The Recap: Ole Miss Baseball Takes Down No. 6 Auburn Tigers in Series Opener

The Ole Miss Rebels took away a convincing 9-2 win over the No. 6 Auburn Tigers on Thursday night at Swayze Field behind an impressive late-inning offensive showcase alongside shutdown pitching.

The night started with a duel from the starters on both sides, but eventually one team had to break through as Ole Miss broke the ice in the fifth inning with Luke Hill skying a fly ball to left, but deep enough for Ethan Surowiec to cross on a sac fly.

The Rebels added another as Ryan Moreman broke home while Mitchell Sanford was in the midst of a rundown; giving Ole Miss a 2-0 lead.

Ole Miss kept it rolling in the sixth as Collin Rueter executed in a pinch hit appearence driving in a run with a single.

The pinch-hit was quickly followed by another RBI single this time off the bat of Moreman as he produced his second run of the night.

Hunter Elliott, the Rebels' starter, concluded his dominate night with another impressive inning in the seventh as he reached a tally of 96 pitches. He totaled with 4 hits and 2 walks allowed while striking out eight Auburn batters.

The Rebels kept adding the insurance late as Judd Utermark laced a single up the middle to score Sanford and Hill with no one out in the seventh inning to make it 6-0.

The Rebels then loaded the bases, but Auburn pitching sat down two in a row with the way of the strikeout, but Ole Miss came through as Moreman cracked a single into right, allowing Utermark to cross easily and Will Furniss to slide under a tag at home making it 8-0.

Luke Cheng then drove in another hit via a weird bouncer into the 5-6 hole with no throw attempt, allowing another run to score to make it 9-0 before Aubrun finally got out of the inning to avoid the run-rule.

In the eighth, Ole Miss turned to Will McCausland, who has been efficient recently with tonight becoming more of the same as he turned in a 1-2-3 inning with a little help.

Humphrey ended the inning brining back a home run to keep the shutout in tack, his second game in a row with a home run robbery.

After not scoring in the bottom of the inning, Ole Miss went to the ninth to close out the game and turned to Ryne Rodriguez on the bump.

Rodriguez's outing did not go as planned as he allowed a walk and a double putting two in scoring position before recording a strikeout, however that was the end of his night with a righty coming up to plate.

In relief came Alex Canney, who was greeted with a walk and a 2 RBI double to end the Rebels' shutout hopes.

However, he bounced back from the double with a much needed strikeout before battling for the final out, recording another strikeout officially closing the book on game one.

This win pushes Ole Miss to 36-17 on the season while staying above the .500 mark in the conference now sitting at 15-13.

The Rebels and Tigers will resume action on Saturday for Game 2 as Ole Miss looks to take away a series win after dropping last weekend's series.