Baseball Completes Sweep of Purdue In Final Non-Conference Series

Ole Miss Baseball (14-2) completed a sweep of the Purdue Boilermakers (8-7) Sunday afternoon behind a six-inning, one-run outing from starting pitcher Xavier Rivas and four RBI from third baseman Ethan Lege.

The Rebels are now 8-1 against teams from the Big Ten Conference this season, outscoring them 88-50 over nine games.

This was the first game in the series in which the Rebels were not the first team to score, as Purdue struck first in the top of the second inning. After a two-out double down the left field line, Couper Cornblum came around to score on a high-chopped ground ball back up the middle to make it 1-0 in favor of the visiting team.

The Purdue lead didn’t last long, as Ole Miss answered back in the bottom half of the inning. Peyton Chatagnier walked with one out in the inning and advanced to second on a groundout by Will Furniss. He would come around to score the tying run on a single to right field by Lege, his first RBI of the day.

Calvin Harris gave the Rebels a 2-1 lead in the third inning, driving home Ethan Groff on a single to right field. Lege picked up his second RBI of the day in the sixth inning as he sent a deep fly ball to center field, allowing TJ McCants to score from third base and make it 3-1 Ole Miss.

Xavier Rivas got the start on the mound for the Rebels and was able to put together what was arguably his best start of the season thus far. He went a career-high six innings and gave up just one earned run while striking out six hitters. He earned his fourth-straight win to move to 4-0 on the season.

Matt Parenteau, JT Quinn, and Sam Tookoian allowed just two hits over the seventh and eighth innings keeping the Rebels’ lead intact.

The Rebels scored three times in the eighth inning to extend their lead to 6-1. TJ McCants drove in his fifth run of the weekend before Lege knocked in two more with his second hit of the day. Lege would end up going 2-for-3 on the day with a career-high four RBI

With one out and two on in the bottom of the ninth, Mitch Murrell came out of the bullpen for the Rebels and shut the door on the Boilermakers, securing the 6-1 victory.

Kemp Alderman drew four walks and recorded no official at-bats in the win, after hitting three home runs and driving in 10 runs in the first two games. TJ McCants went 2-for-4 with two runs scored.

The Rebels will hit the road next week for a midweek contest at Jacksonville State and the opening of SEC play at No. 7 Vanderbilt.

Courtesy of Ole Miss Sports