After taking series, No. 25 Ole Miss baseball drops game three at Tennessee Sunday

KNOXVILLE — After winning the series Saturday, No. 25 Ole Miss baseball dropped game three, 13-5, to the Tennessee Volunteers 13-5 on Sunday afternoon in an offensive showcase.

Each side rode the long ball today; Tennessee (26-14, 8-10 in SEC) had two multi-home run hitters with six home runs on the day, headlined by Blake Grimmer’s three-home run day. Ole Miss (29-12, 10-8 in SEC) only had one home run, but it was a big one, bringing them within two at the time.

Ole Miss sent Taylor Rabe to the mound as the starter, and he experienced a tough outing, going just 3 innings and giving up 6 hits, 5 earned runs, while recording 4 strikeouts.

On the other side, Tennessee starter Evan Blanco turned in his third consecutive quality start, throwing 6 innings while allowing 7 hits, three earned runs, and picking up 8 strikeouts.

The Rebels used five pitchers on the day. After Rabe, JP Robertson took the mound for Ole Miss in the fourth, giving up a two-run home run over two innings. Wil Libbert gave up a solo home run and a double in two innings, while Landon Koenig gave up four. The Vols’ final home run was off Landon Waters in the eighth inning.

“There’s a fine line between winning and being on the wrong side in this league,” Mike Bianco said after the game. “Credit to Tennessee today, and we just didn’t pitch well enough, didn’t play well enough.”

Each side got on the board in the third. Ole Miss manufactured its first run with an RBI single from Tristan Bissetta, but the Volunteers responded with a bloop from Stone Wallace and a two-run blast from Levi Clark to give Tennessee a 2-1 lead. Rocky Top was not done there as they put two runners in scoring position for Blake Grimmer, who cleared the right field fence for a three-run home run. The Vols led Ole Miss 5-1 after three.

Three innings would be it for Rabe.

“You could tell it just wasn’t (Rabe’s) day,” Bianco explained. “Not enough stuff, and he got one-dimensional. Had to lean on fastball and sinker and both were firm, but there wasn’t a breaking ball.

“Regardless of how good you are, when it’s one pitch you’re not going to be very good. We weren’t able to attack with breaking pitches. On a day like this, in this park with the wind blowing out, that’s not a good recipe,” Bianco added.

Just one inning later, Clark sent his second two-run shot of the day, this one to center, making it 7-1, Tennessee.

Ole Miss put together a pair of runs when Will Furniss dumped a two-RBI single between the left fielder, center fielder, and shortstop to cut the deficit to just four runs at 7-3.

Ole Miss continued to surge when Tristan Bissetta crushed a ball into left-center field for a two-run homer, bringing the score to 7-5 in favor of the Volunteers in the top of the seventh.

His third HR of the weekend‼️ @TristanBissetta is on another level and CRUSHES it💣 pic.twitter.com/7SzM0FrXf7

— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) April 19, 2026

Tennessee gained a big insurance run in the bottom half, when Grimmer crushed his second homer of the day off the foul pole to make it 8-5, Vols.

Henry Ford delivered the dagger for Tennessee when he crushed a three-run home run for the Vols’ fifth long ball of the day, this one coming in the eighth inning, and extending the Tennessee lead to 11-5. But they were not done there as Grimmer crushed his third homer of the day for a two-run jack, making it 13-5, Vols, heading into the final three outs.

Bo Rhudy came in for Tennessee in the ninth inning with an 8-run advantage. Rhudy allowed a leadoff single, but made quick work of the next three batters, allowing Tennessee to salvage a game and avoid the sweep.

A Look Ahead

Ole Miss will return to the diamond on Tuesday for a shot at revenge against the Murray State Racers, who came into Oxford and took the regional last year, before eventually going all the way to the College World Series.