Mizzou bounces back with win over No. 20 Ole Miss
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Mizzou Baseball (15-9, 2-4 SEC) recorded its first Southeastern Conference series win of the 2019 campaign following an 8-5 Sunday victory over No. 20 Ole Miss. This weekend marked the Tigers' first top 25 series triumph since a season ago, as they won two of three vs. No. 10 Vanderbilt at Taylor Stadium (April 19-21, 2018).
Mizzou's offense came alive in its series finale versus the Rebels. The eight runs scored, 10 total hits, three doubles and two home runs all marked single-game highs in SEC contests this season.
#SHOWME Top Performers vs. Ole Miss
- Chris Cornelius: 1-for-5, R, HR, 3 RBI
- Paul Gomez: 2-for-4, 2 R, 2B, HR, 3 RBI
- Ian Bedell: (W) 3.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
- Jordan Gubelman: (SV) 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
Hear From Head Coach Steve Bieser
On earning the series win today over Ole Miss...
"It feels good. We had a 4-1 week. That's a really good week when you think about the competition we had. It was a very tough Ole Miss Rebels team in here. We had to battle for everything we got. I'm really proud of how we came out after the delays. It looked like we had some energy, but I didn't know what to expect. They were ready to go."
On the bullpen's outstanding job Sunday...
"The job Ian (Bedell) did after he settled down after his first inning. At first he was up in the zone a little bit. He shut them down in the second and third inning of work and looked good. Jordan (Gubelman) came in and looked good. All of his stuff was working again and that's what led to me not bringing in Cameron (Dulle) and I let him close it out."
On Gomez' impact at the plate...
"He had some clutch hits. He's been clutch and plays great defense. I'm proud of what he gives our team when he goes out on the field."
On overall reflections of the weekend series vs. Ole Miss...
"The resiliency of this ball club. We played really well in night one, but stunk it up on day two. We were able to bounce back today and finish the weekend out. We said if we'd come out of this week 4-1 then we'd be happy with ourselves. We got to keep building on this."
#MIZ Takeaways
- Sunday marked the Tigers' 10th victory at Taylor Stadium this season. Overall, Mizzou supports a fantastic 10-1 mark in Mid-Missouri this year.
- The Tigers' lockdown bullpen was on display again Sunday, as they helped improve the team's record to 14-0 when leading after eight inning of play.
- Gubelman entered in the eighth inning and retired all six batters he faced. It marked his first save of the 2019 campaign and the second overall in his career.
- Gubelman's fantastic stretch out of the bullpen continued Sunday, as he produced his seventh straight scoreless appearance. He also extended his consecutive scoreless innings pitched streak to 14.2 with his dominant outing.
- Bedell also continued his solid work out of the bullpen this year, limiting the Rebels to one earned run over three innings of work. His effective fifth, sixth and seventh innings of work secured his first victory of the 2019 campaign.
- Gomez picked a good day for arguably the top single-game performance of his career. The Orange, California, native's two hits, home run and three RBI all marked new single-game career bests.
- Cornelius continued his breakthrough junior campaign at the plate Sunday, highlighted by a big three-run home run in the fourth inning. It was his fourth blast of the season, which stands out as he entered the 2019 campaign with only three career home runs across his first two seasons of play (2017-18).
- Entering this weekend's series, Ole Miss brought in one of the hottest offenses in the country. In fact, the Rebels' nearly nine runs scored per game ranked ninth in the NCAA. The Mizzou pitching staff stepped up to the challenge in a big way, recording a fantastic 1.67 ERA and limiting the Rebels to a .216 batting average against.