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Home runs are cool, but Ole Miss baseball needs more after brutal Mississippi State loss

OXFORD — By the time Mississippi State had thrown four pitches Friday night, Ole Miss baseball had three home runs. But don't confuse an early outburst with a productive offensive night.

The Rebels (22-16, 6-11 SEC) lost in excruciating fashion to their in-state rivals Friday, blowing an early three-run lead to lose 10-7 and even the weekend series at one win apiece. Ole Miss scored its runs off four solo home runs but failed massively with runners on base, finishing 5-for-23 with runners on base and 3-for-12 with runners in scoring position.

"I don't want to take credit away from guys that win the game, but we had some guys in the middle that had some opportunities that don't usually get away from us," Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco said. "We're usually really good with runners in scoring position and tonight we weren't."

All of the hits with runners in scoring position came in the eighth inning, before which the Rebels were 0-for-6. The Rebels stranded two runners on base with the tying run at the plate to end the game.

Home runs are great and Ole Miss hits a ton of them. The Rebels have 34 home runs in 17 SEC games, working out to two a game. But the Rebels rely on home runs for more than half of their scoring in SEC play, driving in 51 of their 101 runs via the long ball.WHAT WENT WRONG?: Ole Miss baseball went from No. 1 in nation to last in SEC West: Could Rebels miss the postseason?

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Speaking generally, Ole Miss has been a little better batting in clutch situations than with the bases empty in SEC play. The Rebels are batting .245 in SEC play but are hitting .279 with runners on base and .280 with runners in scoring position.

Ole Miss has left 111 runners on base in 17 SEC games. That's an average of more than 6.5 per game. Friday was the third time the Rebels have left 10 or more runners on base in SEC play and the 11th time the Rebels scored at least half of their runs via homers.

"I don't know if you can necessarily work on it physically, but you can a little bit mental," second baseman Peyton Chatagnier said. "Grinding out the at-bats, being a little bit tougher up at the plate. But it is what it is. I think we played well. They just happened to play a little bit better."

It's impossible to blame the Rebels' loss solely on offense. Ole Miss' pitchers allowed 19 runs on 18 hits, including three home runs of their own. Mississippi State ripped through the Rebels' bullpen like it was unwrapping presents, tagging Riley Maddox, Jack Dougherty and Brandon Johnson for nine runs in three innings.

But the bullpen was never supposed to be Ole Miss' strength. Few of these guys entered the year with any experience and even fewer have proven themselves to be reliable, especially not in conference play.

On offense, the Rebels returned nine key contributors including a couple of preseason All-Americans and some of the SEC's most consistent on-base guys. But entering Friday, Ole Miss had more regular contributors batting below .200 in SEC play than it does batting above .300. Seven of the eight returning players who played regularly in SEC play last season are batting at least 40 points worse this year.

The Rebels and Bulldogs return to action for the rubber match of this three-game series on Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. and the game will be televised on ESPN2.

A Twitter List by _NickGray

A Twitter List by _NickGray

Contact Nick Suss at 601-408-2674 or nsuss@gannett.com. Follow @nicksuss on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: HRs not enough for Ole Miss baseball in brutal Mississippi State loss