After salvaging a win on the road in Knoxville last weekend, the Rebels were looking to right the ship on Easter Weekend, but Kentucky had other plans.
The Wildcats dominated the Rebels for most of the series, coming away with the sweep in Oxford.
After a three-error performance cost them the game on Friday, the Rebels had five on Saturday. Rough and simple to say you aren’t going to win games making the amount of errors they are making right now.
The Rebels also really struggled controlling the running game. Kentucky seemed to steal bases at will and was constantly making pitchers uncomfortable with how much pre-pitch movement they had on the basepaths.
Ole Miss also doesn’t seem to have a legit option behind the dish, which is shocking when you think about the great catchers the Rebels have produced in the past. Campbell Smithwick is young, and Eli Berch is getting his first taste of D1 action after a season at Chipola College (Fla).
As you continue up the ladder of competition in baseball, the game speeds up, and your mental clock has to be that much faster.
Whether seeing the ball in the dirt and reacting to make a block or having a quick transfer on a throw-down, the mental clock for the two backstops seems a half-second slow.
They need to keep getting reps and work on anticipating the play and not reacting to the play.
Besides Riley Maddox, who was good enough on Friday to win, the weekend starting rotation wasn’t sharp.
Liam Doyle gave up six earned runs, and Gunnar Dennis got the hook early after after giving up five earned runs in the first.
It’s unclear what the plan is from here. Maybe you give Josh Malitz or Mason Nichols a chance, or maybe Wes Mendes can give you three in a Sunday role and ride the bullpen. The problem is that would be scratching your high-leverage bullpen arms early. Mitch Murrell also could be an option.
