Ole Miss Suffers First Loss of Season to UCF in 12 Innings

Ole Miss could not muster a run in Saturday's game against the Knights.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- In a scoreless game through regulation, No. 2 Ole Miss lost its first contest of the season to UCF on Saturday via a walk-off Knights single in the bottom of the 12th.

The Rebels' first hit of the game came in the fifth inning, but they were able to stay in the game thanks to a strong outing by starting pitcher John Gaddis. The Ole Miss lefty threw seven complete innings, surrendering four hits and no runs while striking out eight.

Jason Hamby, Inside The Knights

Jason Hamby, Inside The Knights

The strikeouts were more prevalent for Ole Miss offensively, however, as the Rebels were rung up 16 times in the loss, 10 of which came from UCF starter Connor Staine.

"It was a tough day for us offensively," Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco said. "It was more about what they did. Staine was tremendous and threw his fastball in the zone. He really attacked the zone today, and we chased some of those elevated fastballs out of the zone. 

"Normally, we don't get beat by the fastball, but we certainly did today."

Ole Miss catcher Hayden Dunhurst echoed some of his coach's sentiments following the game.

"He threw the fastball up a lot," Dunhurst said. "We've got to push that down, and we were off balance with the off-speed and fastball. That's the first time I've seen our offense like that since I've been here, and we look to bounce back tomorrow."

Once the game turned to extra innings, Bianco pinch hit for Calvin Harris with no outs and a runner at first. Ben Van Cleve entered and attempted to lay down a bunt which resulted in a double play that effectively ended the Rebels' threat in the frame.

"He bunted it a little firm and too much to the pitcher," Bianco said. "Ben's our best bunter, so we brought him in to try to flip the lineup over and give Chatagnier or Gonzalez a chance to win the game, and we just bunted it too firmly and right back to the pitcher."

Ole Miss and UCF will play in a rubber match for the series tomorrow at 11 a.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.

---

Want the latest in breaking news and insider information on the Rebels? Click Here.

Follow The Grove Report On Facebook and Twitter.