Mike Bianco's Take: Ole Miss Baseball Rolls To Strong SEC Series Win Over LSU Tigers

Mike Bianco and the Ole Miss Rebels cruised to a run-rule victory over the LSU Tigers on Saturday night to capture an SEC series victory over the defending National Champions.

In what became a dominant display behind Cade Townsend on the bump, Ole Miss rolled over the Tigers at Swayze Field.

The Rebels (25-11, 7-7 SEC) and the Tigers (22-14, 6-8 SEC) play Sunday at 1:30 p.m. to wrap up the series.

With the win, Ole Miss secured its first series victory over LSU since 2022’s national championship season. In that series was also the Rebels’ last 10-run victory over the Tigers.

Mike Bianco's Thoughts: Game 2 Edition

Cade Townsend's Start:

"I think sometimes guys can internalize things in big moments — big game, big crowd — and you want guys who really want it. Maybe early on he wanted it a little too much and missed a few spots. But that’s a really good offense over there, so you have to give them credit.

After the second inning, though, he really settled in. Honestly, he was better in just about every measurement — velocity, location, all of it. He was going to go back out there in the seventh, but we had back-to-back long innings, and it just took too much time. It wasn’t about the lead — we would’ve left him in otherwise — it was just the length of those innings."

Bianco's Take: LSU RHP William Schmidt

"Sometimes you look up at the scoreboard and it feels like things are moving fast, but if you step back, he didn’t give up any hits early. What stood out to me was the pitch count in the top right corner — it kept climbing.

"He was working at a higher pitch count and moving quicker than Townsend early. They were kind of going in opposite directions. He was getting into more three-ball counts, too.

"Even though we didn’t have much to show for it early, I was proud of our guys. He’s terrific — going to be a big-time winner. We didn’t see him last year, but you heard how good he could be, and now you’re seeing it. He’s having an outstanding year.

"I thought we did a good job running his pitch count up and eventually putting an inning together. That’s what you have to do against an ace. And today, even though it was game two, it felt like two aces out there — probably two future big leaguers."

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