OXFORD, Miss. (2/23/22) – On a wet and near-freezing Wednesday at Swayze Field, the Arkansas State baseball team dropped a 15-5 decision to third-ranked Ole Miss in a shortened 5-inning affair.
The game ended with one out in the bottom of the fifth inning after game officials determined the field conditions were unplayable after significant rain during the latter innings.
A-State (0-4) struck first with a pair of runs in the opening frame, but that was before the Rebels (4-0) scored 12 unanswered to take the lead for good. Ben Klutts led the Red Wolves with a pair of hits, including a solo home run to lead off a three-run fifth inning – his first of the season. All nine batters in A-State's lineup reached base at least once in the shortened affair.
Lefty Walker Williams (0-1) allowed five runs in two innings of work in his first career start before giving way to four A-State hurlers out of the bullpen. For Ole Miss, Jack Washburn (1-0) struck out four and walked four in three innings of work, while David DeLucia worked 1 2/3 innings with four punchouts.
In the top of the first, Cason Tollett pushed the first run across when he was hit-by-pitch with the bases full, scoring Wil French. Jaylon Deshazier then drove in Jared Toler with a sac fly to left, giving the Scarlet and Black an early 2-0 lead.
The Rebels responded with three runs in the bottom half of the inning on a 2-run single by Kevin Graham and a run-scoring single by T.J. McCants. Graham drove in seven runs and finished a triple shy of the cycle.
Two more runs crossed for Ole Miss in the second on a sac fly by Justin Bench and a groundout by Jacob Gonzalez, making it 5-2 after two innings.
Ole Miss then tacked on seven runs in the fourth, starting with an RBI single by Calvin Harris, then a double by Bench that scored Harris and Peyton Chatagnier. Graham then hit a towering three-run homer to right before pinch-hitter Alex Leatherwood followed behind him with another long ball, making it 12-2 entering the fifth.
Klutts led off the fifth with his first round-tripper of the year before Deshazier touched home on a sac fly by Daedrick Cail. Jacob Hager then roped the next pitch right up the middle, plating Cooper Tremmel and making it 12-5.
In the bottom of the fifth, Bench singled home Harris, then a one-out, two-run double by Graham scored Bench and Chatagnier. A-State then motioned for a pitching change to bring in Austin Brock, but the game was called due to unplayable field conditions just before Brock's warmup tosses.
NEXT UP
The Red Wolves now return home for a three-game weekend series, hosting in-state foe Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Tomlinson Stadium.
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