Ole Miss baseball opens SEC Tournament with 7-4 win over Auburn, strengthens host resume

Ole Miss began its SEC Tournament journey on Tuesday, knocking off the Auburn Tigers 7-4 in Hoover, Ala., to advance to the double elimination portion of the bracket.

Doug Nikhazy was once again #good, Justin Bench had an inside-the-park home run (although there’s debate as to whether the ball left the yard or not), and Hayden Dunhurst put a ball into orbit in the Rebel win. Here is Bench’s “dinger” which made the haters and naysayers very furious.

Also, here’s Doug Nikhazy making folks look foolish.

The win on Tuesday night doesn’t really impact the Rebels in the postseason discussion. They’re very likely hosting a regional regardless, but winning is more fun than losing, according to sources, so we’ll take it. Taylor Broadway also tied the Ole Miss single-season saves record with 13 on Tuesday night, but now the question stands: who do we throw now? People are saying that you, yes you, dear reader, could be next in line out of the Rebel bullpen should they make a run this week, so stand at the ready and be on call.

Ole Miss now will face Vanderbilt in Hoover, and regardless of what happens tonight, the Rebels are guaranteed at least one more game in the tournament after today because, well, that’s how double elimination works.

The Rebels are once again a part of the nightcap, meaning we have to stay awake potentially past midnight in order to take in the whole game. Last night’s game started at 8:15 p.m., so I’m going to say that’s probably in the vicinity of when tonight’s game will begin on SEC Network.