Gunnar Hoglund turned in a strong pitching performance and Ole Miss’ hitters backed him up with plenty of offense as the Rebels routed Alabama 12-2 on Sunday to win their first Southeastern Conference series of the season.

Ole Miss (14-6, 2-1 SEC) took two out of three from the Crimson Tide (17-4, 1-2) as conference play began in the SEC.

Hoglund allowed one run and two hits in five innings. He struck out eight and walked two. He left after walking the leadoff batter in the sixth inning — who would later score — but by then the Rebels were already ahead 12-0.

Grae Kessinger hit a two-run double to key a seven-run rally in the bottom of the third inning. He added another double in the fifth, this one with the bases loaded, to cap a second big rally.

Kessinger finished 3-for-4 with three doubles and five RBIs.

Tyler Keenan and Cooper Johnson also drove in two runs apiece, while Jacob Adams was 1-for-2 with two walks, one RBI and two runs scored.

Southern Miss 10, Louisiana Tech 5
With one weekend of Conference USA games in the books, Southern Miss is in first place.
Bryant Bowen finished a triple short of the cycle, going 3-for-3 with a home run, double, five RBIs and two runs scored to lead Southern Miss past Louisiana Tech (11-8, 0-3 Conference USA) on Sunday and to a series sweep.

Cole Donaldson also had two hits, including a bases-clearing double in the top of the first inning, for the Golden Eagles (11-6, 3-0). They scored 27 runs in the three-game series.

Southern Miss never trailed on Sunday, but didn’t fully gain control of the game until the middle innings. Bowen doubled in two runs and scored on another double by Will McGillis to put the Golden Eagles ahead 7-3 in the fifth inning.

After Louisiana Tech cut it to 7-5, Matthew Guidry hit a solo home run in the eighth and Bowen added a two-run shot in the ninth to put it out of reach.

Mason Mallard homered, walked three times, and two RBIs and scored three runs for Louisiana Tech.

Southern Miss’ bullpen picked up the slack after Adam Jackson turned in a shaky start. Five pitchers combined to allow two runs over the last 6 1/3 innings.

Mason Strickland (2-0) allowed one run in three innings to earn the win. Ryan Och walked three batters, but did not allow a run in the last two innings to pick up his first save of the season.