Ole Miss didn’t exactly limp into the second game of Friday’s doubleheader against Evansville, but the bats had been a little too quiet lately for anyone’s liking.
That changed in a hurry once the sun went down at Swayze Field. The Rebels didn’t just win the nightcap, they spent the middle innings reminding everyone what this lineup looks like when it’s actually clicking.
Cade Townsend set the tone early, working five innings of one‑hit ball and looking every bit like a guy settling comfortably into a weekend role. With him in control, Ole Miss didn’t need an offensive explosion to win. They got one anyway.
Cade was DEALING🃏@cadetownsendmlb pic.twitter.com/TzGHTfoyq3
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) March 7, 2026
A Collin Reuter RBI single in the first and a Tristan Decker leadoff homer in the third gave the Rebels a 2-0 cushion, but the real story was what happened next. The fourth and fifth innings turned into the kind of steady, relentless scoring stretch that’s been missing the last few games. Six runs in the fourth. Five more in the fifth. Suddenly it was 13-1, and the only real question left was how long the game would last.
The fourth inning alone felt like a reset button for the entire lineup. Randle and Owen Paino singled to get things moving, and then Daniel Pacella unloaded on a pitch to left‑center. After that, Federico doubled, Decker walked, and Judd Utermark sent a ball out to dead center for his 10th homer of the year. It was the kind of inning where every swing felt like it had a purpose.
And they weren’t done. In the sixth, Paino singled home Bissetta, Pacella homered again (his second of the night) and Furniss added an RBI single. Even a simple sacrifice fly from Cannon Goldin pushed across another run. It wasn’t loud or dramatic; it was just consistent, confident baseball.
it’s @DanielPacella1’s world, we’re just in it 🥹 pic.twitter.com/JnywoTNgxK
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) March 7, 2026
“It was big,” Pacella said afterward. “The past few games our offense was a little quiet. Yesterday we prepared really well. Coach Clemens sat us down as an offense and told us we were going to get after it. I think we all had a little more belief today, and we got it done.”
That’s really the theme of the nightcap. Nothing about the approach looked forced. The swings were cleaner. The at‑bats were longer. The lineup looked like a group that finally exhaled and remembered it doesn’t have to chase production. It just has to stack good swings.
Behind Townsend, the bullpen did its job, too. Landon Waters cruised through a clean sixth, and Noah Allen handled the seventh despite giving up a pair of runs. By then, the outcome was long settled.
At 14-2, Ole Miss will take Saturday off with storms in the forecast before wrapping up the series Sunday afternoon. And if Pacella has anything to say about it, the bats won’t be cooling off during the break.
“We’re going to come in at 10 a.m. and start hitting again,” he said. “I think we’ll be out of here by noon. That’ll give us about two hours of swings and help us get ready for Sunday.”
If Friday night was any indication, that might be all they need.
