Sam Tookoian leads stellar relief effort in Ole Miss win over Austin Peay

OXFORD | Austin Peay was set up to cut into the lead in the fifth inning.

Ole Miss reliever Austin Simmons struck out the side in the fourth but the fifth began with a hit by pitch, wild pitch and walk to end his day and bring in Sam Tookoian.

The sophomore stranded the two runners with three straight outs and added another scoreless inning, as Ole Miss coasted to a 13-9 win over Austin Peay on Tuesday.

“He was excellent and got us off the field,” Mike Bianco said. “He’d be a nice piece to add to the bullpen.”

The Rebels are 18-8 and host Kentucky in a three-game set starting Friday.

The Governors (15-9) scored four runs in the first inning off starter Kyler Carmack, including back-to-back home runs to the first two batters, but the Ole Miss bullpen settled things down.

Tookoian had the highest-leverage responsibility after the second inning and continued his excellent season with the 22-pitch performance that included 15 strikes and six outs in seven batters. He hasn’t thrown 20 or more pitches in an inning this season.

It is the right-hander’s fourth outing of the year, and he hasn’t allowed a run in six innings. He’s struck out nine with one walk and only on hit in games against High Point, Iowa and Morehead State, in addition to Austin Peay.

Tookoian missed the majority of the fall with a shoulder ailment.

He was part of an Ole Miss relief effort that held the Governors scoreless for seven innings before an Austin Peay four-run ninth.

Mitch Murrell threw two scoreless innings after Carmack exited following a leadoff triple in the second inning. He allowed the runner at third to score but faced just one above the minimum.

Mason Morris threw a perfect eighth inning. Brayden Jones gave up the four runs in the ninth including two home runs.

Ole Miss matched AP’s four runs with the same in the first inning and then scored one in the second and four more in the third. The Rebels added single runs in three other innings.

Treyson Hughes went 3-for-4 with a run scored and three RBIs. Ole Miss had 11 total hits, with Luke Hill and Andrew Fischer notching two each. Hill hit a triple, and Ethan Lege hit a solo home run - his seventh of the season.

Austin Peay walked eight and hit two others. The Rebels were 7-for-18 with runners in scoring position but only scored a runner from third with fewer than two outs four out of 10 times.