OXFORD | Hayden Dunhurst threw from his knees, mask askew and quickly found his footing to run toward the mass of powder blue bodies headed his way. Peyton Chatagnier, after applying the final tag, spiked the ball in the ground and screamed in satisfaction in the direction of Anthony Servideo and the Louisville runner who had just been erased.

Derek Diamond bolted from the dugout to join his teammates and cap his first collegiate action. Wes Burton ended his broadcast interview and found his mother, Sabrina, giving her a long hug and then a high five before completing the remainder of his interviews.

Turns out, the kids are all right.

With a youth movement underway and veterans delivering as needed, No. 25 Ole Miss charged from behind and then held on for dear life to beat No. 1 Louisville, 7-6, and back-end the series to start the season. The back-to-back victories continued home dominance during the Mike Bianco era, as the Rebels are 5-0 in series against top-ranked teams at Swayze Field under Bianco.

“At the beginning you hope the young guys perform and a lot of questions out there answered today,” Mike Bianco said. “You don’t know how they’ll do the first time they step out there.”

Ole Miss hosts Arkansas State and Alcorn State in midweek games Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. Greer Holston starts for Ole Miss against the Red Wolves.

Servideo’s two-run home run in the fifth inning brought Ole Miss within a run, and he reached base four times, capping off a weekend of offensive production at the top of the order. The Rebels trailed 4-3 before a four-run seventh inning, that included four hits, two hit by pitches and a walk, pushed them ahead by two runs.

“The walks and hit by pitches get hidden a little bit, but so many good at-bats in that inning to string it together,” Bianco said.

Louisville scored two in the ninth and got the go-ahead run to the plate before Max Cioffi and Dunhurst executed the strike-‘em-out, throw-’em-out double play to end the game.

The two California freshmen pitchers kept the Cardinals reasonably calm for much of the game, with Diamond allowing four runs (three earned) on six hits in 5.2 innings and Burton throwing two scoreless innings before a leadoff walk ended his outing in the top of the ninth.

Diamond threw 57 of 79 pitches for strikes and showed excellent poise in the couple tough moments of his day. He gave up back-to-back home runs in the fifth inning but got three straight outs afterward and got ahead of all three batters. A couple errors during his start altered his line.

“I felt awesome and was less nervous than I thought I would feel out there,” Diamond said. “I was only thinking about winning the series and beating number one. This solidifies it that we’re going to be tough to beat all season.”

Burton, who frenetically talked to himself throughout his 34 pitches, retired seven straight prior to the walk.

“It’s a little bit of a dark place we have to go to sometimes,” Burton said. “I want to see the video and see if we got any closeups or anything. That’s probably not super cool to show on TV.”

The newcomers make up most of the storylines, but Servideo and Tyler Keenan accounted for four of the Rebels’ nine hits, and Tim Elko added another as well as a defensive play that saved a hit at first base.

“The narrative is that the returners… those guys have to play at a high level and help out and give us some room,” Bianco said. “It’s huge. We need those guys. Tyler showed he’s a force in the middle of the lineup.”

Hayden Leatherwood, in his first game, went 2-for-2 including a ball off the wall, but he was tagged out on the pop-up slide after reaching second base.

Cioffi got the save and secured Burton’s win with the final three outs. He allowed a hit and threw a wild pitch but threw 13 strikes in 22 pitches.

Nine of the 14 position players for Ole Miss Sunday are in their first season with the Rebels. The young lineup made Luke Smith, one of the nation’s top Sunday starters, throw 91 pitches to get 15 outs and put up three runs and five hits with two walks in those five innings.

“It’s a great start but a long ways to go, and we have 53 of them left,” Bianco said. “Let’s see how we do.”