OXFORD – Ole Miss senior third baseman Judd Utermark’s two-run home in the first inning Tuesday gave him 49 in his storied career – breaking a tie with Kyle Gordon for the most in program history – as the No. 15 Rebels cruised past UT Martin 17-6 in the regular-season finale at Swayze Field.
Utermark also became the first player in Rebels (35-18) history with multiple 20 home run seasons. He hit 22 long balls last season.
“I saw the big slurve out of his hand. The shadow was a little iffy here. But it felt good off the bat,” Utermark said. “It was at a good angle, I checked the wind to make sure it wasn’t blowing straight in. But after that, whenever I saw it clear that fence, it was a little bit of a relief.”
Sophomore Wil Libbert made his first start since March 21 and pitched three innings with an unearned run allowed, three strikeouts and a walk. Senior first baseman Will Furniss drove in five runs.
Utermark didn’t waste any time making history Tuesday night, taking the first pitch he saw from Dean McCalla 383 feet into left field. The Rebels batted around and scored 10 runs in the second inning, three coming off a double from Furniss and two more on a home run from junior Austin Fawley, who drove in four runs in the second inning alone.
UT Martin (25-27) scored an unearned run in the third before the Rebels responded with three runs in the bottom of the inning. Junior Owen Kelly took over on the mound in the fourth and pitched two innings with one unearned run allowed and four strikeouts. Freshman Brett Moseley hit a solo home run in the fifth, and the Skyhawks scored four runs in the top of the sixth. The Rebels scored one run on an error in the bottom of the inning.
Utermark, who hit seven total home runs over his first two seasons, said his road has “been an awesome journey here.”
“One, I think I physically matured. I probably gained some weight, I can’t really remember what exactly I changed. But also it’s my swing,” Utermark said. “And I think Coach Clem helped me a lot with that. And just, how do we approach the game? At that point I had two seasons under my belt of inconsistent play — which was nobody’s fault but mine — I just wasn’t performing. And I was lucky enough to gain a spark of confidence down at (the tournament at) Globe Life that junior year. And ever since then it’s kind of been my swing, kind of been the feel.”
Ole Miss plays No. 18 Alabama in a three-game series starting Thursday. First pitch for Game 1 is 6 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on SEC Network+.
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