'He's One of the Best Players in the Country': Gonzalez's Clutch Day Lifts Rebels Over Terps
OXFORD, Miss. -- There's a reason why Jacob Gonzalez is one of the most sought-after college products in the country for the upcoming MLB Draft.
The Ole Miss Rebels' junior shortstop is ranked the No. 3 college prospect in the nation by D1Baseball, and he showed flashes of his excellence on Saturday when his No. 4 Rebels came from behind to knock off the No. 13 Maryland Terrapins in Oxford.
Ole Miss trailed 6-4 in Saturday's seventh inning before a bases-loaded walk by team captain Garrett Wood closed the deficit to one run. Then, the lineup turned over, and Jacob Gonzalez simply did what he's done throughout his career: hit.
With a 1-0 count and the bases still loaded, Gonzalez sent a ball the opposite way to drive home two runs and return the lead to Ole Miss, an advantage it never relinquished.
"I was trying to hit a home run," Gonzalez said with a laugh following the win. "Bases loaded, but he threw it away, and I can't hit a home run that way. So, I just kept it low."
Even on a day where Ole Miss' young and injury-hampered pitching staff surrendered 11 walks and hit four batters, the reigning national champions were able to rally at the plate and stay on the attack, outhitting their opponent 14-5. After a game where the bats went largely-silent in the series opener, that was a welcome sign for the home crowd.
"We played a little bit more like ourselves," Gonzalez said. "We didn't pitch very well. We walked a bunch of people, but it shows how good we are: win when we walk people."
Centerfielder Ethan Groff, a Tulane transfer, has not been a Rebel for very long, but he led the team in RBIs on Saturday. He also has grown accustomed to a certain clutch gene that resides in his shortstop and believes that he is a key cog that makes this team dangerous in 2023.
"I was on deck, and I knew he was going to get a hit," Groff said. "That's the amount of confidence I have in him. He's one of the best players in the country, and he's really fun to watch."
Overall on the day, Gonzalez went 3-for-4 at the plate with a walk and HBP. So far this season, he is batting .375 with one home run and 12 runs driven in.
In what is likely to be his last season as a Rebel, he's off to a pretty solid start.
You can follow John Macon on Twitter at @JMakeGillespie.
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