No. 23 Ole Miss Baseball Dominates Game Two, 7-1, Takes Series Win Over No. 9 Vanderbilt

OXFORD, Miss. — No. 23 Ole Miss used a six-run fourth inning to beat No. 9 Vanderbilt 7-1 in game two of the SEC series at Swayze Field, snapping a two-week skid in dominant fashion.

FINAL: Ole Miss 7 – Vanderbilt 1

The Rebels take the series and advance to 31-12 (12-8 SEC), taking their first series win since the two wins over Kentucky in Lexington.

Game three is scheduled for tomorrow, April 27, at 1:30 p.m. CT. pic.twitter.com/gjHisfmYCQ

— The Rebel Walk (@TheRebelWalk) April 27, 2025

After the game, head coach Mike Bianco explained the Rebels getting out of the recent slump following the series loss to Tennessee two weeks ago.

“We didn’t lose the games because we weren’t focused. It wasn’t because we didn’t play hard or whatever, sometimes it just happens. If you want to look at it statically, we didn’t hit it well — at the end of the day, there is ebbs and flows to the season and I know people don’t like that, I am sorry for that, but it is apart of it, especially in our sport —it was a mature team handling this. We weren’t playing very well and all of a sudden we are playing very good again.”

~ Bianco on getting back on track after two-straight series losses

Game Recap

Looking to help the Rebels take the series, senior righty Riley Maddox took the mound for a game two start. Maddox gave up a single with two down in the opening frame, but a strikeout to end it left a runner stranded in scoring position for the Commodores.

Cody Bowker started for Vanderbilt; the righty cruised through the first three innings with only 10 batters faced. The Rebel offense was only able to find one base runner during that span with Luke Cheng being hit by a pitch in the third.

In the top of the second, Maddox gave up his lone-run during his outing after a leadoff single from RJ Austin. The Vanderbilt centerfielder advanced to second thanks to a ground out, and eventually stole third and home to plate the first run of game two. Maddox did give up another single in the frame but left the runner stranded to keep the Ole Miss deficit at 1-0 through one and a half played.

From the top of the third all the way to the top of the fifth, Maddox faced the minimum as he sat down nine consecutive batters in the Commodore lineup. The Rebel starter did hit a batter in the top of the sixth, but stranded the runner and came back out for the seventh for another three up, three down frame. Brayden Jones took over on the mound for Maddox in the top of the eighth.

Maddox finished with seven innings of work, allowed four hits, one earned run, did not issue a walk, and punched out five. Following the win, the Ole Miss starter explained what was working for him in his longest outing of the season.

“Just filling up the strike zone. I think when I don’t walk people, good things happen. We knew what the scouting report was and we just went with; I finally executed how I wanted to.”

~ Maddox on his game two performance

Got ’em all riled up

💎 @riley_maddox1 pic.twitter.com/GBgYrUxxYe

— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) April 27, 2025

Going back to the bottom of the fourth, the Ole Miss bats put up a six-spot with Bowker struggling to find an answer. Luke Hill and Will Furniss led off the frame with back-to-back doubles before the Vanderbilt starter could record an out; and Judd Utermark drew a walk to load the bases.

Isaac Humphrey was hit by a pitch with the bases juiced, tying the game at 1-1, but the Rebels were not done there. A blooper into center off the bat of Austin Fawley plated two more runs for Ole Miss and put runners on the corners for Ryan Moerman.

Timely base hit from @fawley_austin ⏰ pic.twitter.com/ZImJ0twAKK

— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) April 26, 2025

The Rebel outfielder then launched his ninth home run of the season, first since game three of the Missouri series, extending the Ole Miss lead to 6-1 with the three-run shot to left. Cheng followed with another single, forcing the Commodores to finally make a change on the mound and bring in lefty Matthew Shorey to get out of the frame.

Mashed by @MoermanRyan 🥔 pic.twitter.com/IyvFquCHee

— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) April 26, 2025

In the bottom of the fifth, Utermark added some insurance with his 13th home run of the season and second in as many games. The solo-shot over the left field wall gave the Rebels a 7-1 lead after five played. Although he gave up the solo blast, Shorey faced just nine batters through the fifth and the sixth before being replaced by Levi Huesman at the start of the seventh.

Back-to-back games with a home run for @JuddUtermark! pic.twitter.com/13vHSaaTZT

— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) April 26, 2025

After replacing Maddox to start the eighth, Jones was looking to cruise through the remainder of the game. The junior righty gave up a single in the top of the eighth but stranded the runner and returned for the ninth. Jones recorded the first two outs of the frame, but back-to-back errors on the Ole Miss infield and a walk issued loaded the bases for the Commodores.

Connor Spencer was then called out of the bullpen to record the final out, and the Rebel closer did just that. It took just four pitches for Spencer to pick up the strike out, securing the series win for Ole Miss over a top-10 opponent.

Moerman led the Rebels at the plate with a 2-for-3 day, a home run, and three runs batted in. Maddox was credited with the win, advancing to 5-3 on the season.

The series win over the Commodores marks the first series taken by the Rebels since taking two in Lexington a few weeks ago. After the game, Moerman commented on why Ole Miss has been able to get out of that slump.

“We know how good we are; and good teams struggle sometimes. We just stuck together as a team and kept coming to practice everyday to get better.”

~ Moerman on bouncing back after two-straight series losses

Up Next

The Rebels will go for the sweep in game three as they return to Swayze on Sunday, April 27, to conclude the series against the Commodores. First pitch is set for 1:30 p.m. CT and will be televised on the SEC Network+.