No. 5 Ole Miss baseball run-rules Charleston Southern

OXFORD, Miss. (Ole Miss Athletics) – John Gaddis, a transfer left-hander from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, had a successful debut as an Ole Miss pitcher on Saturday as the Rebels (2-0) beat Charleston Southern (0-2) 11-1 to claim the season-opening series at Swayze Field.

Gaddis actually walked the first CSU batter of the game, Ryan Waldschmidt, but recovered after getting the first out on a foul ball caught by third baseman Justin Bench, followed by two Buccaneer strikeouts.

In the top of the second inning, a two-out walk was followed by a strikeout from Peyton Mills as Gaddis awaited some runs from his offense. And they were coming.

A four-run bottom of the second set an offensive tone for Ole Miss on this day. TJ McCants singled to left to get Peyton Chatagnier home after the Rebels’ second baseman had reached on a double. McCants later scored on a throwing error by the CSU catcher.

A two-run shot to right by Hayden Leatherwood into the Rebels’ bullpen scored Ben Van Cleve who had reached on a walk. The Rebels had a 4-0 lead after two innings.

Ole Miss scored runs in each of the next four innings, including a two-run shot to left center by Tim Elko, his second home run in as many days.

The Rebels led 11-1 heading to the top of the seventh. The Buccaneers failed to score and with the ten-run rule in effect, this one was officially over.

Gaddis pitched four innings before giving way to right-hander Riley Maddox. The freshman from Jackson Prep pitched the next two innings, followed by junior Matt Parenteau, also in his first action as a Rebel after transferring from Parkland College.

Gaddis got the win, allowing one run on three hits with three strikeouts and two walks. Maddox gave up just a hit with three strikeouts in two innings, while Parenteau’s one frame had two strikeouts and a foul out to third baseman Reagan Burford to end the game.

Elko’s two hits – a single in the first and the home run in the fourth, all producing three RBI – paced the Rebels. Six Ole Miss players got one hit each – Jacob Gonzalez, Chatagnier, and Van Cleve with doubles; McCants and Hayden Dunhurst with singles, and Leatherwood’s homer.

The loss went to junior right-hander Jerry Couch, the first of five pitchers for CSU on the day.

Ole Miss heads to Sunday’s game with an opportunity for the sweep. The first pitch is set for 1:30 p.m. CT, with streaming available on SEC Network +.