Ole Miss throws first no-hitter since 1966, scores 25 runs in rout of UAPB
Published 8:18 pm Wednesday, March 20, 2019
OXFORD — Ole Miss delivered a historic day at the plate and on the mound Wednesday.
Four Ole Miss pitchers combined on a no-hitter — the program’s first in 53 years — and racked up 25 runs in a 25-0 rout of Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
The no-hitter was the first for Ole Miss since Reid Johnson did it in 1966. It was also the first combined no-hitter in school history.
Zack Phillips (2-1) started and threw three innings. Kaleb Hill worked the next two, and Pierce Smith and Taylor Broadway pitched one inning each. The game ended after seven innings because of the NCAA’s mercy rule.
The four pitchers totaled 12 strikeouts and walked four batters.
The 25 runs are the most for Ole Miss (16-6) since they plated 25 against Southern Miss in April 2003, and 21 hits is the most since they also hit 21 against Kentucky in 2016. Ole Miss has scored double-digit runs in three straight games.
The Ole Miss record for runs in a game is 28, set against Illinois College in 1989. They did tie a record with 25 team RBIs, also set in that game against Illinois College.
Four home runs capped an eight-run third inning, with Kevin Graham, Knox Loposer, Tyler Keenan and Thomas Dillard all going deep. The Rebels hit six home runs on the day, with another from Keenan and the first of Josh Hall’s career added to the total.
Keenan raised his season home run total to six, and Dillard to eight. They hit back-to-back home runs in the big third inning.
Twelve Rebels had a hit today, the most this season, and 11 had an RBI. Thirteen of Ole Miss’ 21 hits went for extra bases, and UAPB pitchers also issued 12 walks and hit three batters.
Ole Miss will begin a road Southeastern Conference series at Missouri Friday at 6 p.m.