Ole Miss shut out in first game of Shriners College Classic
Published 4:11 pm Friday, March 3, 2017
Ole Miss’ challenging weekend of baseball got off to a blank start Friday.
The eighth-ranked Rebels’ bats were silenced by Baylor’s Nick Lewis and Kyle Hill in a 4-0 loss to open the Shriners Hospitals for Children College Classic at Minute Maid Park in Houston. It’s the first time this season Ole Miss has been shut out.
Things won’t get any easier for Ole Miss (7-2) on Saturday with a noon matchup against No. 24 Texas Tech. The Rebels will conclude tournament play Sunday against top-ranked TCU at 1:30 p.m.
Ole Miss drew five walks, three of them from Tate Blackman, but singles from Colby Bortles and Cole Zabowksi were the only hits the Rebels mustered against Lewis (3-0), who went seven innings to pick up the win for a Baylor team (10-0) off to its best start since 1984. Lewis worked around four walks to strike out nine before being relieved by Hill, who faced just one batter over the minimum in two scoreless innings to send the Rebels to their first losing streak.
Ole Miss right-hander Andy Pagnozzi allowed just one hit and one run in a career-high four innings of relief, but the Bears did most of their damage against starter David Parkinson (2-1), who suffered his first loss of the season. Baylor got to Parkinson for a pair of runs in the second and another in the fourth to run the junior lefty, who allowed seven hits, struck out five and walked three.
Richard Cunningham had two hits, including a double, for Baylor.