Ole Miss has set itself up for an exciting regular season finale.
Taylor Rabe looked like he might throw a perfect game for most of his six innings, and the Rebels backed him with a couple of balls over the wall in a 9-0 win that forces a Saturday rubber match against No. 18 Alabama.
No. 15 Ole Miss now sits at 15 SEC wins, meaning one more puts the Rebels in position to likely host an NCAA Regional. It also keeps them in the race for the final first round bye at next week’s SEC Tournament in Hoover.
Here’s how Ole Miss got it done Friday night.
On the Mound
Rabe threw five perfect innings and struck out 11. That alone tells you how Ole Miss won this game. Alabama didn’t reach base until Vaughn led off the sixth with a single. Rabe hit another batter but punched out two more to finish his night with six scoreless innings.
It was exactly the kind of outing Ole Miss needed to keep Alabama’s offense quiet.
After Rabe exited, JP Robertson handled the final three innings. He allowed just one hit and one walk while striking out three to keep the Tide from mounting a real push.
At the Plate
Ole Miss did the two things it does best: strike out and hit home runs. The Rebels struck out 14 times but hit three homers that accounted for six of their seven runs. They struck out 16 times Thursday, so the approach hasn’t changed much, but when it works, it works.
Will Furniss opened the scoring with an RBI groundout in the first, and Owen Paino tied it with a solo shot to start the fifth.
That fifth inning turned into the big one. Five batters after Paino’s homer, Furniss crushed a two‑out, three‑run shot that pushed the lead to 5-0.
With the way Rabe was throwing, that was more than enough. Austin Fawley’s two‑run, two‑out homer in the eighth and a pair of runs in the ninth just made the final stretch a little easier.
Pitching Decisions
- WP: Taylor Rabe (4-3), 6 IP, 1H, 1 BB, 13 K, 1 HP, 88 TP
- LP: Zane Adams (6-4), 5 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 7 K, 95 TP
Ole Miss Batting Leaders
- Will Furniss: 1-4, 1 R, 5 RBI, 1 HR
- Austin Fawley: 2-4, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 HR
- Owen Paino: 1-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 HR, 1BB
Next Up
The regular season comes to a close Saturday for all 16 SEC teams and there’s a lot to be decided.
Ole Miss and Alabama will finish off their weekend series at 2 p.m. Saturday on SEC Network.
The Rebels will send Cade Townsend (5-2, 3.25 ERA, 1.01 WHIP) to the mound for what’ll end up being one of the most important games of the season. Alabama is set to start Myles Upchurch (7-3, 3.43 ERA, 1.34 WHIP).
