Ole Miss clinches second straight series at No. 17 LSU
BATON ROUGE, La. - Waking up with a 4-2 lead, Ole Miss won a pair on Saturday at Alex Box Stadium, clinching a second-straight series victory at No. 14 LSU. It is the first time since 1964 and 1965 that the Rebels have claimed back-to-back series in Baton Rouge.
GAME ONE | Ole Miss 5, LSU 3
Ole Miss began the day with a 4-2 lead from the previous day's action. Having already thrown 38 pitches the night before, Dylan DeLucia came back out and twirled a gem to pick up his fifth win. The junior went seven-plus, allowing three hits total on three hits, matching his career high of nine strikeouts.
On in relief of DeLucia was Rebel closer Brandon Johnson, striking out four batters to lock up his eighth save.
Having suspended play the previous day with two strikes on the board, DeLucia picked back up right where he left off, pumping a fastball past Callier Cranford for a strikeout. The righty would strike out the next batter, Gavin Dugas, on three pitches.
Meanwhile, Tim Elko tacked on another of insurance for DeLucia in the fifth, hammering a solo bomb into the Left Field Landing section to make it a 5-2 Rebel lead. It was Elko's 18th of the season and 40th of his career, tying Brad Henderson for fourth most all-time at Ole Miss.
A solo home run from Jordan Thompson snapped a streak of 13-straight batters retired by DeLucia. Following a single, the junior exited in favor of Johnson, who escaped the jam with a fly out and back-to-back strikeouts to keep the lead intact.
Johnson came back out for the ninth and slammed the door shut striking out two more in a 1-2-3 frame to lock up the series opening win for the Rebels.
GAME TWO | Ole Miss 11, LSU 1
With momentum on its side, Ole Miss continued the good vibes into the second game of the afternoon, attacking the Tigers early and rolling to a series victory at Alex Box Stadium.
Matching the electric outing from DeLucia, Elliott gave the Tiger hitters problems all day long. The true freshman delivered 6.2 innings, allowing one run on four hits, tying his career-high with nine strikeouts. Josh Mallitz did the rest, striking out three in 2.1 frames.
The Rebels powered their way to an early lead in the first, with Elko and Kevin Graham hammering back-to-back solo shots to give Ole Miss a two-run lead. Elko's line-drive dinger was the 41st of his career, moving the senior slugger into a tie with Matt Smith and Matt Snyder for second place all-time in program history.
Hayden Dunhurst doubled the advantage in the second, pummeling a two-run bomb to right field to make it a four-run lead.
After Elliott left runners at the corners in the third, Ole Miss blew things open in the fourth. Jacob Gonzalez got things started with a single up the middle, bringing home Peyton Chatagnier. Elko then reached on an error, scoring Bench from third.
With a couple of runs in, the Rebels made the Tigers pay for the mistake. Kemp Alderman spanked a liner just inside the left foul line, bringing around Gonzalez and Elko, and TJ McCants finished things off with a single to right, plating Alderman to put the Rebs firmly in control up 9-0.
Having manufactured runs the previous frame, Ole Miss went back to the long ball to add on in the fifth. With two outs on the board, Bench took a ball the other way into the bleachers in right, a solo job to increase the lead to 10-0.
The Tigers threatened to cut into the advantage in the bottom of the fifth, loading the bases with one out. However, Elliott worked his way out of trouble, allowing just one run to cross.
The Rebels capitalized on another Tiger error in the eighth to get the run back and recapture the 10-run lead. Having reached earlier in the inning on a throwing miscue, Gonzalez cruised home with ease on Kevin Graham's third hit of the day, a sharp single to right field.
That was more than enough as the Rebel arms continued to mow down the Tiger lineup to finish off the second win of the day to claim the series.
Ole Miss will look to make it a clean sweep on Sunday, returning to Alex Box Stadium for a 1 p.m. CT first pitch. The game will be streamed live on SEC Network + and the call can be heard via the Ole Miss Radio Network.