Ole Miss pitching finds another gear to secure series-opening win over Mississippi State

The last two national championship teams met for the first time this season and both Ole Miss and Mississippi State were looking to change their fortunes. For the first time in eight years the Rebels emerged the victors on a must-win Friday.

Ole Miss was carried by its pitching for the 3-2 win at Dudy Noble Field and put itself in line once again to secure its first Southeastern Conference series of the season.

What has been a weak link for most of the last month became the Rebels strength with starter Jack Dougherty having one of his best outings of the season and Mitch Murrell putting the finishing touches out of the bullpen.

Even bigger is the fact that Ole Miss (20-14, 3-10 SEC) needed only two pitchers to get through the game and did so while picking up a victory.

Dougherty worked six innings, giving up a run off two hits while striking out four and walking another Bulldog batter. The run was a solo home run by Mississippi State’s Dakota Jordan in the bottom of the fifth.

From there Murrell got the final nine outs and worked three innings for the win, striking out three Mississippi State batters. He also allowed a solo home run when Hunter Hines hit one in the bottom of the ninth.

“(Murrell’s) maybe been the most consistent bullpen piece for us,” said Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco. “Tonight I thought he even hit another gear. Just filled up the strike zone with the breaking ball. A few fastballs in there but really located it well tonight. Again, against a really good line up. People don’t talk about State’s lineup but it’s a real good lineup.”

Offense is still not there but Ole Miss got the timely hits from its stars when needed.

Three runs off 12 hits is not a great ratio but they were enough to get the job done on Friday. Ole Miss got the key hits from shortstop Jacob Gonzalez, left fielder Kemp Alderman and catcher Calvin Harris.

Gonzalez and Alderman got the solo home runs in the top of the third inning and top of the eighth inning, respectively. With how Dougherty and Murrell were pitching those were enough Harris’ insurance run proved the difference in the top of the ninth.

The pair of home runs were key but it is the consistent play of Harris at the plate that needs to be noticed. Over the last three games Harris has 10 hits and is moving his batting average close to .390.

On Friday Harris finished 3-for-4 with the lone RBI that ended up being the winning margin.

“Arguably, (Harris has) had the best year of anybody in the lineup, and that’s saying a lot when you look at Kemp and Gonzo and some other guys,” Bianco said. “But, he’s the guy offensively that people don’t talk a lot about. And he’s really, sometimes, the straw that stirs the drink and then you look up so many times and he’s either on base or gets a big hit like he did tonight.”

This weekend was the most crucial series of the season up to this point and it is off to a good start.

Ole Miss needs to win at least two of three if not find a way to sweep its in-state rival to get things turned around and heading in the upward direction.

With the series-opening win the Rebels find themselves in a tie with Mississippi State (20-15, 3-10) at the bottom of the SEC West standings and now a game behind Alabama which dropped its opening game with Auburn on Friday.

Once this weekend is over the SEC schedule will reach its halfway point and there will be 15 conference games remaining before Hoover and the SEC Baseball Tournament. Ole Miss can get back on the momentum train if it can leave Starkvile a couple more wins.

Game 2 is set for a first pitch of 3 p.m. CT on Saturday and will air on SEC Network.

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