Tennessee Swings Past Ole Miss on Friday Night in Oxford

Lane Kiffin floated a golf ball toward home plate during his pregame first pitch at Swayze Field on Friday.

The sequence generated plenty of buzz on social media, and it offered a momentary laugh for the Rebels given Kiffin’s reference to last October’s hectic Ole Miss-Tennessee football game in Knoxville.

The Rebels stopped smiling soon enough, though.

Fueled by five homers and an excellent outing from Chase Burns, No. 5 Tennessee (21-1, 4-0) rolled over No. 1 Ole Miss (16-5, 2-2) by a score of 12-1 in Game 1 of this weekend’s sold-out three-game set.

UT jumped all over Ole Miss starter John Gaddis in the top of the second frame, as two walks and an Evan Russell single set the table for a Cortland Lawson triple and a 4-0 lead.

Jared Dickey followed suit with a two-run shot, good for Tennessee’s NCAA-leading 60th bomb of the year, and the Vols brought out a mustard bottle to celebrate — a direct shot right back at Kiffin.

Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco pulled starter John Gaddis, but it was no use — Luc Lipcius took Dylan Delucia deep in the top of the fourth inning, then Trey Lipscomb jacked a three-run bomb for a 10-0 advantage just one frame later.

Dickey homered again for an 11-0 lead in the top half of the sixth.

Ole Miss netted its sole run of the night with a one-run shot from Tim Elko in the bottom of the seventh, the Rebels having generated just one hit before Elko’s solo RBI.

Not to be outdone, Blake Burke sliced the Vols’ fifth and final homer of the night in the top half of the ninth for a 12-1 lead.

In total, Tennessee now has 64 home runs on the year.

On the defensive side, Burns met the moment in his first road start in the SEC.

Buoyed by the Vols’ early lead and a silent, “shower-less” Ole Miss student section, the freshman cruised for seven innings to earn his fourth win of the year.

He gave up just two hits, only one through the first six frames, with a run, an error and 11 strikeouts against a typically lethal Rebel lineup.

Mark McLaughlin took over for Burns, netting two strikeouts before Kirby Connell closed the door with the final K.

Game 2 this weekend is set for 8 p.m. ET on Saturday, and it will be shown on the SEC Network.