OXFORD, Miss. — No. 15 Ole Miss (19-5, 4-2 SEC) stretched its winning streak to four games Tuesday night with a 7-5 win against Memphis (11-13, 0-3 The American) at Swayze Field.
The Rebels were coming off a three-game sweep at Missouri over the weekend.
Against Memphis, the Rebels took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning on a solo home run to right by Campbell Smithwick.
Memphis responded with two runs in the top of the third to lead 2-1. Brayden Randle’s RBI single in the bottom of the fourth tied the game at 2-2.
But it was in the bottom of the fifth inning that the Rebels moved out in front in a big way. A four-spot, highlighted by a Judd Utermark RBI single and a Randle two RBI double, put Ole Miss up 6-2 through five complete.
But Memphis came right back with two runs in the top of the sixth and added another in the top of the seventh. Ole Miss’ lead was trimmed to 6-5.
A solo home run by Mitchell Sanford to right center in the bottom of the eighth gave the Rebels a bit of a cushion with a two-run lead heading to the top of the ninth.
Right-hander Landon Waters, who had entered for Ole Miss with one out in the eighth, took care of the Tigers the rest of the way.
It was a career-high RBI game for Randle with three. The sophomore second baseman was 2-for-4 in the game, and he also tied a career high with seven assists. Utermark was also 2-for-4 in the contest.
Right-hander Hudson Calhoun, the second of five Rebel pitchers, got his first win of the season and had a career high five strikeouts.
Memphis also sent five pitchers to the mound, and the loss went to the third Tiger hurler, Connor Pittman (0-1).
Ole Miss will host Florida on Thursday at 7 p.m. The Rebels are 4-2 in Southeastern Conference play, while the Gators will arrive in Oxford 0-6 in the league.
