Hayden Federico
Hayden Federico | Dylan Cohron-HitThatLine.com Images

Five Swings, One Comeback, One Wild Game at Swayze Field

BY Taylor Hodges

 

asfdsfdadfasafaBaseball games don’t get much more exciting than what just happened at Swayze Field.

Down 8-0 to No. 5 Georgia through three and a half innings, No. 17 Ole Miss hit five home runs to score 10 unanswered runs in a comeback win.

It wasn’t just the long ball, though. Outfielders were making diving and leaping catches. Infielders were laying out for grounders and even diving to tag bases. The bullpen didn’t allow a run and gave up only three hits. That’s the Ole Miss recipe for success this season, and it helped erase the rough start.

Hunter Elliott normally settles in after early trouble, but not this time. He bounced back from a two-run single in the first to throw scoreless second and third innings. But the wheels fell off in the fourth. Georgia, the nation’s leader in home runs, didn’t need power early. Four of its five run-scoring plays were singles, and two came with two outs, showing how thin the margin for error can be in baseball.

A ball spins a different way and the inning ends. Instead, Elliott left after 3.2 innings and was charged with eight runs on nine hits with two strikeouts. The one bright spot: he didn’t issue a walk.

That fourth inning could’ve been the “pack it up and try again in the next game” moment. Georgia was two runs from the run-rule and had held Ole Miss to six strikeouts and two hits through three innings. Swayze Field was quiet.

Then Bulldogs starter Joey Volchko walked three straight batters to load the bases. Austin Fawley made him pay with a grand slam that ignited the crowd. The energy returned, and what followed shouldn’t have been surprising. After Fawley, Dom Decker hit a solo home run. Then Will Furniss and Hayden Federico hit back-to-back solo shots to cut the Georgia lead to 8-7.

Decker ended the bottom of the eighth with a three-run home run that gave Ole Miss a 10-8 lead.

Georgia made it interesting, putting runners at first and third in the ninth with two outs. Kolby Branch lifted a deep fly ball to left that would’ve given the Bulldogs a chance to tie the game. But Federico made the diving catch to end it.

Game two of the double-header will begin approx. 5:05 p.m.

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