Ole Miss baseball (20-10) returned to the win column with a solid 7-4 victory over Little Rock (17-12) on Tuesday afternoon at Swayze Field.
Judd Utermark and Collin Reuter had a home run each, the former signifying No. 41 for his career. Utermark is now tied with Matt Smith and Matt Snyder for the third-most career homers by a Rebel. The senior scored two runs on the day.
Will Furniss went an impressive 3 for 4 at the dish with three RBIs off a fifth-inning double. In doing so, he became the fourth Rebel this season to surpass the 20-RBI mark. Austin Fawley collected a double to improve his hitting streak to eight games.
Grayson Gibson got the first start of his career, working 2 innings with a strikeout.
Noah Allen picked up his first career win by working two clean innings, allowing no runs and fanning three. Ole Miss threw six total pitchers against Little Rock, including Leo Odom, who made his collegiate debut.
Ole Miss and Little Rock exchanged runs in the first inning. The Rebels’ run came by way of Utermark’s bomb to left field. After that, Little Rock smacked two homers on consecutive pitches in the second inning to reclaim the lead at 3-1.
Offense on both sides stalled until the fifth inning when Ole Miss had ducks on the pond with two outs. Furniss stepped to the batter’s box and unloaded the bases with an opposite-field double to give the Rebels their first lead of the day at 4-3.
Reuter added to the lead in the seventh with his solo shot to center field. Little Rock answered with two runners on base and center-field single to drive a run home in their half of the eighth.
Ole Miss added a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the frame after a wild play with two runners on base. Utermark reached base off a drastic throwing error that reached the outfield, prompting Dom Decker and Owen Paino to score from second and first, respectively. Their runs fashioned the final score of 7-4.
Landon Waters secured Ole Miss’ last four outs to earn his second save of the season. Little Rock’s Malcolm Brown got the loss.
Up next, Ole Miss travels to Gainesville, Florida, to take on No. 21 Florida for a three-game series starting Thursday. First pitch for game one is slated for 5:30 p.m. CT and will be streamed on SECN+.
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