Ole Miss Bounces Back, Claims Nail-Biting Win Over Alabama to Even Series

The Ole Miss Rebels bounced back from a run-rule loss on Thursday night to even a critical series against the Alabama Crimson Tide on Friday.

OXFORD - The Ole Miss Rebels held on to claim a 9-8 win over the visiting Alabama Crimson Tide on Friday night, evening the series at one game apiece.

The win in Game 2 came on the heels of a 12-0 run-rule loss to the Tide in seven innings in the series opener, and now, the Rebels will have a chance to claim the weekend on Saturday afternoon.

Ole Miss jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first before pushing the lead to 3-0 in the third. First baseman Will Furniss got the scoring started in the first inning with an RBI double, part of a four-hit, two-RBI night for him.

Alabama would push across a single run in the fourth inning before acquiring a four-spot in the fifth to claim a 5-3 lead, but Ole Miss responded with four runs of its own in the bottom half on a two-RBI single from Judd Utermark and a two-RBI double from Andrew Fischer.

Both teams pushed across a pair of runs in the sixth inning (including back-to-back home runs for Ole Miss from Ethan Lege and Will Furniss), and Alabama gained a single run in the seventh to bring the score to 9-8. Rebels reliever Connor Spencer was eventually called upon to claim his sixth save of the season with one inning of work in the ninth.

Liam Doyle was given the start on the hill for Ole Miss, throwing 4.1 innings of three-hit, two-run ball. He was relieved by a combination of four arms on the night, but lefty Gunnar Dennis was credited with the win despite surrendering five hits and three runs across 2.1 innings of work.

The Rebels and Tide will conclude their series on Saturday afternoon at Swayze Field, and first pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT on SEC Network.