Ole Miss' bats silenced as Rebels come up short in sweep attempt of No. 3 Texas A&M
OXFORD — No. 3 Texas A&M scored three runs in the sixth inning Sunday against Ole Miss and held the Rebels scoreless as the Aggies took the finale 6-0 at Swayze Field Sunday.
Ole Miss clinched its first series against the Aggies since 2019 on Saturday, having won the first two games of the weekend. Sunday’s game was the last of the regular season in Oxford; the Rebels finish 19-12 at home.
The Rebels had four baserunners in the game and had runners in scoring position twice.
“We just didn’t do a good enough job grinding out at-bats and getting guys on, put some pressure on (their starter),” senior centerfielder Ethan Groff said. “But he was good today.”
Junior Mason Nichols started for Ole Miss (27-24, 11-16 SEC) and pitched five innings, gave up one earned run — a home run by Caden Sorrell in the third inning — and tied his career high with five strikeouts. Sophomore J.T. Quinn entered the game in relief of Nichols in the sixth and surrendered three earned runs. Rebels pitchers had 11 strikeouts and four walks in the game.
"I thought (Nichols) competed well. I thought he was terrific," Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco said." ... His off-speed command wasn't great today, but he was able to locate some fastballs and make some pitches. And he pitched great. I'm being critical."
Freshman Wes Mendes had his second solid outing of the weekend, pitching two innings with one earned run allowed.
Ole Miss had just three hits in seven innings against Texas A&M (42-10, 17-10) starter Shane Sdao. Aggies relievers pitched two hitless innings. Ole Miss batters drew one walk in the game.
“(Sdao) was good. A good fastball, breaking ball, changeup. I mean, just a good mix of pitches to our guys,” Bianco said. “He’s really tough on left handers … and that’s why we made some changes (to the lineup) to get as many rights in there as possible. But he was tough on the rights … and especially, I thought the fastball was better than we probably gave it credit for.”
Ole Miss plays at Southern Miss Tuesday at 6 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+. The Rebels conclude their regular season with a three-game series at LSU starting Thursday.
“We control our own destiny, and so we have a big week coming up,” Groff said. “And we have to grind some games and fight as hard as we can and make a run at this thing.”
