No. 9 Ole Miss Baseball Wins 12-Inning Finale to Clinch Series Over Kentucky in Lexington
LEXINGTON, Ky. – (Release) No. 9 Ole Miss Baseball took down Kentucky 5-4 in 12 innings on Saturday to clinch the rain-soaked series in Lexington. The Rebels dropped game one but won the final two to take the series.
Ole Miss has now won back-to-back series in Lexington (2022) and have won three consecutive SEC series for the first time since 2018 (Tennessee, Texas A&M, and Arkansas).
Luke Hill and Isaac Humphrey each hit home runs in the game and the bullpen allowed just five hits over the final 8.1 innings. Brayden Randle was the only Rebel with more than one hit in the game, coming in as a pinch hitter and picking up two singles.
Each team put up a run in the second inning. The Rebels were able to take advantage of a Kentucky error on a Judd Utermark fly ball to open the inning. Utermark would move to third on a double from Hayden Federico and scored on a sacrifice fly by Humphrey.
The Wildcats answered with a double and a single to tie the game at 1-1.
Kentucky took their first lead of the game in the third inning on a two-out single to center field. One run scored before the next runner was thrown out at the plate by Humphrey to end the threat.
After a scoreless fourth inning, Humphrey came up with one out in the fifth and hit his eighth home run of the season to tie the game at 2-2.
Hudson Calhoun worked a hitless 1.1 innings out the bullpen, facing just three batters and not allowing a baserunner.
Walker Hooks came in after and worked two clean innings before running into trouble in the bottom of the eighth. With runners on second and third and one out in the inning, Connor Spencer took over in what was his first appearance since March 21 against Missouri.
Spencer struck out the first batter he faced and then induced a ground ball to second base to escape the jam and keep things tied.
The Rebels had two runners on with two outs in the top of the ninth inning but could not break the tie.
Spencer came back out for the ninth and tenth innings, retiring all six batters he faced in order, setting up an opportunity for the Rebels in the 11th.
Mitchell Sanford opened the inning with a single through the right side and Ethan Surowiec followed with a single through the left side. After a pitching change for the Wildcats, Utermark drew a walk to load the bases.
With one out, Federico hit a soft groundball to the right side of the infield, allowing Surowiec to score from third and putting the Rebels up 3-2.
Kentucky loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the inning and tied the game with a single to right field. Sanford threw out the second runner trying to score at the plate to end the inning and send the game to the 12th.
Brayden Randle singled with one out bringing Luke Hill to the plate. He hit the first pitch he saw to the scoreboard in right field to make it 5-3 Ole Miss, his second home run of the weekend.
A leadoff home run from the Wildcats cut the lead to just one as Alex Canney entered the game. Kentucky put two runners on and moved them to second and third with a sacrifice bunt. Canney got the next batter to line out to shortstop and then struck out another to end the game and secure the series.
Next Up
The Rebels will travel to Memphis on Tuesday before hosting Alcorn State on Wednesday 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. Email Evie at: Evie@TheRebelWalk.com
