The Recap: No. 6 Ole Miss Rebels Fall Short Against No. 5 Tennessee Volunteers

Originally posted on Ole Miss Rebels on SI
By Billy Kuhl | Last updated Apr 11, 2025 10:58 PM ET

The No. 6 Ole Miss Rebels suffered their eighth loss of the season after falling just short of a late-game comeback in the series opener against the No. 5 Tennessee Volunteers on Friday night.

The Volunteers opened the scoring early with a two-run double in the second off of the bat of Manny Marin as he plated Dalton Bargo and former Rebel Andrew Fischer, giving Tennessee a 2-0 lead in the second.

The Rebels finally got in the hit column with a leadoff single from Luke Hill in the fourth.

The Volunteers added on another on a chopper to third where Hill took the force at first allowing a runner to cross, making it 3-0 Tennessee.

Ole Miss put themselves on the board in the fifth as Austin Fawley blasted a two-run shot to cut the deficit to one.

SEE YA!

2-run bomb off the bat of Austin Fawley!@fawley_austin x #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/7f9EA6UwlG
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) April 12, 2025

Both offenses went quiet but the Rebels looked threatening in the ninth, ultimately stranding two runners on base as Tennessee clinched the win.

Pitching was the name of the game on Friday night in Oxford as both squads kept runners in check when allowed on the bases, but the performance of the night comes from another former Rebel, Liam Doyle who tossed 8.1 innings.

He allowed just five base runners while striking out 14 batters in his first game against his former ball club.

The Rebels also saw some stellar pitching tonight, especially from Mason Morris, who came out of the pen and threw 5 scoreless innings.

He gave up just three hits while allowing zero free passes in an efficient 65 pitches.

The loss pushes the Rebels to 26-8 (8-5 SEC) as Tennessee moves to 29-4 (9-3 SEC) on the season.

Action will resume on Saturday at 4 p.m. CT at Swayze Field as the Rebels look to force a rubber match on Sunday.