Rebels Down Lipscomb 8-5 To Clinch Series; Bianco Nabs Win 486 At UM
OXFORD, Miss – Head coach Mike Bianco set the all-time win record at Ole Miss on Saturday, passing legendary Rebel All-America and coach Jake Gibbs, as the seventh-ranked Rebels (15-1) defeated Lipscomb (6-9) by a score of 8-5.
With the win, Bianco picked up coaching win 486 as the Rebel skipper and clinched the weekend series with the victory over the Bison.
The Rebels did it with another explosive night offensively, paced by Auston Bousfield who tallied a pair of RBI and scored two runs with a 1-for-3 performance that included his first home run of the season. Bousfield also drew a pair of walks in his first two plate appearances and went on to score both times.
Mike Mayers (2-0) picked up the win, pitching 6.0 scoreless innings with seven strikeouts while allowing one hit and one walk in his time on the mound. Brett Huber then picked up his sixth save of the season, after Lipscomb put together a five-run rally in the seventh inning.
Davey Hackett (1-3) suffered the loss for Lipscomb, allowing eight runs – six earned – on eight hits with four walks and no strikeouts in his 5.1 innings of work.
“It was another good game by us,” Bianco said. “Obviously the seventh inning got away from us a little bit, but that happens. Not that you draw it up that way or want it to happen, but sometimes it is good to be tested. What looked like it was going to be a way to cruise to victory wasn’t today, and our guys handled it.
“I’m proud of the way Aaron (Greenwood) came in at the end,” Bianco said. “Also the way (Brett) Huber came in at the end to get through it. (Mike) Mayers was tremendous for six innings. Offensively we swung it well, but we also ran the bases extremely well today. We really took advantage of some of their miscues. That certainly led to some big innings.”
The Rebels pushed a pair of runs home in the first inning on RBI singles from Austin Anderson and Stuart Turner. Ole Miss would go on to add three more runs in the third inning, marking the third consecutive game the Rebels put up at least five runs on the opponent in the first three innings.
Ole Miss continued to build on the lead in the fifth inning when Bousfield stepped to the plate following a walk of Tanner Mathis and sent a 2-0 offering into the home bullpen in left field to put the Rebels on top 7-0.
The Rebels added their eighth run in the sixth inning. Will Jamison tripled and then scored when Preston Overbey singled to center field.
Lipscomb cut into the lead in the seventh inning with a five-run rally that trimmed the lead to three runs. The Bison mounted the rally with five singles, a walk and a hit batter before the Rebels would get out of the inning when Aaron Greenwood notched a fly out of the first batter faced.
The Bison looked to mount a second rally in the ninth, putting two men on to start the inning, but Huber squelched the rally attempt with back-to-back strikeouts and a groundout to first to preserve the victory and clinch the weekend series.
Ole Miss and Lipscomb will close out the series at noon on Sunday at Swayze Field. The game time was moved up to the noon start after originally being scheduled for a 1:30 p.m. first pitch.