Ole Miss rallies to series win at Texas A&M

Published 6:36 pm Saturday, March 24, 2018

Three eighth-inning runs helped Ole Miss win its series opener at Texas A&M on Thursday. Another rally came up just short for the Rebels in a one-run loss Friday.

The teams produced more drama on Saturday with Ole Miss putting together another late charge, which proved to be the difference in the hotly-contested series.

The fifth-ranked Rebels finished off another comeback with a pair of late runs at Blue Bell Park, taking the series from No. 12 Texas A&M with a 7-6 win. All three games were decided by one run.

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Ole Miss (22-3, 4-2 SEC) trailed 4-1 after three innings but outlasted the Aggies in a game that featured 27 hits.

The Rebels earned three of those in the seventh, breaking a 5-all tie with Will Golsan’s RBI double before Chase Cockrell added to the Rebels’ lead with an RBI single two batters later.

Tyler Keenan had a two-run home run while Cole Zabowski added a solo homer as part of a big day for the bottom half of Ole Miss’ lineup.

The Rebels finished with 14 hits with Keenan (3-for-4), Zabowski (2-for-5), Golsan (3-for-5) and Cockrell (2-for-5) — the No. 5-8 hitters in the order — combining for 10 hits and all seven RBIs.

Texas A&M (19-6, 2-4) closed the gap in the ninth against Parker Caracci when Michael Helman scored on Hunter Coleman’s two-out double, but Caracci struck out Logan Foster to notch his third save. Caracci’s inning was part of a patchwork effort from the Rebels’ bullpen after right-hander James McArthur couldn’t get out of the second inning in his shortest outing of the season.

McArthur allowed two runs on three hits before back-to-back one-out walks in the second ended his day. Freshman Jordan Fowler, Greer Holston, Dallas Woolfolk and Will Ethridge kept Ole Miss close by holding A&M to three runs over the next 6 2/3 innings before Caracci closed out the Rebels’ sixth straight series win to start the season.

Ole Miss will return home Tuesday for a matchup against Southern Miss. First pitch from Oxford-University Stadium is set for 6:30 p.m.