Ole Miss Blows Early Lead, Falls to Southern Miss in Final Midweek Game of Season

The Ole Miss Rebels dropped their final midweek game of the season on Tuesday night, falling 7-4 to the Southern Miss Golden Eagles in Hattiesburg.

Ole Miss (27-25) splits the season series with USM after having earned a win over the Golden Eagles in Pearl, Mississippi, earlier this season.

The Rebels jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first two innings thanks to a two-run shot from third baseman Andrew Fischer, an RBI single from shortstop Luke Hill and an RBI groundout from left fielder Jackson Ross. That would prove to be Ole Miss' only offensive production of the night, however, as the Rebels finished the night 1-for-9 at the plate with runners in scoring position.

Southern Miss would push across one run in the bottom of the second to narrow the deficit to 4-1, and it struck for three runs apiece in the fifth and sixth innings to tie the game and claim its first lead of the night. From that point on, Ole Miss played from behind and was unable to claw its way back into the game at Pete Taylor Park.

RHP Grayson Saunier gained the start on the hill for Ole Miss, throwing 4.2 innings of five-hit, three-run ball. He was relieved by a combination of four different arms, and Cole Tolbert was credited with the loss after surrendering three runs on one hit in 0.1 inning of work.

It's a short turnaround for the Rebels as they will return to action on Thursday night in Baton Rouge. Ole Miss' series with the Tigers not only bears a lot of weight in terms of reaching the SEC Tournament, but also the NCAA Tournament as the regular season draws to a close. The Rebels enter the series with an 11-16 mark in SEC play, and the Tigers carry a mark of 10-17.

First pitch on Thursday at Alex Box Stadium is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT.