Rippee Writes: Wednesday Scoop
Ole Miss in national title match, Koepka-Dechambeau feud and some baseball thoughts
Happy Wednesday to you all. We'll have a new podcast out sometime this week depending on the Ole Miss results in Hoover and Collin's travel schedule.
We've got a lot to dive into today, let's go.
Nikhazy stable as ever as Rebels top Auburn in SEC Tournament
Ole Miss advanced past the single elimination portion of the SEC Tournament with a 7-4 win over Auburn. Doug Nikhazy was on short rest and certainly was not in peak form, but as has almost become routine, he dug in and delivered six innings of two-run ball. Appreciate Nikhazy while he's till here. He makes the uncommon look common and his machine-like consistency has stabilized this program from the time he stepped onto campus. He's responsible for saving the fate of two teams and ensuring June Baseball in Oxford two years in a row.
Some other thoughts from the game:
1. I actually thought Brandon Johnson was okay in relief. He got behind in some counts, but the home plate umpire squeezed him at least twice before he gave up the double that made it 5-3. The bliss single on an 0-2 count wasn't a great pitch but wasn't a terrible one. I am no lip reader, and usually Mike Bianco was close enough to my face to leave no doubt as to what he was saying, but I think that is some version of what he told Johnson when he pulled him. I don't take a ton from this outing and still think he can get crucial outs for this team next month.
2. Tim Elko got on base, touched each one and scored a run. I know that sounds like I am being facetious, but that's really significant. He couldn't go second to home on a single, but hell, neither can a couple other guys that have two functioning ACLs. Last night is exactly how you use Elko to a tee. Get three at bats from him, and if he gets on base late, and the situation is right, pinch run for him and tell him great game, Dorn. This was perfectly executed and a tremendous sign heading into the regional next week.
3. Ole Miss treated this single elimination game with every ounce of importance you could possibly muster. Taylor Broadway was tremendous for the final seven outs and the Rebels gave themselves a chance to advance further into this tournament and snatch away a national seed from one of the currently entrenched top eight.
4. Win tonight against Vanderbilt and you've got two shots at that elusive third win that would really make this seeding conversation interesting. You may not have liked Doug Nikhazy pitching last night, but they needed him with the way Auburn swung it. Make no mistake about this either: Auburn was locked in. That team started SEC play 1-14 and finished 9-6. There’s no quit in them and they’re a good baseball team when healthy. Now, Ole Miss has a shot to play its way into the top eight. It may be futile, but if they lose two in a row, does it really matter when he pitched? Save your ire for next week if he pitches on Friday versus Jackson State.
5. Derek Diamond is pitching for Ole Miss tonight against right-hander Christian Little for the Commodores. Little has one SEC appearance this season in which he walked one batter against Tennessee. He's their midweek starter and has a 5.57 ERA and has only completed five innings one time. He’s also 17 years old. Advantage Ole Miss. The Rebels would love to get five or six out of Diamond in this cavernous ballpark in which Diamond can get away with death by fly ball. This is a confidence-building opportunity for Diamond. On the flip side of that, Bianco shouldn't leave him in long enough to shatter what confidence he does have. Let him go one time through the order and go to Doughtery as soon as things get hairy. No reason to let the kid get shelled in a game that doesn't determine anything directly. Ole Miss will score runs. Diamond just needs to be serviceable.
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Ole Miss Women's Golf to play for a national title
Yesterday was a historic day for the Ole Miss Women's golf team. The Rebels erased a 2-1 deficit in the quarterfinals against Texas in dramatic fashion by winning the final two matches -- both of which went to extra holes -- to advance to the semifinals. From there, the Rebels went back out and thoroughly beat Arizona to advance to the national title match against Oklahoma State.
