OXFORD | Riley Maddox nearly matched Hunter Elliott's main stat line from the previous day.

Fewer than 24 hours after Elliott stymied Eastern Kentucky with six shutout innings, Maddox did the same for five complete, as the Rebel starters have keyed the series win and sweep opportunity that will come at 12 p.m. on Sunday.

Ole Miss moved past the Atlantic Sun's Colonels, 9-4, behind Maddox and a double-digit hit effort that included three home runs -- one each by Luke Hill, Collin Reuter and Ryan Moerman.

Maddox, a week after throwing three shutout against Texas prior to a disastrous fourth inning against the Longhorns, scattered three hits and two walks with five strikeouts. He threw 48 of 75 pitches for strikes and ran his fastball into the mid 90s before settling around 91-93 as the game progressed.

"I settled in after being a little out of it early," Maddox said. "I picked up confidence and knew my best would beat their best. It was a good, needed bounce back. It's not a good feeling to look at the board and see a 16 ERA. It's coming down slowly but surely."

The right-hander stranded two runners in the first and faced the minimum for three straight frames before getting two outs with two men on in the fifth inning.

Ole Miss is 5-1 while EKU is winless through six games.

The Rebels scored in the first four innings, single runs in three of those frames and two in the second when Hayden Federico doubled in two runs. Federico started his career with 10 consecutive quality at-bats.

Hill had three hits, and Moerman had two for the Rebels. Moerman had a two-out RBI single in the first, and he and Hill hit their home runs in the third and fourth, respectively. Both players also had a walk.

After EKU scored three runs in the sixth inning, Reuter's solo home run started a sixth frame that included three runs.

Cade Townsend, a heralded freshman ranked in the top 100 out of high school, made his debut in relief of Maddox. The Santa Margarita Catholic (California) product flashed up to 96 MPH with his fastball but got in trouble with a single, walk and hit by pitch with no outs.
After two strikeouts, EKU cleared the bases with a triple.

"He was one pitch away, but you can see how talented he is," Bianco said.

Brayden Jones struck out the side in the seventh, throwing nine of 12 pitches for strikes. Patrick Galle, in his first appearance of the year, gave up a solo home run during the eighth inning.

Freshman Walker Hooks threw a scoreless ninth. He's up to 4.2 innings without allowing a run.

"He's a strike-throwing machine," Bianco said. "He gets overlooked sometimes because the radar gun doesn't blow up, but he's composed for a freshman no matter the venue and throws three pitches for strikes."

Ole Miss was 6-for-22 with runners on and 4-for-12 with runners in scoring position. Every spot in the order had a run or an RBI outside of Judd Utermark, who went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts.