Hudson Brown Shines in Return Home, Kentucky Drops Opener

Oxford, Miss. – Tristan Bissetta continued his torrid pace at the plate with a pair of home runs as No. 19 Ole Miss blanked No. 15 Kentucky 5-0 in Thursday night’s series opener at Swayze Field.

The defeat ended UK’s 13-game winning streak.

Bissetta – who has seven home runs in his past seven games and four in the past two – outshined UK infielder Hudson Brown’s return home. Brown reached base four times and had half of the Wildcats’ four hits.

The Rebels touched UK starter Ben Cleaver for a pair of two-strike hits in the first frame, including Bissetta’s opposite field liner into the UK bullpen. Bissetta added a solo shot in the fifth off Ryan Mullan, another opposite field shot.

Meanwhile, Ole Miss starter Hunter Elliott and closer Tyler Rabe were excellent in limiting the Cats (18-3, 3-1 Southeastern Conference) from stringing anything together despite having runners on base in seven of nine innings.

NOTES

• Kentucky is 18-3 on the season, 3-1 in SEC play.
  • UK is 135-66 since the beginning of 2023.
• UK Coach Nick Mingione is in his 10th season at the helm and now owns a 310-195 career record.
  • Mingione is the second-winningest coach in school history.
  • UK is 122-46 in the month of March under Coach Mingione.
  • Mingione is 117-125 in SEC games.
    • Mingione is 47-72 in road SEC games.
  • Mingione now is 9-7 vs. Ole Miss.
  • Mingione is 15-16 vs. teams from Mississippi.
• UK’s four hits matched its season low set against Evansville in a 1-0 loss, the Cats’ last defeat.
• IF Hudson Brown went 2-for-2 with two walks.
  • He saw 26 pitches in his four at bats.
• LHP Ben Cleaver rebounded from the worst start of his career with a much better effort.
  • He allowed two runs on four hits with four strikeouts in 3.2 innings.

ON DECK

UK and Ole Miss meet again on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. ET/6:30 local. The game is on SECN+ and the contest can be heard on UK Sports Network.