No. 25 Ole Miss beat No. 22 Southern Miss 10-3 on Tuesday night at Trustmark Park, fueled by a four-hit performance from Tristan Bissetta, who was named the game’s MVP, according to Ole Miss.
Bissetta, a Clemson transfer, had a single, two doubles and a home run and drove in two runs, according to the box score. “I got some good pitches to hit,” Bissetta said. “It was all about competing tonight. They’ve got a good club over there, obviously, we got the best of them tonight. [There were] opportunities to put up runs early, and we all capitalized on them.”
Ole Miss opened the scoring with a five-run third inning that included an RBI single by Bissetta and run-scoring singles by Will Furniss and Cannon Goldin, the box score shows. Dom Decker added a sacrifice fly as the Rebels took a 5-0 lead.
Bissetta added a solo homer in the fourth. Southern Miss got on the board in the sixth on a solo shot by Matthew Russo, who finished with two hits, according to the box score. Ole Miss answered with a four-run sixth, capped by a bases-clearing double from Furniss that made it 10-1.
Right-hander Landon Koenig (2-0) was credited with the win, and Ole Miss used a bullpen that included Madison native JP Robertson making his first collegiate start. “I’m proud of him, a kid from this area in his first college start,” Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco said. “He responded really well tonight.” Southern Miss starter Bruce Littleton (1-1) took the loss, and the Golden Eagles used nine pitchers in the game, according to the teams. Ole Miss improved to 27-11 (8-7 SEC) while Southern Miss fell to 25-12 (8-7 Sun Belt); Ole Miss is on a six-game winning streak and Southern Miss has lost three straight, according to the teams. Upcoming schedules call for Ole Miss to travel to Tennessee and Southern Miss to host Texas State, both beginning Friday.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
