OXFORD | Riley Maddox had his moment.
The right-hander ended the fifth inning with back-to-back strikeouts, the second of which sat down Tennessee leadoff hitter Dean Curley. Maddox screamed, pumped his fists and quickly jumped from the mound toward his waiting teammates.
It was his best outing of the season and the scene-setter that accompanied an Ole Miss offense that used small ball and the home run to race past Tennessee, 8-5, and even the weekend series heading into Sunday’s 2 p.m. rubber match.
The Rebels are 27-8 overall and 9-5 in the SEC. Tennessee is 30-5 and 10-4 in the league. Ole Miss, with the 27th win, ties last year's season total and is two beyond the 2023 win total.
“(Maddox) was the difference in the game,” Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco said. “They are good, and he put some zeroes up.”
Maddox allowed just two solo home runs in five innings, giving up three total hits and one walk with five strikeouts. He was the most efficient he’s been this season with 49 strikes and 73 total pitches to get 15 outs. Ole Miss went to the bullpen to avoid him facing the middle of the UT order for a third time.
Maddox struggled through 3.2 total innings against Missouri and Florida but has yielded only two earned runs in his last 10 innings. The senior threw five innings without an earned run last week at Kentucky.
“I was in a bad mental place before Kentucky and broke down a little bit to (pitching coach Joel) Mangrum,” Maddox said. “I’ve really leaned on him, and we’ve worked to make better pitches and really handle things mentally. I kept focus really well today.”
Ole Miss jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the first inning thanks to five stolen bases in the frame. Ryan Moerman had an RBI double, and Hayden Federico had a run-scoring single – both with two outs.
Austin Fawley hit a second inning home run, his second of the weekend, and Federico stole home in the fourth inning. The Rebels stole eight bases in the game, three shy of the school record. Fawley also had an RBI single in the sixth inning.
“We saw (Tennessee starter Marcus Phillips) was a little slow to the plate, and we thought we could run a little bit,” Bianco said.
The capacity and electric crowd of 11,790 had its loudest moment when Luke Hill hit the first pitch of the fifth inning out to left-center. It was his seventh home run of the season, and Hill gestured toward first base coach Tyler Keenan on his way around first base. Standing somewhat beside Keenan was UT first baseman Andrew Fischer, who left Ole Miss in less-than-ideal circumstances following last season.
“I was pointing at Keenan,” Hill said. “All due respect to Fischer; I love that man to death, but I was not pointing at him. I was pointing at my family. They sit right (up above the first base dugout).”
Hill’s move back toward first and a quick flap of the front of his jersey sent the fans into a frenzy. It gave Ole Miss a four-run advantage that Tennessee trimmed in half the next half inning with a two-run home run.
Will McCausland threw two innings and gave up just one run. Tennessee loaded the bases with no outs in the seventh but a double play and a fielder’s choice helped the St. Joseph’s transfer out of the jam.
Connor Spencer entered with two outs and two on in the eighth, and after a walk to load the bases, he struck out Blake Grimmer to end the threat. In the ninth inning, the Vols got one on, but Spencer coaxed a soft fly out from Fischer to end the game.
Ole Miss answered immediately the first three times Tennessee scored during the game. The Rebels held UT to 3-for-15 with men on base and 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position.
“You get to this point and our guys understand,” Bianco said. “You have to show up, and we’ve done that all year long.”
