Ole Miss Baseball Secures Dominant, All-Around Win in SEC Home Opener over No. 15 Kentucky

OXFORD, Miss. — SEC baseball returned to Swayze Field as Ole Miss took to the diamond for a Thursday night matchup. The Rebels left with a 5-0 victory over the No. 15 Kentucky Wildcats behind a dominant night from the pitching staff and a power-driven night at the plate.

The Recap

Ole Miss opened the night strong as Hunter Elliott took the mound, and despite a first-pitch leadoff single, Elliott retired the following three batters in order, picking up his first strikeout of the night along the way.

The Rebels then took to the plate, and after a leadoff single of their own, Tristan Bissetta broke the scoreless tie in fashion as he launched an opposite-field, two-run homer into left field, his twelfth home run of the season, giving Ole Miss an early 2-0 lead.

The Rebels, following the home run, went down via the strikeout twice and a flyout to the infield to conclude the first with no extra damage.

Elliott continued to deal over the first third of the game as he only allowed two hits and escaped the third with just eight pitches, sitting down his sixth consecutive batter to end the inning.

Ole Miss returned to the plate for a chance to add insurance runs in the third and quickly loaded the bases with a single and back-to-back walks with one down, but a strikeout left the Rebs with two outs and a chance for Kentucky to escape unscathed — which is exactly hat Wildcats’ starter Ben Cleaver did as he forced a week ground ball to third where Tyler Cerny stepped on the bag to end the inning.

Both offenses were stale over a few innings as Elliott concluded the sixth with 76 pitches thrown and four strikeouts with just five base-runners.

The Rebels broke their cold streak at the plate when Bissetta smacked his second homer of the day, again to the opposite field, when he led off the fifth inning, extending the Ole Miss advantage to three, 3-0.

Elliott went back to the mound for the sixth and continued to deal as he sat down the Wildcats in order, continuing his spectacular night.

Ole Miss gave Elliott a four-run cushion in the bottom of the sixth when Austin Fawley doubled and was quickly driven in by Brayden Randle’s two-out triple.

Elliott returned to the mound for the seventh, nearing 90 pitches on the day, but after a long leadoff walk and another lengthy at-bat ending in a deep fly out, head coach Mike Bianco exited the dugout for a change, bringing in Taylor Rabe.

Rabe opened his account with a strikeout, but a hit batter saw two runners on and two out. However, he escaped unscathed as he produced an unassisted groundout to first, holding the 4-0 lead into the bottom of the inning.

Ole Miss was threatening offensively as Bissetta stood on third after drawing a walk, advancing on a passed ball, and a fly ball that nearly left the ballpark for Judd Utermark, but he was back-picked for the second out as Collin Reuter then struck out to end the frame.

Rabe continued on the bump for Ole Miss and continued the theme of the night with some dominant pitching as he paired together back-to-back strikeouts looking, as well as one swinging in the eighth.

The Rebels headed into their final at-bats looking for insurance, and that’s what they got as Will Furniss crushed a leadoff opposite field home run, extending the Ole Miss lead to 5-0.

Rabe returned to the mound to close it out in the ninth with just 25 pitches. He faced a ten-pitch leadoff walk before bouncing back with a first-pitch groundout, a two-pitch lineout, and a four-pitch strikeout that secured the 5-0 win.

This victory gives Ole Miss an 18-5 (2-2 SEC) record on the season, while giving Kentucky its first conference loss of the season and dropping the Wildcats to an 18-3 (3-1 SEC) record on the year.

A Look Ahead

Ole Miss and Kentucky will face off two more times this weekend: at 6:30 P.M. CT on Friday and 1:30 P.M. CT on Saturday.