PEARL — Brett Bukvich has been a fixture on the Ole Miss pitching staff for four years. In that time, he’s had his share of good days and bad.

Tuesday at Trustmark Park was one of the best.

Bukvich, a senior left-hander from nearby Northwest Rankin, held Mississippi State to one run in six innings and had a career-high 11 strikeouts as Ole Miss pounded the Bulldogs 8-1 in the annual Governor’s Cup game. Bukvich was named the game’s most valuable player.

“I’ve got a lot of buddies on that team, and it’s funny. The only guys that gave me problems were the guys that I grew up against,” said Bukvich, who scattered five hits and didn’t walk anyone. “This is probably one of my best (games). It came at the perfect time.”

Michael Hubbard went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs for Ole Miss (26-10), Kevin Mort drove in three runs with a pair of singles, and former Vicksburg High star Jordan Henry was 2-for-4 with two runs scored.

The Rebels blew the game open with two runs in the fourth inning and three in the fifth to take a 7-1 lead. Mort drove in both runs in the fourth with a single, and had another RBI single in the fifth. Hubbard had an RBI double in the second inning, scored a run in the fourth and drove in another run with a single in the fifth.

David Phillips added a pinch-hit, RBI single in the sixth to score Henry and make it 8-1.

“Michael is a guy who’s a senior and hasn’t made a lot of starts. He gave us some life and energy there,” Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco said.

Bukvich has made more than a few starts — 39 of them since 2006 — but few were as good as this one. He struck out the side twice, had at least one strikeout in every inning, and retired seven batters in a row at one point. Only two runners advanced beyond second base against him.

Mississippi State’s only run came in the second inning, when Scott DeLoach led off with a triple and scored on a groundout by Jet Butler. DeLoach finished the game 2-for-4, and Nick Hardy went 3-for-3 for the Bulldogs (19-18). DeLoach and Hardy, both seniors, were two of the guys Bukvich had grown up playing against. Both MSU players starred at Madison Central.

“Buck had a really good change-up. The first at-bat I looked miserable against it, then he threw me another one and I was sitting on it,” DeLoach said. “Me and Nick have been facing him since we were 7. We know each other pretty well.”

Although Bukvich hasn’t cracked the weekend rotation this season, he has developed into a reliable mid-week starter for the Rebels. He’s gone at least five innings in six of his seven starts this season and improved to 5-1 with Tuesday’s win. In five of his starts, he’s allowed one run or less.

Ironically, his only awful outing was his one weekend start when he allowed seven runs in two-thirds of an inning against Alabama.

“I don’t know what the adjectives are. Bittle-like,” Bianco said, referring to Rebels ace Scott Bittle. “He really only struggled one time, when he gave up those two hits to start the (fifth) inning. Then he made some pitches and got out of it.”

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Contact Ernest Bowker at ebowker@vicksburgpost.com