OXFORD – Ole Miss senior first baseman Will Furniss hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning Tuesday night to put the run-rule into effect against Southeast Missouri State as the No. 25 Rebels defeated the Redhawks 13-3 at Swayze Field.
Ole Miss (9-0) is off to its best start since 2022.
Rebels senior outfielder Tristan Bissetta had three hits and drove in a pair of runs. Freshman outfielder Cannon Goldin had two RBIs as well.
“(Sophomore pitcher) Cade Townsend looked at me when I was on deck, and I think he was ready to go home. Because he looked at me and he said, ‘Furniss, homer,’” Furniss said with a laugh. “So, I decided that that was the time that I needed to finally break out of the singles-only slump.”
Sophomore Terry Hayes Jr. got the start on the mound for Ole Miss and went 1 1/3 innings with two earned runs allowed. Junior Owen Kelly pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings, senior Marko Sipila surrendered one run in an inning of work, and junior Patrick Collopy and freshman Grayson Gibson each pitched a scoreless inning. Rebels pitchers issued eight walks and notched four strikeouts.
“Wasn’t … the best night for that staff, but they hung in there,” Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco said.
The Redhawks (3-6) scored a run off Hayes in the first inning, though the Rebels responded with three runs in the bottom of the frame via RBI singles from Bissetta, senior catcher Collin Reuter and sophomore designated hitter Topher Jones. Southeast Missouri State tacked on another run in the second and, again, the Rebels answered back with a crooked number, this time plating six runs on a double from Furniss, singles from Bissetta and Goldin and a pair of wild pitches.
Both offenses went quiet for the next two innings until Southeast Missouri scored a run in the fifth. Sophomore pinch hitter Owen Paino drove in a run in the seventh, which brought Furniss to the plate with two runners on as the winning run. Furniss took the first pitch he saw deep to center field, his first home run of the season.
“I swung really hard,” Furniss said. “I was sitting dead-red heater and he gave it to me thankfully, because if he would have thrown me a curveball I probably would have swung at it in the dirt.”
Ole Miss plays Baylor in the BRUCE BOLT College Classic in Houston Friday at 3:05 p.m. The game will be broadcast on Astros.com/Youtube.
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