The Recap: Ole Miss Baseball Secures Series Win After 5-1 Win Over Nevada Wolf Pack

Mike Bianco and Co. take down the Wolf Pack in Oxford, capture series win on Saturday afternoon.

Ole Miss baseball coach Mike Bianco talks to players before the game against the Texas Longhorns at the Shriners Children's College Showdown in Arlington, Texas. | Ole Miss Athletic

OXFORD, Miss. – Ole Miss baseball secured its first series win of the 2026 season with a 5-1 victory over Nevada on Saturday afternoon at Swayze Field.

The Rebels (2-0) have started undefeated through two games in five of the last six seasons. Ole Miss strung together 11 hits and three home runs, upping its season total to 22 and four, respectively.

Sophomore Cade Townsend started at pitcher for the Rebels and arguably had his best performance as a Rebel. He worked 4.2 innings, in which time he struck out a career high eight batters, allowing only one earned run and no walks. Ole Miss pitchers have totaled 25 strikeouts against the Wolfpack (0-2) in the first two games of the season, which includes double-digit strikeouts in both games thus far.

Ole Miss’ home runs came by way of Judd Utermark, Tristan Bissetta and Tate Sirmans. Utermark smacked the 30th home run of his career in the bottom of the first inning. His ball soared 428 feet into the stands to give the Rebels an early 1-0 lead.

Nevada responded with a run of its own in the top of the second, but Bissetta’s strong weekend continued with his first home run in an Ole Miss uniform. His 415-foot bomb brought Dom Decker, who reached on a single the at-bat prior, and himself home to cushion Ole Miss’ lead.

Townsend dominated the third and fourth innings on the mound. Five of his eight strikeouts came in those two innings, retiring nine consecutive batters faced in the process.

Courtesy of Dom Decker's Instagram.

In his first career game and second-ever at-bat, Sirmans reignited the Ole Miss bats by driving a ball deep to left field for a home run. It marks back-to-back games that a redshirt freshman Rebel hit a home run in their first collegiate game, as Brett Moseley did so in game one yesterday.

After more lockdown pitching and defense from Ole Miss, Decker reached first off a single up the middle, his second hit of the day, and swiped second for his first steal of the season. Bissetta earned his seventh RBI of the weekend by singling to right field to bring Decker home to put Ole Miss up 5-1, a lead that would stick.

Taylor Rabe entered the game in relief and pitched 3.1 innings of clean baseball. He allowed no runs while striking out a trio of batters to earn his first career victory.

In the top of the ninth, Landon Koenig made his first appearance as a Rebel. The junior righty shut the door on the Wolfpack, striking out the first and last batter he faced.

The series finale is set for 1:30 p.m. CT on Sunday and will be streamed on SECN+.

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