Ole Miss steamed through the preliminaries. Now it’s time for the main event.

Ole Miss exploded for nine runs in the fourth inning to shake off an early deficit, and three relief pitchers combined to allow one run in 81⁄3 innings as the Rebels beat Murray State 11-5 Wednesday night.

It was Ole Miss’ second non-conference win in as many days, and set the stage for this weekend’s Southeastern Conference showdown with LSU. The teams open a three-game series Friday night in Oxford.

“This game was a game that we needed. We needed a game that we won offensively,” Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco said. “They came out swinging the bats well.”

The Rebels (30-16) certainly did that. Murray State (21-25) tagged starting pitcher Sam Smith for four hits and three runs in just two-thirds of an inning, and led 4-0 after the top of the first.

Alex Yarbrough hit a sacrifice fly to get the Rebels on the board in the third inning, then they broke out in the fourth by scoring nine runs on seven hits. Ole Miss took the lead on an RBI double by Tanner Mathis, and Zack Kirksey capped the inning with a two-run double to make it 10-4.

Mathis doubled twice in the game, Will Allen went 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored.

Pitching-wise, the trio of Chris Ellis, Casey Mulholland and Jon Andy Scott picked up the slack for Smith. They combined to scatter six hits and struck out seven batters.