Jordan Fowler dominates Little Rock in his first career start

OXFORD | Jordan Fowler struck out a batter to end three of his five innings on Wednesday, and each time he sprinted from the mound and trotted to the dugout, typically beating most of his teammates off the field.

He worked quickly to the 20 batters he faced and seemed to be trying to use up excess energy when he wasn’t actively baffling the Little Rock lineup. Fowler, who had two relief wins earlier in the season, took a no-decision from his first career start but was a start in Ole Miss’ 10-2 win over the Trojans (6-7), the Rebels’ fourth straight win since losing their first and only time through 13 games.

“I was excited and it was exhilarating to be out there for my first start,” Fowler said. “I usually get locked in and zoned in.”

Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco said Tuesday that Fowler looked like he belonged in the Southeastern Conference during his three previous appearances that spanned 3.1 innings, and the heralded freshman did little to dispute that against an overmatched group of Sun Belt hitters.

The Rebels (12-1) continue a five-game homestand with a weekend series against Eastern Illinois.

Fowler, who spent 12 weeks in a body cast last summer and early fall after a car wreck the day he was drafted in the 26th round by the Rangers, scattered four hits in his five innings and didn’t allow a run. He threw 49 of 73 pitches for strikes and lowered his season ERA to 1.08.

“Terrific, terrific,” Bianco said. “You couldn’t draw up any better with five innings and all four pitches in the strike zone. I always say to pitch like you belong, and he certainly looked like he belonged tonight.”

The Tennessee native struck out seven including two in each of the first three innings to help strand runners. He walked one but used good movement on a high 80s fastball and a breaking ball in most counts to keep the Rebels with a lead when he left the game.

Little Rock hit a two-run home run off Greer Holston to tie it in the sixth, but Ole Miss used a throwing error to take the lead in the seventh and piled on four total runs to put it away. Nick Fortes had a two-run single and Will Golsan put u a two-out RBI hit in the inning.

The Rebels hit three doubles in the game. Little Rock was just 2-for-11 with runners on base.

Parker Caracci dominated Little Rock in the late innings, striking out five in two frames. He hasn’t allowed a run and has 14 strikeouts and one walk in 6.1 innings this season. His fastball constantly ran int the mid 90s, and Caracci never went to a three-ball count on the night.

“He continues to show how impressive he is and how he continues to grow,” Bianco said of Caracci. “No one deserves it more than him. He was lights out tonight.”

Ole Miss scored four insurance runs in the eighth without a hit. The Trojans used 10 different pitchers in the game and hit or walked six batters in the penultimate inning.

Max Cioffi threw a scoreless ninth inning and hasn't allowed a run in four innings this season.