Ole Miss first baseman Will furniss prepares for an at-bat during a SEC game against Florida. | Ole Miss Athletics
Ole Miss first baseman Will furniss prepares for an at-bat during a SEC game against Florida. | Ole Miss Athletics

Ole Miss Strikes Out 16 Times In Series-Opening Loss At Alabama

BY Taylor Hodges

Thursday night showed how quickly a baseball game can unravel.

No. 15 Ole Miss took a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the seventh against No. 18 Alabama.

Hunter Elliott had thrown 93 pitches and looked like the version of himself Ole Miss has seen most of the year. He gave up a first‑inning home run, then settled in and pitched like an ace. He struck out eight and allowed only two walks and four hits.

But the seventh started with trouble.

A first‑pitch single was followed by a sacrifice bunt that turned into an error when Judd Utermark’s throw pulled the first baseman off the bag. That ended Elliott’s night, and Mike Bianco turned to Hudson Calhoun, one of his most trusted relievers.

Just not Thursday.

Calhoun got two outs but couldn’t stop the inning from snowballing. He was charged with only one run, but all three Alabama runs in the seventh came on pitches he threw. Landon Waters finished the inning and worked a clean eighth, but the damage was already on the board.

At the plate, the story was one Ole Miss fans know too well. The Rebels struck out 16 times, walked twice and finished with 11 base runners. Half of their runs came on solo home runs.

It’s been the theme all year: Ole Miss hits home runs and strikes out. That’s who they are.

They still made a late push. Austin Fawley stayed hot and delivered a two‑out RBI single in the ninth, his second run‑scoring hit of the night after tying the game in the second.

Dom Decker opened the game with a leadoff home run, and Tristan Bissetta hit his 20th of the season in the sixth to give Ole Miss its brief 3-2 lead.

Pitching Decisions

  • WP: Tyler Fay (9-3), 7 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 11 K, 115 TP
  • LP: Hunter Elliott (5-3), 6 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, 97 TP
  • S: Heiberger (4), 2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 37 TP

Ole Miss Batting Leaders

  • Dom Decker: 1-4, 1 R, 1 H, 1 RBI, 1 HR, 1 K
  • Tristan Bissetta: 1-4, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 HR, 3 K
  • Hayden Federico: 2-4, 2 R, 1 K
  • Austin Fawley: 2-4, 2 RBI

Next Up

Ole Miss and Alabama will continue its weekend series at 6 p.m. Friday on SECN+.

The Rebels are slated to start right-hander Taylor Rabe (3-3, 4.56 ERA, 1.11 WHIP) against the Tide’s lefty Zane Adams (6-3, 4.04 ERA, 1.30 WHIP).

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