Ole Miss Rebels Swept By Arkansas Razorbacks: Three Takeaways

With the loss on Saturday, the Ole Miss Rebels have lost seven games in a row with six of those being SEC conference games.

Ole Miss Rebels RHP Riley Maddox / Ole Miss Athletics

The Ole Miss Rebels are in a free fall at the moment as two tough series sweeps by Kentucky and Arkansas have left them in a big hole within the Southeastern Conference.

The most recent debacle came at the hands of the Arkansas Razorbacks where the Rebels showed some life, but they were ultimately unable to come away with a win in any of the three road games. Here are three takeaways from the action last weekend in Fayetteville.

Maddox Looks Solid

After Ethan Groff was just early on a deep fly ball that had a shot to leave the park for a grand slam, the Rebels took a 2-0 lead on Hogs ace Hagen Smith in the series opener.

The Rebels seemed to be in command, but two leadoff walks in the bottom of the sixth by Riley Maddox brought Arkansas shortstop Wehiwa Aloy to the plate. With one swing of the bat, the Rebels were down two, a deficit that has felt out of reach for them in conference play.

Riley Maddox gave a quality outing as he was missing bats and forcings weak contact to mow down
Razorback hitters.

Even though he got a little beat up in that final inning of work, Maddox deserves to be on the mound on the weekends. He has a sinker/two-seemer that really runs and dives in on lefties and away from righties. Expect Maddox to get the ball against Mississippi State this weekend.

In A Hole

While the season isn't over, the Rebels have not been doing themselves any favors with the path to postseason play. Ole Miss sits tied for sixth in the SEC West with the LSU Tigers, foreshadowing a series in Baton Rouge that could decide if the Rebels go to Hoover.

It is obvious something is going to have to give if the Rebels want to find their way back into the NCAA Tournament picture. With State coming to Oxford this weekend, a series win is obviously the goal, but the Bulldogs are hot and definitely a sneaky team in the SEC West.

Got To Find A Big Hit

While Andrew Fischer did his thing with another multi-homer game on Friday night, the offense couldn't find that spark all weekend.

This lineup is very hot-and-cold. You can get nights where you can't get them out and nights where pitchers might have their best outing of the season. "Inconsistency" is a perfect way to describe the series and the season so far.

There is still time to pick it up, but that needs to happen sooner rather than later. This team can make the tournament, but its hitters need to carry this team to success.