HATTIESBURG — Tanner Hall kept knocking them down and Slade Wilks kept knocking them out to lead Southern Miss to a series-opening victory on Friday.

Hall had a career-high 15 strikeouts in seven innings pitched, and Wilks hit his 17th home run of the season as Southern Miss crushed Arkansas State 12-1.

Wilks finished 2-for-4 with five RBIs. He hit an RBI single in the first inning, a sacrifice fly in the second, and a three-run home run in the third as the Golden Eagles jumped out to a 10-0 lead and were never threatened.

Dustin Dickerson had two hits and scored three runs, and Christopher Sargent drove in two runs for the Golden Eagles. Nick Monistere was also 3-for-3 with one RBI and one run scored.

Hall (8-3) carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning and pitched through the seventh. He allowed three hits and two walks, and only one run.

The Golden Eagles (26-15, 12-7 Sun Belt Conference) won their fourth game in a row, and have scored in double figures in three of those. The series continues Saturday at noon at Pete Taylor Park. The game was moved up two hours due to rain expected later in the afternoon.

Ole Miss 7, Georgia 3
Peyton Chatagnier hit a go-ahead solo home run in the seventh inning, and Ole Miss (22-20, 4-15 Southeastern Conference) tacked on three insurance runs in the eighth to take game one of its weekend series with Georgia (23-19, 7-12).

Will Furniss went 2-for-4 with a double and three RBIs for Ole Miss. Two of his RBIs came on a double in the eighth inning, and Chatagnier drove in another run later on with a ground out for a 7-3 lead.

Chatagnier’s home run in the seventh snapped a 3-3 tie.

Five Ole Miss pitchers combined for 14 strikeouts. Mason Nichols (3-3), the fourth pitcher to take the mound, worked one inning and earned the win. Jack Dougherty had five strikeouts over the last two innings and picked up his second save.

Starter Xavier Rivas had seven strikeouts in four innings.

Game two of the series is Saturday at noon, and the finale is Sunday at 1:30 p.m. Both games will stream on SEC Network+.

Tennessee 12, Mississippi State 8
Blake Burke hit one of Tennessee’s four home runs, a three-run shot in the sixth inning that gave the Volunteers the lead for good, as they beat Mississippi State on Friday.

Mississippi State blew a five-run lead. Hunter Hines homered twice in the first five innings and Dakota Jordan added a three-run home run in the first inning to stake the Bulldogs to a 7-2 lead.
Hines finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs and three runs scored.

Jared Dickey started Tennessee’s comeback with a two-run home run in the fifth inning, and an RBI double by Christian Moore and RBI single by Griffin Merritt cut it to 7-6. Moore also hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning.

Burke’s homer in the sixth put Tennessee ahead 10-8 and they padded the lead with two more runs in the seventh. Zane Denton hit a two-run homerun and Cal Stark an RBI single.

Camden Sewell pitched 3 1/3 innings of scoreless relief for the Volunteers (29-14, 10-10 SEC), who have won the first two games of the series. The finale is Saturday at 1 p.m. It will be televised on ESPNU.
Mississippi State (24-19, 6-14) has now lost two consecutive SEC series after winning the previous two.