Alabama Baseball Dismantles Ole Miss, Wins Series

The Crimson Tide run ruled Ole Miss in the opening act of Friday's doubleheader.

Will Miller | May 19, 2023

The Alabama baseball team has won a third consecutive SEC series.

The Crimson Tide defeated Ole Miss in the first game of Friday's doubleheader at Sewell-Thomas Stadium, which also served as the penultimate matchup of the regular season. Alabama run ruled Ole Miss, 12-2, walking it off in the bottom of the seventh inning.

The home team scored early and often, leading 8-0 after just three innings. Colby Shelton hit his 20th home run of the season in the third inning. Andrew Pinckney also had three RBIs, continuing his incredible offensive stretch. Center fielder Caden Rose hit the Crimson Tide's other home run in the second inning.

"These guys are on top of it," interim head coach Jason Jackson said. "[They needed to] play hard today and take care of business, and right out of the gate, they did that."

On the bump, Garrett McMillan kept up his strong form since returning from injury. He tossed 5.2 innings with three strikeouts, giving up a single run and getting the win. Ole Miss didn't score until the fifth inning, when Pinckney made the defensive play of the game by robbing a home run that nevertheless resulted in a sacrifice fly RBI. The visitors added one more run with a solo shot by Jacob Gonzalez in the seventh.

"[I've been] commanding the fastball a lot more, attacking hitters," McMillan said. "Just always being unpredictable, that's the main thing when pitching, is just being unpredictable."

The offense for Ole Miss could have been more productive than it was. For five straight innings between the second and sixth, the leadoff man reached in some fashion. Only once did those threats turn into something- the run in the top of the fifth.

The Crimson Tide responded with a four-run seventh frame. With the help of another haphazard outing by the Ole Miss pitching staff, Alabama got runners on and in. Catcher Dominic Tamez hit into a fielder's choice with one man gone to score Tommy Seidl and end the game. The only Ole Miss pitcher to go more than two innings posted a 7.11 ERA.

With the win, Alabama moved above .500 in league play (15-14) and has won four straight games. Ole Miss fell to 6-23 in conference play and is still in dead last.

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