FINAL RESULTS - VS. TEXAS (W, 3-2)
1. Swann (Ole Miss) def. Guo (Texas) – 4&3
2. Lignell (Ole Miss) def. Papp (Texas) – 22 holes
3. Kouskova (Texas) def. Johnson (Ole Miss) – 2&1
4. Laisne (Texas) def. Tamburlini (Ole Miss) – 2&1
5. Sonderby (Ole Miss) def. Park (Texas) – 21 holes
FINAL RESULTS - VS. ARIZONA (W, 3-2)
1. Swann (Ole Miss) def. V. Hou (Arizona) – 3&2
2. Lignell (Ole Miss) def. Starkute (Arizona) – 1-up
3. Warner (Arizona) def. Tamburlini (Ole Miss) – 2&1
4. Johnson (Ole Miss) def. Chang (Arizona) – 2&1
5. Y. Hou (Arizona) def. Sonderby (Ole Miss) – 2&1
If you can get in front of a TV today to watch, I would recommend doing so. It's on Golf Channel. This is a group of scrappy, relentless players that are a pain in the ass to play in match play. This is hard to tangibly quantify, but this team just sort of has a grit about them that translates well to this format, and are uberly talented to back it up. This is a remarkable story still in the works. It's hard to articulate the job head coach Kory Thompson-Henkes has done since taking over this program. She inherited a pretty bare situation and has the program on the sports biggest state just six years later.
Team match play is an incredible television product and this is a fun group to watch. Here's to hoping they finish it off in style today. Five matches that begin teeing off at 3:35 CT. Coverage begins at 4 p.m.
The 16 oz prime strip for $10 deal is still rolling but you can now get a second one for $15 bucks if you want more than one. Also, you get $2 off any fish in the freezer. Thanks for subscribing and enjoy. Go by LBs. They’re the best.
Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau feud:
This made the rounds earlier this week. I had too much to cover in yesterday's newsletter to get to this,but I'd like to offer some thoughts on the video of Koepka doing a TV interview with Golf Channel and expressing his utter disdain for DeChambeau as he walked by.
(excuse the crappy video quality, Golf Channel has since apparently regretted their decision to leak this and tried to wipe it from all social media)
I LOVE this. I cannot articulate that enough. I LOVE it. This is not some fake feud for show. This has been brewing for some time, and if you're questioning its legitimacy, I'd ask you to count how many people in your life make you so angry merely by looking at them that you lose your entire train of thought? Ever been that angry? It's real and it's glorious. I was asked by a friend which side I am on here, and I am unapologetically on both. DeChambeau has grown on me over the last year once it became abundantly clear that his behavior isn't some schtick. He is legitimately this big of a dork. Go peruse his Instragram if you don’t believe me. Total Frat Move and The Big Bang Theory couldn’t try to create a parody character of it if they tried.
I like Koepka, but his "I don't care about anyone, I am too cool for all of this" attitude is a little much for me at times. But I still like him, a lot. He's a relentless player with an incredible talent for flipping the switch on the biggest stages. Many guys talk about doing it and he's really the only one on the planet right now able to actually do it at will.
The way he treats Bryson is borderline bullying. This isn't the first instance of this. Google the fire ants incident or simply “Brooks takes shot at Bryson” and see what comes up. But at the same time, Bryson's dorkiness is so obnoxious and overwhelming that it almost feels like he deserves to be stuffed in a locker every now and again. Koepka is merely the people's hero that's decided to take it upon himself to be the man for this job, and he does a damn fine job at it. I still don't know if it was the unnecessarily loud metal spikes (that no one wears anymore but I am sure Jimmy Dorktron has some stupid pseudo physics-based reason for wearing) that set Koepka off here, or some nerd talk DeChambeau uttered as he passed by, but Koepka's disdain for this man is clearly very real. More of this, please. It's good for the entertainment value of the sport.
Ortega brothers’ love for Ole Miss Baseball and an unlikely bond:
One last plug of this story if you missed it: You might remember the Ortega brothers and their improbable fandom with Ole Miss baseball beginning on YouTube and grown when they traveled across the country to watch a game at Swayze Field in 2019. It began a bond with Jim Flanagan, a 69-year-old man from Clinton, who stumbled across the boys unknowingly sitting in his season ticket seats that night. They've kept up through the years and forged quite the bond over Ole Miss baseball. The pandemic took its toll on all of them, but they were reunited for the Vanderbilt series a couple of weeks ago.
They're great people with a cool story. Thanks for your feedback on it. I look forward to writing more stuff like this in the future.
On the horizon:
One more podcast before our Selection Monday show, just not sure when yet
Two more newsletters with a Magnolia State golf update tomorrow.
Some baseball projections and scenarios as the Rebels advance further
Maybe some NBA? Too much other stuff to squeeze it in so far.
Thanks for being a loyal subscriber. Send to your friends and tell them to join the fun. Back with more tomorrow. Have a wonderful Wednesday.