KNoxville, Tenn. — No. 25 Ole Miss baseball (29-11, 10-7 SEC) earned its first series win in Knoxville since 2016 Saturday night, beating Tennessee (25-14, 7-10 SEC) 8-1. The Rebels also achieved their first series win over Tennessee since 2018, according to university athletics.
Cade Townsend pitched six shutout innings, allowing just one hit and striking out seven to earn the win, his third consecutive quality start. Townsend, a sophomore, moved to 4-1 this season. Walker Hooks earned his second save in as many nights, finishing the game by working the final five outs.
Judd Utermark went 3-for-5, hitting his second home run of the weekend and scoring twice. Tristan Bissetta hit his second grand slam of the season, while Dom Decker, Hayden Federico, and Austin Fawley each had two hits. The game was a pitcher’s duel through the first six innings, with Townsend and Tennessee’s Tegan Kuhns exchanging zeros.
Townsend retired the first 12 batters before hitting the leadoff batter in the sixth. Tennessee’s first hit came with one out in the sixth, but Townsend escaped without allowing a run. Ole Miss scored first in the seventh, when Brayden Randle and Fawley opened the inning with back-to-back walks. Randle scored on a sacrifice fly from Decker.
The Rebels added another run in the eighth on Federico’s RBI double, scoring Utermark. In the ninth, Ole Miss exploded for six runs on six hits. Bissetta hit a 424-foot shot to right-center to make it 6-0. Utermark followed with a solo home run, his second consecutive night with a home run. Collin Reuter added an RBI double to cap the scoring, making it 8-0.
Tennessee scored in the bottom of the ninth on a solo home run but could not mount a comeback. Ole Miss will attempt to sweep the series on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET (noon CT).
