OXFORD, Miss. – A fast start by No. 17 Ole Miss was too much for Jacksonville State to overcome on Saturday in an xx-x setback at Swayze Field on the UM campus.

The Rebels took advantage of ineffective pitching by the Gamecocks early on with five runs in the first inning off of two hits and added four more runs in the second inning. Ole Miss would plate three more runs late to pull away and clinch the series.

Jax State, which got off to a good start with a run in the first inning, trailed 9-1 after two at bats, but clawed its way back into the contest midway through with three runs in the sixth inning. Redshirt freshman Cooper Blauser drove in the first run on a sacrifice fly in the first inning. Junior Colton Hegwood score on the play after extending his hitting streak to 14 games with single to the left side.

The Gamecocks greeted the first Rebel pitcher in relief with back-to-back base hits by junior Caleb Johnson and junior Carson Hornung, followed by a Blauser walk to load the bases. The first of three Jax State runs in the inning came on a wild pitch, followed by Ace Williamson's sacrifice fly. Redshirt sophomore Zander Buchan laced a double down the right field line for an RBI.

Senior Carson Hornung paced the Jax State line up with three hits in the contest. He collected three singles on the day for his third multi-hit game of the season and the first three-hit outing for the transfer from South Carolina.

Blauser and senior Drew Collins joined Hegwood in extending lengthy on-base streaks. Blauser pushed his on-base streak to all 15 games this season, while Collins reached for the 14th consecutive game with a hit-by-pitch in the third inning and added a hit in the sixth inning.

The series wraps up on Sunday with first pitch moved to 12 p.m. to avoid weather issues in the Oxford area on Sunday. The game will be streamed on SEC Network +.