The No. 11 Ole Miss baseball team came away with a 12-2 victory over South Carolina in the series finale Saturday afternoon at Founders Park.
The Rebels capitalized on an explosive first inning where they put up seven runs and run-ruled the Gamecocks in seven innings.
"Throughout the lineup from different guys. What an unbelievable day (Sanford) had, and really a good weekend,” head coach Mike Bianco said. “Obviously got us going and then after that you had several really good at-bats. That's what we didn't do yesterday.”
“After his home run to get us going, we had Hill and Furniss and then Utermark and then of course Fawley comes off and hits the big grand slam to really extend it. Just a really good day throughout the lineup."
Ole Miss is 28-11 overall and 10-8 in the SEC with four weekends left in the regular season.
Mitchell Sanford would lead off the game with a laser to right for a solo shot. It marked Sanford’s 11th homer of the year and the second straight game a Rebel began the contest with a round-tripper.
Sanford had two hits in a game just once in his last 11 games prior to Saturday.
Luke Hill would walk followed by a Will Furniss single. Judd Utermark would drive in Hill from second and Ryan Moerman sent the third straight single to left to load the bases.
The Gamecocks went to the bullpen with nobody out before Austin Fawley stepped to the plate. Fawley would launch a breaking ball to the left field concourse for his second home run of the series and the third Ole Miss grand slam of the season.
The Rebels would plate their seventh run after a bases loaded walk. In total, Ole Miss sent 13 hitters to the dish, generating five hits and five walks.South Carolina would put two runs on the board after a two-run home run in the second.
Mason Nichols would settle in on the hill for Ole Miss, giving the Rebels five strong frames. The five innings tied a season-high for Nichols. He surrendered just the two runs and punched out three Gamecock hitters.
Ole Miss would score three more runs in the sixth. Furniss would start the inning with a 440 foot blast to center field. Utermark, Moerman, and Fawley would all reach via walks. With two outs, Hayden Federico would line a single to left to score Utermark and Fawley.
Will McCausland would relieve Nichols in the sixth and tossed a scoreless frame.In the seventh, Sanford would send his second leadoff homer of the game into the right field stands. It marked his second multi-home run game of the season and the fourth of his career.
Luke Hill would single and advance into scoring position after swiping second. Utermark would drive in Hill with a single to make it 12-2 Rebels.
McCausland would throw up another zero in the seventh to secure the run-rule victory.Mason Nichols (3-0) would get the win on the mound for the Ole Miss.
Five Rebels tallied at least two hits as Sanford led the charge with three base knocks.Fawley led all hitters with four RBI. In total, the Ole Miss offense tallied 13 hits, stole four bases, and walked 10 times.
