PEARL — Josh Laxer showed the first glimpses Tuesday of why he’s considered a potential future ace in Ole Miss’ pitching rotation.

Playing in front of a number of family and friends, the freshman from nearby Madison Central threw seven shutout innings to lead the Rebels to a 3-0 victory over Southern Miss at Trustmark Park.

“My coach sat me down before the game and said I hadn’t had the year I’d like to have. He told me I had to have the mentality I had when I pitched in high school, and that was to go after batters and not worry about nibbling the corners. Just blow it by them, and I think that helped me a lot,” Laxer said.

Laxer struck out five batters in the longest outing of his brief college career. The only USM batters who reached base against him were Isaac Rodriguez and Austin Roussel. Both singled twice, Roussel was walked once and Rodriguez was hit by a pitch in the second inning.

The only time Laxer got into serious trouble was the fifth inning. Rodriguez and Roussel both singled to put runners at first and third with no outs. Laxer got Kameron Brunty to pop a short fly ball to left field, then Roussel was thrown out trying to steal second. Blake Brown followed with a fly ball to deep center for the third out.

“There’s some jitters, especially coming home to play, or close to home and playing in front of fans you know. I got over them real quick after I got out there,” Laxer said.

The other half of Ole Miss’ battery, catcher Will Allen, provided the bulk of Laxer’s run support with some heady base running.

After Matt Snyder led off the top of the second inning with a double, Allen drove in the game’s first run with an infield single. Allen then went from first to third on an errant pickoff throw and scored on a single by John Gatlin.

Allen also led off the fourth inning with a single, went to second on a wild pitch and stole third on a pitch in the dirt. He scored on a sacrifice fly by Auston Bousfield to give the Rebels a 3-0 lead.

Allen’s ability on the base paths was an unexpected bonus for Ole Miss. The sophomore had one stolen base in his career and joked that he’s among the slower members of the team.

“Coach (Mike) Bianco says he’s not going to be mad at you if you’re playing the game hard and playing the right way,” Allen said. “If you think you’ve got a jump and you get picked off, he said he’s never going to be mad at you. So I was just kind of taking his word for that and hoping things went right.”

Dillon Day, normally Southern Miss’ starting center fielder, made a spot start on the mound and turned in five solid innings. He walked one batter, struck out three and scattered six hits. The Golden Eagles’ offense, though, offered him no support.

It was the seventh time in eight games that the Golden Eagles have scored two runs or less. They’ve totaled just 14 runs in that span, and been shut out twice. Even after Laxer left Tuesday’s game, USM struggled at the plate. Relievers Aaron Greenwood and R.J. Hively struck out five of the six batters they faced in the eighth and ninth innings.

“I think what’s the most frustrating thing is the opportunities we’re not cashing in on,” Southern Miss coach Scott Berry said. “Particularly with runners at third, less than two outs. Or at Marshall, where we had several situations where we couldn’t get a two-out hit. That’s what wins you games. Those are what we have done in the past to win us games. That is all mental. It’s not physical. It’s not fundamental. It’s mental. It’s your ability to get in there and compete.”