OXFORD — It’s two games into the 2017 college baseball season, and the Ole Miss Rebels are already developing a flair for the dramatic.

Will Golsan delivered a game-tying double and then scored the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly in the seventh inning as Ole Miss beat East Carolina 3-2 on Saturday afternoon.

Ole Miss has taken the first two games of the three-game, season-opening series, and won both by scoring in the late innings. The series finale is Sunday at noon.

Golsan finished with two hits, an RBI and a run scored, while Colby Bortles drove in two runs. Bortles homered in the sixth inning to put Ole Miss’ first run on the board, and then brought in Golsan with his sacrifice fly to center field in the seventh inning.

Luke Bolka hit a solo home run in the top of the second inning for East Carolina, and scored another run when T.J. Riles was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the fifth inning.

Ole Miss starter James McArthur went 4 1/3 innings and allowed both East Carolina runs. Reliever Andy Pagnozzi threw 2 2/3 innings of shutout relief, struck out three and walked none to earn the win.
Will Stokes pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his second save of the season.

Ryan Olenek was 2-for-5 with a run scored for Ole Miss, and Thomas Dillard also had two hits including a double.

Southern Miss 14, Northeastern 1

Kirk McCarty allowed two hits through seven innings and Southern Miss scored in every inning to claim a 14-1 victory over Northeastern Saturday afternoon at Pete Taylor Park.

McCarty (1-0), a Preseason All-Conference USA selection, struck out six and walked one. The junior left-hander also hit a batter, but allowed just four baserunners as the Golden Eagles (2-0) clinched their opening series of the season with consecutive victories Friday and Saturday.

Freshman center fielder Matt Wallner had three hits and drove in a pair of runs, and junior third baseman Taylor Braley drove in four runs for a second consecutive game

Redshirt freshman catcher Bryant Bowen, who hit his first career home run in his first career start, was one of five Golden Eagles to score two runs. That list also included senior first baseman Dylan Burdeaux, junior shortstop LeeMarcus Boyd and junior outfielders Mason Irby and Casey Maack.

Sophomore outfielder Hunter Slater drove in three runs and had two hits, as did Braley and second baseman Tracy Hadley.

The teams will wrap up the three-game series at 1 p.m. Sunday. Freshman right-hander Cody Carroll is expected to debut for the Golden Eagles, while the Huskies are expected to start right-hander Kyle Murphy.

Mississippi State 8, Western Illinois 2

Cole Gordon homered, Jake Mangum went 2-for-4 with an RBI, and Mississippi State gave new head coach Andy Cannizaro his first career victory by beating Western Illinois on Saturday.

Tanner Poole went 3-for-4 with two RBIs for the Bulldogs, who scored five runs in the bottom of the first inning and cruised from there. Poole drove in two runs with a single in the first inning.

Peyton Plumlee pitched six innings for the Bulldogs. He allowed one run, no walks, and struck out seven.

LSU 6, Army 0

LSU pitcher Jared Poche’ threw a seven-inning no-hitter as the Tigers swept a doubleheader from Army with a 6-0 win in game two. LSU won the first game 9-0.

Poche’s no-hitter was the sixth in school history and the first individual no-hitter since March 14, 1979. The last no-hitter was a combined no-hitter on May 13, 2014 when LSU defeated Northwestern State 27-0.