Ole Miss baseball falls to Tennessee in rubber game of series

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – (Release) No. 17 Ole Miss (17-8, 3-3 SEC) dropped Sunday’s series finale to No. 7 Tennessee (21-4, 3-3 SEC) by a score of 15-4.

The Volunteers hit five home runs to win the rubber match and take the series in Knoxville.

Ethan Lege, Luke Hill, and Reagan Burford each had two hits while Jackson Ross hit his sixth home run of the season in the loss.

Tennessee hit their first home run of the day in the first inning, a two-RBI shot by Kavares Tears to make it 2-0.

Ole Miss scored their first run in the second inning as Hill, Burford, and Campbell Smithwick all hit singles to the outfield.

Grayson Saunier pitched a near perfect second inning, but a two-RBI home run by Christian Moore and a three-RBI blast by Dylan Dreiling in the third would end his day. The Volunteers had built up a 7-1 lead by the end of the third inning.

With two outs and Burford on base in the fourth inning, Ross hit a two-RBI home run over the right field fence to cut the Tennessee lead to four.

However, the Volunteers answered right back in the bottom of the inning on a solo home run by Dean Curley and an RBI-double by Bill Amick. They would lead 9-3 after four innings of play.

Tennessee piled on in the fifth inning with six more runs, most of the damage coming on a grand slam by Amick.

Judd Utermark hit a pinch-hit home run in the seventh inning but it wouldn’t be enough to keep the Rebels alive as Tennessee closed it out.

The Rebels will be back home Tuesday night as they host Austin Peay at Swayze Field.

Evelyn Van Pelt

Evelyn has covered sports for over two decades, beginning her journalism career as a sports writer for a newspaper in Austin, Texas. She attended Texas A&M and majored in English. Evelyn’s love for Ole Miss began when her daughter Katie attended the university on a volleyball scholarship. Evelyn created the Rebel Walk in 2013 and has served as publisher and managing editor since its inception.