Ole Miss entered the series against Kentucky looking to build some momentum in conference play after dropping their opening SEC series at Texas and that is what they did in a 5-0 victory over the Wildcats on Thursday night.
Hunter Elliot held Kentucky scoreless, Tristan Bissetta hit two balls out of the park, and the Rebels emerged victorious to pull back to .500 in league play.
Hunter Elliott threw his best game of the season thus far tonight, going 6.1 scoreless innings while giving up just four hits and striking out six Kentucky batters. Elliott has had difficulties at times this season, but tonight he threw a gem.
With Elliott holding the Wildcats at bay, it wouldn’t take long for the Rebels to get on the board. In the bottom of the first, Hayden Federico led off with a single and Bissetta came up to the plate behind him and crushed a ball into the Kentucky bullpen to put Ole Miss up 2-0. After starting the season at the bottom of the lineup, Federico has quickly became a reliable leadoff batter for the Rebels since taking over the spot in the second game of the Texas series.
In the bottom of the fifth Bissetta would pick up his second homer of the day. He has hit two home runs in consecutive games and is now three ahead of Judd Utermark for the team lead with thirteen on the year.
Austin Fawley doubled down the left field line with two out in the sixth and was driven home by a triple off the bat of Brayden Randle. The triple by Randle was the first for a Rebel batter this season and the first for the team since Isaac Humphrey hit one against Murray State in a 19-8 Ole Miss victory on June 1st last season.
Will Furniss has been chasing his second home run of the season for a month, and finally got it tonight in the bottom of the eighth. Leading off the inning, Furniss took the 3-1 pitch deep to left field to give Ole Miss their fifth run, and third home run, of the day.
Taylor Rabe came on in the top of the seventh with one out to relieve Hunter Elliott. Rabe would pick up where Elliott left off as he threw 2.2 no-hit innings and struck out five to shut out the Wildcats in game one of the series.
Next Up
The Rebels will face Kentucky again tomorrow night at 6:30 PM. As of now the Rebels have not announced the starting pitcher for tomorrow’s matchup, due to concerns of Cade Townsend’s availability. The game will be available for streaming on the SEC Network+.
