Ole Miss pitcher Owen Kelly warms up before a midweek game against Austin Peay. | Ole Miss Athletics
Ole Miss pitcher Owen Kelly warms up before a midweek game against Austin Peay. | Ole Miss Athletics

Rebels Handle Austin Peay, But Not Without Warning Signs

BY Taylor Hodges

For two innings, it looked like the St. Patrick’s Day green hats Ole Miss wore actually carried a little luck with them.

The Rebels opened Tuesday’s game against Austin Peay by allowing just one base runner in the first two innings, and Tristan Bissetta launched a no‑doubt, two‑run homer to center in the first. They kept piling on in the second, pushing five more runs across.

But whatever luck the hats had did not last long.

Austin Peay answered with four runs in the third, cutting the lead to 7-4. Even Bissetta’s second two‑run shot of the night in the bottom half did not erase the feeling that this midweek game had suddenly become competitive.

It stayed that way. The Governors added another run in the fifth, which turned out to be the final run of the game. Ole Miss walked off with a 9-5 win that did not feel nearly as comfortable as the score suggests.

Midweek games, with all due respect to the smaller programs, are usually tune‑ups for a team like Ole Miss. Every now and then you get a ranked opponent, but most of the time the expectation is simple: handle your business and move on.

On the Mound

Austin Peay never truly threatened to take the lead, probably because Mike Bianco turned to some of his better bullpen arms to settle things down.

That was not the original plan. Sophomore Terry Hayes Jr. gave up four runs on two hits, a walk, and a hit‑by‑pitch in less than an inning, which forced Bianco’s hand. Hayes had made only three appearances before Tuesday, and this was a chance to get him some work. It was a reasonable idea with another SEC series just two days away. You do not want to burn your top relievers in a midweek if you do not have to.

Unfortunately for Ole Miss, they had to. It worked. The Rebels shut down Austin Peay in the final four innings and got the win.

At the Plate

One of the talking points coming out of the series loss at No. 2 Texas, beyond the obvious point that Texas is really good, was Ole Miss’s situational hitting. The Rebels went 7-for-54 with runners in scoring position. That will not win many SEC weekends, and it makes midweek games more complicated than they should be.

Tuesday followed the same script.

Hayden Federico drew a leadoff walk, and Bissetta cashed it in. After that, Utermark walked, Collin Reuter was hit by a pitch, and both advanced on a double steal. That put two runners in scoring position with no outs.

And no more runs scored.

Will Furniss struck out on a bad third‑strike call that was inside, Tate Sirmans hit an infield fly, and Brayden Randle popped out to left. It was a golden chance to put the game out of reach early. If the Rebels go up 9-0 after two innings, maybe that takes the fight out of Austin Peay. Maybe it does not. The opportunity was there.

Missed chances were a theme again. Ole Miss finished 3-for-12 with runners on and 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position.

The Rebels have the bats to be better than that, and they need to be. Otherwise the win at Texas starts to look more like an outlier than a turning point.

Pitching Decisions

  • WP: Owen Hancock (2-0), 2.1 IP, 1 H, 4 K, 31 TP, 22 ST
  • LP: Chance Cox (0-2), 1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 HP, 31, 17 ST

Ole Miss Batting Leaders

  • Tristan Bissetta: 2-4, 3 R, 4 RBI, 2 HR, 1 BB, 2 K
  • Collin Reuter: 1-3, 2 R, 2 RBI, 1 2B, 2 HBP, SB
  • Judd Utermark: 1-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 1 K

Next Up

Ole Miss has a quick turnaround for its next SEC series that starts Thursday when No. 15 Kentucky comes to Swayze Field with a 13-game win streak. That win streak includes a series sweep of Alabama.

Thursday’s series opener will air on SEC Network with first-pitch scheduled for 7 p.m. Game two is set for 6:30 p.m., Friday and the finale at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.

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