week. Only time will decide the truth.
Ole Miss has a better roster than it put on the field in Nashville. It needs to play like it, though. The experienced ones can’t play poorly all at once, and the talented but inexperienced youngsters may need to grow up ahead of schedule.
That’s this conference, and that’s what Vanderbilt showed Ole Miss all weekend.
