Ole Miss gives away potential sweep of Auburn with a walk-off defeat in series finale

Ole Miss had a sweep of Auburn sitting on a silver platter, a few times, but the defensive woes behind the plate showed up again and knocked the platter to the dirt.

The Rebels blew a five-run lead only to rally back twice, including scoring three runs in the top of the ninth inning, only to see Auburn score the winning run off three wild pitch/passed balls in walk-off fashion for the 10-9 victory.

A sweep would have been nice, but Ole Miss did secure its third Southeastern Conference series of the season by taking the first two games of the weekend. Fighting for its postseason life, every win is crucial in early May.

But not being able to pocket three wins for the drive back to Oxford, in the manner that it happened, is going to be a tough pill to swallow. Errors have been the season-long story with the Rebels (25-22, 9-15 SEC).

A SEC-leading 57 errors have been made by Ole Miss this season, but the wild pitches and passed balls have hurt just as much if not more.

“When you’re that close it’s obviously a kick in the gut,” said Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco. “I think when we look back on this game and reflect it was one of those where, ‘Yeah, it may have gotten away from us in the ninth but it’s hard to say we deserved to win this.”

The loss puts Ole Miss in a tie with LSU (31-18, 9-15) for the 11th and 12th spots in the SEC standings. Currently the Rebels are still in the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Alabama later this month, but Sunday’s game would have gone a long way in getting there.

All weekend Ole Miss played more like a team that was starting to turn the corner and find consistency at the play and the mound.

But then Sunday came and the pitching woes were back. Mason Nichols got the start but lasted only 2.1 innings after giving up four runs — three earned — off six hits and a walk. He did strike out three Auburn batters before exiting.

From there Bianco went to five other pitchers to get through the game. None of the relievers lasted more than 2.2 innings. JT Quinn and Conner Spencer were the final two arms and Spencer’s off command and Campbell Smithwick — who came in as a pinch-hitter for Eli Berch — once against showing off poor defense spelled the Rebels doom.

“We pitched it pretty good all weekend until today,” Bianco said. “Tough start for Mason, obviously, in the bullpen throughout all the guys, except for maybe (Brayden) Jones, I thought we struggled. We struggled to be in good counts and they just seemed to have a really good day, offensively.”

After the five-run spot in the top of the first inning Ole Miss was held scoreless the next six innings, not plating a run until the eighth.

Now, Ole Miss returns home for its final four games at Oxford-University Stadium this season, starting with a make up midweek matchup against Murray State on Wednesday before No. 1 Texas A&M comes to Oxford next weekend.

Three games against the Aggies and then three games against LSU in Baton Rouge are the final opportunities to find a way into the postseason. Sunday felt like a stinging reminder of how this team has managed so many self-inflicted wounds this year.

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