At Swayze Field on Thursday night, Ole Miss triumphed over the No. 15 Kentucky Wildcats, securing a 5-0 victory that ended Kentucky’s impressive 13-game winning streak.
The Rebels (18-5, 2-2 SEC) showcased their power at the plate, launching three home runs against the Wildcats’ pitching staff, thanks to standout performances from Tristan Bissetta and Will Furniss.
First Inning Surge
Ole Miss wasted no time establishing dominance. The Rebels took an early lead with two runs in the bottom of the first inning, highlighted by Bissetta’s first home run—a powerful shot to left field that landed in the Kentucky bullpen.
Bissetta shared his approach during the game: “The approach was to be on (Cleaver’s) fastball,” Bissetta said. “I could tell he was trying to work me away in my first at bat. Thought I needed to stay on it and get a fastball outside and not miss it.”
Pitching Prowess
On the mound, Ole Miss starter Hunter Elliott delivered a stellar performance. Despite allowing base hits in both of the opening innings, he quickly found his rhythm and retired the next three batters he faced
“Hunter was Hunter tonight,” praised head coach Mike Bianco. “He was terrific.”
Kentucky’s starter, Ben Cleaver, initially struggled after Bissetta’s homer but settled down afterward, managing to keep Ole Miss scoreless for two innings. He successfully navigated a bases-loaded situation in the third with a strikeout and a groundout.
Cleaver’s night concluded after 3.2 innings of work; he surrendered two runs on four hits while striking out four batters.
Kentucky then turned to Ryan Mullan from the bullpen to finish out the fourth inning. Mullan pitched for 1.1 innings, giving up one run on one hit before Oliver Boone stepped in during the seventh inning, allowing another run over two innings pitched with two hits and a walk.
In the eighth inning, Leighton Harris took over for Kentucky but allowed another run while striking out two batters.
Bissetta Shines Again
Bissetta continued his hot streak in the fifth inning with his second home run—a solo shot that extended Ole Miss’s lead to 3-0. He finished strong with a line of 2-for-3 at bat, scoring twice and driving in three runs overall this season—marking his impressive tally of 13 home runs and 37 RBIs
Elliott kept Kentucky’s offense quiet through six innings with just one walk allowed. His final line read: 6.1 innings pitched without conceding any runs while allowing only four hits and recording six strikeouts—earning him well-deserved recognition as tonight’s winning pitcher.
“I thought it was really good today,” Elliott remarked afterward. “I have been in a little bit of a funk recently, and I think what I did so well today is I just attacked the zone.”
Bianco noted their effective strategy: “We threw the ball in the strike zone. Yes, a few got away, and there are a couple of errors on the board, but that is just trying to prevent what they steal.”
Late-Inning Action
In a notable sixth-inning moment, Austin Fawley hit a clutch double, followed by Brayden Randle’s triple that brought Fawley home.
“I have been seeing a lot of good hits out of Fawley and Randle,” Bissetta observed. “Those guys being on the barrel is huge; we are going to need everybody down the stretch.”
Bianco called upon Taylor Rabe to close out the game in the seventh inning. Rabe delivered flawlessly over 2.2 innings without allowing any runs or hits while striking out five batters—impressive work indeed!
“Rabe had five punch-outs with only eight outs to get,” Bianco highlighted proudly.
Furniss capped off Ole Miss’s scoring spree with his second home run of the season in the eighth inning—a solo blast that sealed their victory at 5-0.
As both teams gear up for game two of this series on Friday night at 6:30 p.m., fans can catch all of the action streaming live on SEC Network+.
