The only positive for Ole Miss Thursday was it didn’t take very long.

Tennessee right-hander Garrett Stallings threw a complete game shutout, dropping the Rebels, 7-0, in just 2 hours, 15 minutes. Ole Miss has lost five in a row and falls to 32-22 overall and 15-13 in the Southeastern Conference.

Game two is at 5:30 p.m. CT on Friday.

Ole Miss put one runner in scoring position and was 1-for-8 with runners on base. On the whole, the Rebels were 4-for-31 at the plate and allowed Stallings to record 27 outs in only 103 pitches including 71 strikes.

Stallings struck out seven without a walk was perfect through six innings except for two Cole Zawbowski hits. The top five in the Ole Miss order went 0-for-19 with five strikeouts.

Stallings had only three fly ball outs through eight innings.

“He was really good and it was a tough night,” Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco said. “We needed a good night offensively to bounce back and he’s a guy who pitches his best game this year. He’s really talented but has struggled in conference play.

“They got a lot of low strike calls tonight and he worked fast. Lot of changeups. We swing and are out in front. Then we sit changeup and he gets the fastball by us. It was one of those really sought nights because he was so good.”

Cooper Johnson and Kevin Graham got back-to-back hits in the eighth, but Justin Bench, in as a pinch hitter, hit into a double play.

The loss negates the first of three RPI opportunities for the Rebels, who remain at No. 29. Tennessee took a good step toward an at-large berth with the 37th total win, 13th SEC win and No. 10 RPI.

It’s Ole Miss’ first five-game losing streak since April 2016 when the Rebels lost three straight to South Carolina and two to Mississippi State. Arkansas State beat Ole Miss 6-5 with four runs in the final inning on Tuesday.

Will Ethridge lasted seven innings and gave up six runs — five earned — on 10 hits with three strikeouts and no walks. Bianco said Ethridge will start on Tuesday in the SEC Tournament.

“Not a good night for him but he’s such a warrior,” Bianco said. “The year he’s had has gone unnoticed. We needed the best outing out of him tonight. Fastball command was a lot of up and the breaking ball wasn’t really good. He pushed through and got us deep in the game and saved the bullpen. He’ll get the ball on Tuesday.”