OXFORD — The Rebel offense came alive while the pitching staff shut the Bulldogs down as No. 7 Ole Miss (37-15, 17-10 SEC) defeated Mississippi State (23-28, 8-18 SEC) by a score of 8-1 on Sunday to salvage the series.

Starter Phillip Irwin (6-3) picked up the win for the Rebels as he struck out a career-high 10 batters and held the Bulldogs to four hits and two walks in 6.1 innings of work. Jake Morgan then picked up his seventh save of the season as he worked the final 2.2 innings after entering the game with a man on the seventh and the Rebels holding to a 3-0 lead.

Devin Jones (0-3) took the loss for the Bulldogs as he allowed three runs on six hits with four walks and six strikeouts in 5.2 innings of work.

“It was a good game today and we probably looked more like ourselves, and not because we won,” said Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco. “We pitched well and played defense…and really the story of the day was Phil Irwin. He really placed four pitches today.”

Ole Miss got on the board in the fifth inning when Evan Button hit a solo home run to right field to give the Rebels a 1-0 lead.

The scoring continued in the sixth as the Rebels plated two more runs. Kyle Henson — who reached on a fielder’s choice and moved to third on a single from David Phillips – scored on a single to right center from Kevin Mort. Phillips advanced to third on the play and then scored on a wild pitch as Ole Miss moved out to a 3-0 lead.

The Rebels then broke things open in the seventh as Ole Miss would push four more runs across and take the lead out to 7-0. Logan Power walked and then scored on a Matt Smith home run to spark the rally as Ole Miss put the game out of reach.

The Rebels added an eighth run in the eighth inning as Power scored on a Brett Basham single that pushed Power home from third and gave Ole Miss the 8-0 advantage.

Mississippi State broke up the shutout in the ninth as Jarrod Parks — who struck out, but reached on a passed ball – scored from second on a single from Cody Freeman.

Florida 9, LSU 3

BATON ROUGE — Florida freshman left-hander Nick Maronde (3-1) totaled a career-high eight strikeouts over five strong innings and the Gator offense banged out 15 hits to upend No. 3 LSU (38-14, 18-9 SEC), 9-3, on Sunday afternoon at Alex Box Stadium. After dropping the first two contests of the series, No. 9 UF (35-17, 17-10 SEC) ended a three-game slide to move within a game of the Tigers for first place in the Southeastern Conference with one series remaining.

After each being held hitless during the first two games in Baton Rouge, the duo of freshman Preston Tucker (4-for-5, three runs) and junior Matt den Dekker (3-for-3, three runs, three RBI) played key roles in the win for the Orange and Blue. Junior Jonathan Pigott also went 2-for-5 and drove in three runs.

Florida exploded for three runs on four hits in the third against sophomore Austin Ross (5-6) to take its first lead of the series. Senior Avery Barnes opened the inning with an infield hit to extend his hitting streak to a career-high 15 games but was erased at second base on a fielder’s choice by junior Mike Mooney. Tucker had a ground-rule double just inside the left-field line for runners on second and third and den Dekker was walked intentionally with two outs to load the bags. Senior Brandon McArthur (2-for-3, two RBI) had an infield single to score Mooney with the initial run and Jonathan Pigott sliced a two-run single through the left side of the infield for a 3-0 advantage.

Junior Ryan Schimpf began the fourth with his 16th homer to straightaway center field close the gap to 3-1. It was the first hit of the game allowed by Maronde. The left-hander responded by striking out the next three hitters, junior Blake Dean, sophomore DJ LeMahieu and freshman Tyler Hanover, to match his career-high of seven K set against Alabama on March 28.

UF answered in the fifth with a two-out double by McArthur on a hit-and-run to score den Dekker all the way from first base to take a 4-1 lead. After Ross had set down the first two batters of the inning, den Dekker singled into right field. With den Dekker running, McArthur angled a two-bagger into the gap in left center to re-claim a three-run edge and end the afternoon for Ross. Over 4.2 innings, he gave up eight hits and four runs, with five strikeouts and a walk.

Southern Miss 4, Memphis 2

MILLINGTON, Tenn. —Southern Miss salvaged the final game of the series behind a brilliant pitching performance by sophomore Todd McInnis, leading the Golden Eagles to a 4-2 victory at USA Stadium in Millington, Tenn. Sunday afternoon.

“Todd was super today, as good as he has pitching in a long time,” head coach Corky Palmer said. “We scratched and clawed today but that was a big win for us and a lot of the credit has to go to McInnis today. Also give Johnson a lot of credit for getting a big strikeout to end the game.”

McInnis had one of his best outings in his brilliant season, striking out a career high 11 hitters, while allowing only four hits in eight innings of work without walking anyone. He allowed only five runners to reach base all game, facing only four hitters over the minimum in eight complete innings. He allowed only one run, a solo home run in the eighth inning, while picking up his seventh win of the season.

Memphis threatened in the ninth with three hits and a run off reliever Cody Schlagel, but Jonathon Johnston left the bases loaded to record his first save of the season striking out Memphis pinch hitter Bret Bowen on four pitches.

Kameron Brunty was the only Golden Eagle with multiple hits as he recorded two including a RBI. Bo Davis added in two RBI on the afternoon.

Southern Miss opened the scoring in the top of the first as Kameron Brunty delivered a bases loaded single to plate James Ewing and give the Golden eagles an early 1-0 lead.

Southern Miss loaded the bases again in the sixth inning on a double by Michael Ewing, bunt single by Travis Graves and James Ewing was hit by a pitch with no one out. Taylor Walker drew a base on balls to force home Michael Ewing for the second run of the game.

Bo Davis followed with a two-RBI sacrifice fly, as he drilled a ball to deep centerfield, Graves tagged and easily scored from third. Meanwhile James Ewing also tagged from second and never stopped running as he rounded third base and easily scored because the Memphis outfielder lobbed a throw back into second base.

Memphis finally cracked the scoreboard in the bottom of the eighth inning as Jacob Wilson hit a solo home run to make the score 4-1.