The ninth-ranked Ole Miss Rebels showed Tuesday evening that the 12-0 shellacking they handed the Tigers in AutoZone Park earlier this season was no fluke, beating Memphis, 7-1, before a crowd of 1,603 at Swayze Field.
Rebel freshman outfielder Seth Smith went 2-for-4 with three RBI to help give Ole Miss its longest winning streak (11) since winning 15 straight in 1964.
Smith broke a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the fifth with an RBI single, then added a two-run single in the sixth that made it 6-1. His three RBI were his 35th and 36th of the season, breaking former standout Matt Tolbert’s freshman RBI record.
Mike Gray (2-0) got the win for the Rebels while Memphis pitcher Nick Steht (0-3) lost for the third time this season.
Gray worked five innings, giving up just one first-inning run on six hits and two walks. Steht allowed four runs on seven hits in four innings.
Memphis (11-17) got its lone run of the night in the top of the first when freshman Brent Dlugach doubled in Paul Cookman.
But Ole Miss (26-7) tied the game in the bottom of the second, then scored three in the fifth and three in sixth inning for the win.
Cookman, Dlugach and Andy Gesell each had two hits for the Tigers, who host Austin Peay tonight at 7 at Nat Buring Stadium before leaving for a three-game Conference USA series against Houston (23-10, 8-4 in C-USA) this weekend.
