Murray State has a couple of great memories at Swayze Field. Tuesday night wasn’t one of them.
A year after upsetting Ole Miss twice in an NCAA Regional on this same field, a run that helped launch the Racers all the way to Omaha, they came back to Oxford for a midweek game and left with a 19-2 loss.
That more than avenges last season’s shocking finish and then some.
Judd Utermark hit two home runs, bringing him within three of the program’s all-time record. Owen Paino added a two-run homer and finished with four RBIs, and the Rebels cruised to a big win. Owen Kelly shutting down Murray State early certainly helped.
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— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) April 22, 2026
Kelly didn’t allow a hit and struck out six, though he did give up two base runners. By the time his night ended after the fourth inning, Ole Miss had a 10-0 lead.
From there, Mike Bianco started working in pitchers who haven’t seen much action this season. Leo Odom handled 4.2 innings, Noah Allen threw 8 innings and Jake Reigert added 1 inning to close things out for the Rebels.
The trend continued at the plate with a selection of batters who haven’t gotten many at-bats. It worked. The Rebels scored nine more runs in the fifth inning.
Pitching Decisions
- WP: Owen Kelly (2-1), 4 IP, 1 BB, 6 K, 1 HP, 59 TP
- LP: Preston Chau (0-1), 1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, 1 WP, 1 HP, 32 TP
Ole Miss Batting Leaders
- Dom Decker: 1-5, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 2B, 1 BB
- Tristan Bissetta: 2-2, 2 R, 1 RBI, 2 BB
- Judd Utermark: 3-4, 2 R, 4 RBI, 2 HR
- Hayden Federico: 1-5, 2 R, 2 RBI, 1 HR
- Topher Jones: 2-2, 3 R, 1 RBI, 1 HR, 3 HBP
- Owen Paino: 3-4, 3 R, 4 RBI, 1 HR
Next Up
Ole Miss has the fourth-hardest schedule in the nation, which means every weekend series is going to be against a highly ranked team. This weekend that’ll be No. 5 Georgia and the Rebels will hope it goes better than the last time they hosted some Bulldogs.
Ole Miss and Georgia will begin its three-game series at 6:30 p.m. Friday. The game will air on SECN+. Starting pitchers haven’t been announced, but expect Ole Miss to start its ace, Hunter Elliott.
