OXFORD | Cade Townsend flashed his expected potential on Wednesday, and the lackluster opponent took nothing away from that.

The freshman and former top-100 prospect out of Aliso Viejo, California, threw four shutout innings without a walk in the Rebels’ 29-1 rout of hapless Alcorn State in the second of a five-game week for Ole Miss.

The Rebels (26-7, 8-4 SEC) beat Memphis, 10-0, in seven innings on Tuesday and host No. 4 Tennessee starting Friday at Swayze Field.

Alcorn State walked 11 and hit four while rarely throwing fastballs into the mid-80s. The Braves, which entered with the No. 305 RPI out of 307 Division I teams, are now 4-25. The 29 runs scored are the most in program history, topping the 28 runs against Illinois College in 1989.

“I think we did pretty good,” Luke Hill said. “One of those situations where we need to swing at the good pitches and go about things the same way. Consistency is the big thing, and we put up a ton of runs which is fun for us.”

Townsend was in control, allowing one hit across four while striking out five. He threw 32 of his 49 pitches for strikes without issuing a walk in his second career start.

Coming into today, the right-hander had walked 11 batters in 9.2 innings on the season, including four walks in a combined 0.1 innings against Florida and Jackson State.

“He was terrific,” Bianco said of Townsend. “I thought it would be a good opportunity for him to get another start and just to relax and go out there and (execute)… It was good to see him throw well.”

Ole Miss put up 23 hits with six doubles and five home runs. Luke Cheng led the Rebels with two home runs and five RBIs. Cheng had one home run in his four-year career at Illinois State but has four already this season.

Isaac Humphrey helped lead the Rebels with five RBIs, four hits and a home run. Judd Utermark and Ethan Surowiec also hit home runs.

Utermark had four RBIs in the game, including two that came on his team-leading 11th home run of the season.

Campbell Smithwick, Owen Paino and Hill each had multiple hits for the Rebels. Both of Smithwick’s hits were doubles.

Ole Miss was 18 for 32 with runners on and 15 for 22 with runners in scoring position.

Owen Hancock and Cooper Johnson each threw a scoreless inning in relief. Cole Ketchum gave up one run on one hit in the seventh inning.