Ole Miss routs Murray State 19-2 behind Owen Kelly, four-home-run power surge

Owen Kelly gave Ole Miss the kind of midweek start that can carry into SEC play, and the Rebels turned it into a 19-2, seven-inning rout of Murray State at Swayze Field.

Kelly worked four no-hit innings, struck out six and walked one, setting the tone for a night that never tightened after the first few frames. Ole Miss improved to 30-12 overall and 10-8 in the Southeastern Conference, while Murray State fell to 24-17. The Rebels also continued a late-April surge that has made them one of the hotter teams in the league, with the win coming just before a three-game home series against No. 5 Georgia.

The game broke open in the fourth inning, when Ole Miss stacked power on top of pressure. Judd Utermark launched a home run, then Hayden Federico and Topher Jones followed with back-to-back shots as part of a four-homer inning. By the end of the night, Ole Miss had a season-high five home runs and had scored 19 runs, its highest total of the 2026 season. The Rebels had already gone over the 10-run mark 11 times by that point in the year, a clear sign that the offense has been capable of putting games away in bunches.

The depth behind the power mattered just as much. Seven Rebels in the starting lineup recorded a hit, and four had at least two hits. Utermark and Owen Paino led the way with three hits and four RBI apiece, giving Ole Miss production from more than one corner of the order. The Rebels finished with 14 hits and used a mix of extra-base damage, patient at-bats, hit-by-pitches, walks and aggressive baserunning to keep stretching the gap until the run rule ended it in seven innings.

The matchup also carried extra weight because Murray State had eliminated Ole Miss in the 2025 Oxford Regional, making Tuesday’s win a sharp response on home turf. With Georgia coming to Oxford for games Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the Rebels left Swayze Field with more than just a nonconference win. They left with momentum, a sharpened lineup and another reminder that the offense is peaking at the right time for the stretch run.