Ole Miss wins eighth in a row, claims third straight SEC series

A good old fashioned pitchers’ duel broke out between Ole Miss and Tennessee on Saturday afternoon at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

Fortunately for the Rebels, sophomore pitcher Cade Townsend and senior outfielder Tristan Bissetta are part of their dugout.

Townsend and Tennessee’s Tegan Kuhns went toe to toe on the mound – the two struck out 17 combined batters over six innings without either allowing a run – before Rebels junior second baseman Dom Decker ended the shutout with a sacrifice fly in the seventh off Volunteers ace reliever Cam Appenzeller. Sophomore outfielder Hayden Federico drove in an insurance run in the eighth, and Bissetta sealed the deal with a backbreaking grand slam in the ninth as No. 25 Ole Miss clinched its third-straight SEC series with an 8-1 win over Tennessee in Knoxville.

It’s the Rebels’ eighth win in a row and 10th win in their last 11 games. Ole Miss (29-11, 10-7 SEC) won Friday’s opener 7-4. Rebel pitchers allowed two hits Saturday, with the lone Tennessee (25-14, 7-10) run coming via a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth.

Bissetta's team-leading 18th home run was his second ninth-inning grand slam on the road in an SEC game this season.

Townsend was perfect through four innings before hitting Blake Grimmer to lead off the fifth. He had a no-hitter through 5 1/3 innings before allowing a single and finished with seven strikeouts and two walks over six scoreless innings of work. Kuhns struck out a career-best 10 in 5 2/3 scoreless innings.

Ole Miss stranded five baserunners over the first three innings against Kuhns, who struck out seven Rebels over his first four frames of work. Townsend retired the first 12 batters he faced prior to hitting Grimmer at the start of the fifth, and a two-out walk later in the inning gave the Volunteers their first opportunity with a runner in scoring position. Townsend punched out his sixth batter of the game to end the threat.

Federico’s two-out single in the sixth broke up a streak of nine straight retired batters by Kuhns, bringing Appenzeller into the game in relief. Appenzeller promptly retired sophomore designated hitter Owen Paino. Townsend allowed his first hit in the sixth, a bouncing infield single toward junior shortstop Brayden Randle. He walked the following batter, giving Tennessee its second chance with a runner in scoring position. He forced the next batter to fly out and stuck out Grimmer to end his outing.

Appenzeller walked the first two batters of the seventh, and a wild pitch advanced the runners to second and third. Decker drove a ball deep to left that brought in the game’s first run. Rebels senior Landon Waters took over for Townsend in the seventh and pitched a scoreless frame. Junior Hudson Calhoun and sophomore Walker Hooks – both pitching for the second day in a row – pitched the final two innings.

Federico doubled to the left field wall with senior third baseman Judd Utermark on first base in the eighth, bringing home the Rebels’ second run. Ole Miss broke the game open with six runs in the ninth, which included Bissetta’s 424-foot grand slam. A solo home run from Utermark – the second time in as many days Bissetta and Utermark hit back-to-back long balls – and an RBI double from senior pinch hitter Colin Reuter put the game on ice.