The prospects of a successful Ole Miss baseball season are in doubt as the Rebels lost their second consecutive SEC series with a 4-2 Sunday loss to Tennessee.
The Rebels fell to 16-16 (5-7 SEC).
Ole Miss is still looking for offense.
Ole Miss is still looking for offense.
"Before the game, one of our messages was we have to do something to win the baseball game in one of the categories – pitching, defense or hitting," head coach Mike Bianco said. "If you're not going to hit, the other categories have to be really good. And they just weren't."
Ole Miss had just 4 hits.
Things don't get any easier for the Rebels as Ole Miss travels to Vanderbilt (27-6, 10-2) next weekend.
The Rebels face Southern Miss in Pearl on Tuesday.
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Friday night as I watched Christian Trent give up 3 early runs my mind flashed back to other Ole Miss stories I read during the week. Star receiver Laquon Treadwell has made a remarkable comeback from that horrible broken leg he suffered against Auburn and is nearly ready to practice at full speed. The coaches are holding him back for his own protection, but Treadwell thinks he's just about ready.
Left tackle Laremy Tunsil, considered a 1st round NFL draft pick since the day he set foot on campus at Ole Miss, suffered a similar injury in the Peach Bowl. It was a nightmare scenario for a player considered the best at his position, biding his time until he's eligible for an NFL contract. I almost wept for him when I saw it happen.
It's been a very tough year for some great athletes at Ole Miss.
Meanwhile, Trent himself was having a tough night. As the lefty went down 2-0, and Mike Bianco jogged out to the mound, I wondered if Trent might hand Bianco the ball and head to the dugout. "It's not my night," he might have justifiably thought after watching a home run he gave up bounce off the tennis courts in the outfield. "I think I'll just go sit."
Bianco and Trent chatted a few minutes before Bianco walked back to the dugout by himself. Trent wasn't going anywhere. He stayed up on that mound, looked down the pipe toward the catchers mitt, and he threw the next pitch. His confidence wasn't the least bit shaken, or maybe it was but he refused to let it show. Either way, he threw the next pitch.
Trent was determined in the face of adversity. Maybe even defiant. The Vols would get no more runs off of Trent if he had anything to say about it (and they didn't - Ole Miss won 10-7 and Trent got the W after giving up just 3 runs in 6 innings).
Determination in the face of adversity. There's been a lot of that going around at Ole Miss.
Treadwell hits the IPF early every morning ready to work, determined to resume his place as one of the country's best wide receivers in 2015, and he watches film of his injury as motivation to keep getting better.
Getting better isn't enough for Tunsil. As he runs on the underwater treadmill his focus isn't on his leg or just getting good enough to play again. Tunsil's goals are bigger than that. He's focused on proving he is good enough to be a No. 1 pick in the next NFL Draft. He wants it all, and he won't let his setback deter him.
The Christian life is full of adversity. Often that adversity is found in our sin, but it also comes in the form of suffering brought about by various trials and tribulations.
And so it strikes me this Easter Sunday that our walk with God should copy Trent's pitching, Treadwell's discipline and Tunsil's goals.
For example, when I sin, I'm not going to get down about it (always a struggle for me), put my bible back in the drawer and give up this trying to walk with God thing. Instead I will summon my inner-Trent, stand on this pitchers mound of life, stare hard into the next day, and throw the next pitch. Because I know Jesus died for me and that my sins are covered, I'm free to do that. I'm forgiven, and the debt on that 2-run bomb of a sin I just committed has already been paid. My faith says, "Don't look back. Just throw the next pitch." (Romans 8:1)
And like Treadwell, I should stay disciplined in my pursuit, being careful to show up early each morning and put in the work to be the man God has called me to be. That means reading his Word, praying and trying to help others. Treadwell's been putting in the work for a lot of months now. Physical growth is a long process. Spiritual growth may take much longer, but we've got to show up. (Colossians 1:10 and 1 Timothy 4: 7,8).
And like Tunsil, I'm keeping my eyes on the goal - to be with God in Heaven at the end of this life. Considering some of the things I've done that's way more audacious than Tunsil's goal of being a No. 1 NFL Draft Pick, but thanks to the saving work of Jesus, we are allowed to be audacious. That lofty goal is what will help preserve our faith. (Romans 8:37).