Rebels notch 4-3 win over Belmont in Game Two to Take Series from Bruins

OXFORD, Miss. — Kevin Graham picked an exciting time to pull through in the clutch.

The junior from O’Fallon, Mo., drilled a shot over the 365 sign in left center field in the eighth inning to give Ole Miss a late lead as the Rebels took a 4-3 win over Belmont at Swayze Field.

TIED NO MORE!@kevgraham11 breaks through with a solo shot, and the Rebs lead!

Try putting your infielders behind the fence in right next time.

💻 https://t.co/pyTqMPtMiT pic.twitter.com/7FHNgSHuSE

— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) March 6, 2021

It was the Rebels’ first lead of the game. 

Belmont jumped ahead early. Tommy Crider cranked a two-out solo shot to put the Bruins ahead 1-0. They added two more runs in the third with a walk, followed by back-to-back singles and a sacrifice fly. 

Ole Miss sliced into the lead in the bottom half of the inning. Justin Bench sent a shot to left centerfield that John Behrends could not track down that wound up being a double. Jacob Gonzalez followed with a run-scoring single.

A Hayden Dunhurst single and a Tim Elko walk loaded the bases for the Rebels. Kevin Graham then hit a ground ball that should have been a double play, but the Bruins could not turn it as two runs scored to tie the score. 

Ole Miss pitching struck out 12 Bruins and racked up a couple of pickoffs in critical situations.

Boom.

💻 https://t.co/pyTqMPtMiT pic.twitter.com/ASdZAHtOzu

— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) March 6, 2021

Taylor Broadway picked up the win in relief after Gunnar Hoglund went 5 1/3 innings, striking out seven. Jackson Kimbrell provided the middle relief. 

Bench led the offense with a 3-for-4 game. Elko followed with a 2-for-3 afternoon.

UP NEXT

After the Rebels took the first two games of the series, the Bruins and Ole Miss complete the set Sunday at 1:30 p.m. The game can be seen on the SEC Alternate channel.

(Feature image credit: Ole Miss Baseball)

Steve Barnes

Steve Barnes joins The Rebel Walk staff as a senior writer and brings a trifecta of journalistic experience. As a writer, he has covered college sports for Rivals.com, Football.com and SaturdayDownSouth.com as well as served as a beat writer for various traditional newspapers.

He has been a broadcaster for arena football and several national tournament events for the National Junior College Athletic Association as well as hosting various shows on radio.

A former sports information director at Albany (Ga.) State University and an assistant at Troy and West Florida, he has helped host many NCAA conference, regional and national events, including serving five years on the media committee of the NCAA Division II World Series.

Barnes, a native of Pensacola, Fla., attended Ole Miss in 1983-84, where his first journalism teacher was David Kellum. The duo has come a long way since that time.

He will bring a proven journalistic track record, along with a knack for finding the out-of-the-ordinary story angles to The Rebel Walk.

Barnes continues to reside in Pensacola a mere ten minutes from the beach because he does have taste and a brain.