Fall Scrimmage Takeaways: Ole Miss Rebels vs. Little Rock Trojans

OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss baseball hosted the Little Rock Trojans for a scrimmage inside Swayze Field on Saturday October 4th.

This scrimmage consisted of two six-inning games, where both sides threw a handful of arms and substituted their rosters in and out in the lineup.

The Rebels came away with an overall win on the scoreboard 13-9, but split the actual games — winning game one, 12-2, and losing game two, 7-1.

This was the first time Mike Bianco’s new squad took the field together in a scrimmage against outside opponents, and here are three takeaways from Saturday’s 12 innings.

Loads of Offensive Talent

The most notable piece of Bianco’s squad was hands down the offensive upside of the Rebels.

Ole Miss’ 12 runs in the first 6 innings were no fluke; the bats were rolling and got hot, exploding for seven runs in one inning.

Judd Utermark, Will Furniss, and Collin Ruter headlined the returning staff with some big-time hits including Utermark sending a ball out of sight for the Rebels’ first of three home runs on the day.

Tate Sirmans followed Utermark’s home run with a solo shot of his own just two batters later for Ole Miss’ second home run of the inning.

First home run of the fall for Tate! pic.twitter.com/ehM2GfGQje

— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) October 4, 2025

The Rebels’ bombs were capped off by highly-touted transfer Daniel Pacella who sent a no-doubt shot into what would be the student section, making a strong first impression to the Rebel faithful.

Pitching Has Great Upside… but Needs Consistency

The Ole Miss pitching staff allowed nine runs across the two games; however, they showed serious potential.

The Rebels’ first two arms of the day — Cade Townsend and Owen Kelly — diced up the Trojans for the first four innings of the game.

Two clean innings for Owen Kelly in his Rebel debut! pic.twitter.com/JXSShHJw9F

— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) October 4, 2025

Ole Miss had a handful of other pitchers that looked very good, and some runs no doubt came from the fact that it was a scrimmage, allowing pitchers to be judged a little less on overall stats so they could get work in and pound the zone like a bullpen.

Overall thoughts

Overall, Ole Miss looked fantastic for a fall scrimmage. Sure, there were a few notable errors, but the team played sound defense for the most part.

The offense cooled off in the second game of the day, but they showed their full potential with explosive innings, as well as scraping unearned runs together.

There is a lot of talent on this 2025-2026 squad and as the fall progresses and winter training goes through, I believe this is a team that can seriously contend to host their second consecutive regional round.