Ole Miss Rebels pitcher Cade Townsend delivering a pitch against Nevada
Ole Miss Rebels pitcher Cade Townsend delivering a pitch against Nevada. | Dylan Cohron-HottyToddy.com Images

Ole Miss Makes Big Swings Count in Win Over Ohio State

BY Taylor Hodges

Ole Miss didn’t pile up hits Saturday against Ohio State, but the ones they did get mattered.

Four of the Rebels’ six hits left the yard, including two from Murray State transfer Dom Decker. Both of his home runs came with two outs. His first landed in the right‑field stands in the third inning to break a scoreless tie, the second went the other way to make it 3-0.

Collin Reuter added his second home run of the season between Decker’s two swings, and those three long balls ended up being enough thanks to another dominant day on the mound.

Cade Townsend continued his strong start with five scoreless innings, allowing just four baserunners and striking out nine to bring his season total to 25. He worked out of early traffic, stranding two in scoring position in the first and settling in to retire nine straight batters through the middle innings.

Taylor Rabe handled the final four frames, giving up only three hits and striking out seven to close out the win.

“It makes it really easy when you have (Townsend and Rabe) pitching like that,” Decker said. “You don’t get a lot of balls in play. When you only have to field four ground balls a game, you better field those four ground balls. You don’t expect the other team to score.”

Brett Moseley capped the scoring with a grand slam in the top of the eighth on the first pitch of his only at‑bat of the day.

It all felt familiar after Friday’s loss to Baylor. Another sharp start, another pile of strikeouts, and enough big swings to stay in control late. The only difference was that Ohio State didn’t get the late two‑out walk that let Baylor mount a rally less than 24 hours earlier.

“Not just the first loss but a tough one (against Baylor),” Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco said. “Great response today after a game that we felt like got away with us. The answer today was a good sign.”

Winning/Losing Pitchers

  • WP: Cade Townsend (2-0) 5 IP, 3 H, 1 BB, 9 K
  • LP: Chris Domke (1-2) 5 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 6 K, 3 ER

Ole Miss Batting Leaders

  • Dom Decker: 2-3, 2 RBI, 2 HR, 2 BB, 3 R
  • Collin Reuter: 1-3, 1 RBI, 1 HR, 1 BB, 2 R
  • Brett Mosely: 1-1, 4 RBI, 1 HR, 1 R

Next Up

Ole Miss will look to leave Houston with a winning record at the BRUCE BOLT College Classic on Sunday. The Rebels will square off against No. 9 Coastal Carolina at 10:05 a.m. The Chanticleers dropped its first game of the weekend to No. 3 Texas, 8-1.

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