Rebels ride pitching to beat Long Beach State, 7-2, to open series

OXFORD | Ole Miss opened up a five-run lead in three innings and then coasted to a 7-2 victory to open the series against Long Beach State Friday in Oxford.

A Saturday doubleheader completes the series with games scheduled for 1:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. The Rebels move to 6-2 on the season and Long Beach State is 0-8. The Dirtbags have scored only 12 runs total this year.

Here are some observations from the Ole Miss victory at Swayze Field.

*** Will Ethridge returned following his week off to nurse a blister on his throwing hand, and he delivered an excellent outing that was shortened with a pitch count. The Ole Miss ace threw three shutout innings on 23 strikes and 32 pitches.

He allowed two hits with two strikeouts, no walks and worked ahead most of the game. Facing an inferior offense, Ethridge picked up weak contact and flashed his fastball in the low 90s that topped at 94 MPH. Considering the extended layoff to heal the blister, he looked to be in excellent form. Ethridge said he didn't feel anything negative with the finger and should be off the pitch count next week.

*** Houston Roth relived Ethridge to begin the fourth inning and promptly allowed three hits in the frame including two doubles that led to two runs. The junior went 3-0 on two different hitters in the inning and only threw 22 strikes in 37 pitches over two innings. The fifth was much improved with two strikeouts and a 1-2-3 inning.

Roth’s fastball sat in the mid 80s which is down from last season, but the command was more of a key than velocity. Ole Miss needs him as sharp as possible while roles are still up for definition, but Mike Bianco admitted after the game that the left shoulder remains an issue, though he credits him for toughing it out. Roth was good in his first action back after the non-throwing shoulder injury in the preseason, shutting out Arkansas State over two innings, but he has yielded 11 hits and six earned runs over his past two outings that totaled 4.2 frames. Like with Ethridge, Roth's health later is more important than innings now.

*** Long Beach is a small ball team anyway, but with the early-season ineptitude, the Dirtbags are trying to magnify it in order to jumpstart some type of pressure on opposing defenses. Cooper Johnson handled that very well Friday, shutting down the run game and setting the tone with an assist on a bunt to open the game. Johnson has been excellent all season defensively, and it was a continuation. He converted all opportunities on plays that stymied Long Beach.

The Dirtbags’ entire starting batting order only had four RBIs entering the game and only two regulars were hitting above .167 and the highest average was .259. No starter slugs more than .296.

*** Austin Miller only threw 15.2 innings last season in his first year with the Rebels, but he’s in line to race well past that by mid-March. The right-handed JUCO transfer has pitched 10.1 innings this season with one run scored and no walks. He’s struck out seven including three on Friday in four scoreless innings.

The fastball is into the 90s, and he’s showing great command. Thirty four of 51 pitches were strikes, and he mixed well to work through the 13 batters without issue. Bianco has trust in him in the middle innings the first reliever out, and he did nothing against Beach to disprove that. With the score extended in the eighth, Miller saved the bullpen and picked up his second save of the year. The innings he ate should be important to set up the bullpen tomorrow.

*** Ole Miss didn’t have a hit after the fourth inning until Jacob Adams delivered an RBI single in the eighth. Grae Kessinger followed with one of his own — on what was supposed to be a pitch out — and provided insurance in what was a reasonably close game for the majority of it.

After peppering Dirtbags ace Zak Baayoun with five hits in the first three frames, Baayoun lasted six innings, and Long Beach saved its bullpen by only using one reliever the rest of the way. Baayoun is a quality arm who beat TCU last season. He also threw six innings in an Ole Miss win at Long Beach last season.

*** Thomas Dillard reached base three times and had two hits with two runs scored. Adams and Kessinger also had two hits apiece. Kessinger got his second multi-hit game of the season and hit the ball hard all day. The final hit on the badly-missed spot found a hole and is potentially the start of a reversal of fortune. He’d had nice plate appearances with little to show, but baseball is a funny game, and they eventually start falling in.