This past Saturday night in the NCAA Oxford Regional, Ole Miss sophomore pitcher Drew Pomeranz sat calmly in the dugout with his arms crosses. His Rebels were cruising in the top of the eighth inning leading Western Kentucky, 9-3. His weekend was finished, as the Rebs needed one win to advance to the next round and host the Virginia Cavaliers in the NCAA Super Regional. WKY continued to fight its way through the losers bracket and faced elimination. Mississippi is no stranger to regional baseball, as the Rebels were hosting its fourth NCAA postseason tournament in five years. Rebel head coach Mike Bianco made the decision to hand the reigns over to Jake Morgan, just as he had all season long. This outing would not mirror those previously thrown by Morgan. Six runs, no outs and a handful of hits later, Morgan exited and so did the hopes of victory on this night. The Hilltoppers would add a solo homerun and slam the door on Ole Miss sliding through the Oxford Regional unscathed. A final matchup would come on the following night and Western Kentucky could not have earned it more. I can only imagine what was going through Pomeranz’s mind. “I better get warmed up,” is highly likely. He did more than warm up, he decided to put on a clinic like never seen before.
In front of a capacity crowd at Swayze Field, Pomeranz pitched a complete game and added a career high 16 strikeouts to lead the Rebels over Western Kentucky in the championship game of the Oxford Regional on Monday night. The Collierville, TN native was in unchartered territory. After only two days rest, Pomeranz looked as polished and controlled as any pitcher to ever take the mound in Oxford-University Stadium. The sounds of aluminum were silenced and over the sounds of the leather mitt of Rebel catcher Kyle Hinson.
It should be no surprise. Both squads combined for 31 hits the night before. As for WKY, the champions of the Ohio Valley Conference, it’s no secret the motive was to pound the baseball. The lineup housed seven of nine hitters batting over .300, led by Matt Rice at .399. Everyone in the stadium, especially head coach Mike Bianco, knew what the Hilltoppers were capable of. The lineup is scattered with hitters sporting gaudy numbers. They would all succumb to Pomeranz on Monday night.
The rubber match would remain scoreless until the sixth inning when Kyle Henson doubled in Matt Smith to take a 1-0 lead. Pomeranz would hold serve the remainder of the way after WKY tied the game, as Oxford native and WKU left fielder Chad Cregar scored from third. Ole Miss added three more runs on a Matt Smith triple and a David Phillips double. Baseball will continue at Swayze for another week and the dreams of a trip to Omaha, NE and the College World Series for the fifth time and the first time since 1972 is in the grasp.
The Virginia Cavaliers, fresh off a three straight victories in the Irvine, CA Regional, were crowned ACC Tournament champions a few weeks ago will head to Oxford. The largest crowd UVA has played in front of is 6,300. It’s safe to say that number could likely double and Swayze will be one tough place to play.
For the last 10 years, Mike Bianco has written a wish list with Omaha, NE as the pinnacle. Come this Sunday, he very well may circle that wish with a series win over the Cavaliers. With Drew Pomeranz, Ole Miss proved anything is possible.
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