Ole Miss didn’t get the sweep Sunday, but nothing about the 13-5 loss changes the bigger picture. The Rebels won the series, played their best baseball on Friday and Saturday, and then ran into a Tennessee lineup that had its day in the finale. Over a long season, that happens.
No. 25 Ole Miss couldn’t finish off the sweep in Knoxville, but still walked out with a series win, their third straight. They’ve also won 10 of their last 12 games. That’s the bigger picture, and it’s a good one. Sunday just didn’t follow the same script.
The Volunteers hit six home runs and scored all 13 of their runs that way. Three of those homers came with two outs. Five of them came with runners on. Sometimes the other team barrels everything it sees, and that’s what Tennessee did.
Ole Miss actually struck first.
Tristan Bissetta stayed on his heater, driving in Topher Jones with a single to right center for a 1-0 lead in the third. But Tennessee answered with five runs in the bottom half, all off Taylor Rabe, who saw his streak of SEC starts lasting at least six innings come to an end. Two homers and a double were mixed into the six hits he allowed.
His third HR of the weekend‼️ @TristanBissetta is on another level and CRUSHES it💣 pic.twitter.com/7SzM0FrXf7
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) April 19, 2026
Tennessee added another home run in the fourth to make it 7-1, but Ole Miss didn’t fold.
Will Furniss punched a two-RBI single in the fifth, and Bissetta launched a two-run shot in the seventh to cut it to 7-5. For a moment, it felt like the Rebels might steal one more.
But Sunday wasn’t built for that. Tennessee hit three more home runs in the seventh and eighth to pull away, and Ole Miss never found the same rhythm it had the first two days.
The Rebels were 5-for-17 with runners on but only had four chances with runners in scoring position. After stranding the bases loaded in the third, they left just three more on base the rest of the way.
.@landon_koenig with a nasty splitter😮💨 pic.twitter.com/A4OnwxZ2oM
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) April 19, 2026
Bissetta still finished 3-for-5 with three RBI, two runs, and his fourth home run of the week. Jones and Judd Utermark each had two hits. The offense wasn’t flat, it just didn’t match Tennessee’s power surge.
And that’s really the story. Ole Miss controlled the first two games. Tennessee controlled the last one. Over a long season, that happens.
The Rebels head home now for a four-game stretch at Swayze Field, starting Tuesday against Murray State and rolling into a weekend series with Georgia. They’ve won three straight SEC series and are playing their best baseball of the year.
Sunday doesn’t change any of that.
