'He's One of the Best Players in the Country': Gonzalez's Clutch Day Lifts Rebels Over Terps

With the game on the line Saturday, Ole Miss was able to turn to its star shortstop to get the job done and help secure a win.

OXFORD, Miss. -- There's a reason why Jacob Gonzalez is one of the most sought-after college products in the country for the upcoming MLB Draft.

The Ole Miss Rebels' junior shortstop is ranked the No. 3 college prospect in the nation by D1Baseball, and he showed flashes of his excellence on Saturday when his No. 4 Rebels came from behind to knock off the No. 13 Maryland Terrapins in Oxford.

Ole Miss trailed 6-4 in Saturday's seventh inning before a bases-loaded walk by team captain Garrett Wood closed the deficit to one run. Then, the lineup turned over, and Jacob Gonzalez simply did what he's done throughout his career: hit. 

With a 1-0 count and the bases still loaded, Gonzalez sent a ball the opposite way to drive home two runs and return the lead to Ole Miss, an advantage it never relinquished.

"I was trying to hit a home run," Gonzalez said with a laugh following the win. "Bases loaded, but he threw it away, and I can't hit a home run that way. So, I just kept it low."

Even on a day where Ole Miss' young and injury-hampered pitching staff surrendered 11 walks and hit four batters, the reigning national champions were able to rally at the plate and stay on the attack, outhitting their opponent 14-5. After a game where the bats went largely-silent in the series opener, that was a welcome sign for the home crowd.

"We played a little bit more like ourselves," Gonzalez said. "We didn't pitch very well. We walked a bunch of people, but it shows how good we are: win when we walk people."

Centerfielder Ethan Groff, a Tulane transfer, has not been a Rebel for very long, but he led the team in RBIs on Saturday. He also has grown accustomed to a certain clutch gene that resides in his shortstop and believes that he is a key cog that makes this team dangerous in 2023.

"I was on deck, and I knew he was going to get a hit," Groff said. "That's the amount of confidence I have in him. He's one of the best players in the country, and he's really fun to watch."

Overall on the day, Gonzalez went 3-for-4 at the plate with a walk and HBP. So far this season, he is batting .375 with one home run and 12 runs driven in.

In what is likely to be his last season as a Rebel, he's off to a pretty solid start.

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You can follow John Macon on Twitter at @JMakeGillespie.

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