OXFORD, Miss.  –  The University of Evansville baseball team fell to Ole Miss in a doubleheader on Friday in Oxford, dropping the first game 7-2 and the second game 14-2.

Ximi Baftiri (Morris, Ill./Morris) and Reid Haire (Hudson, N.C./Charlotte) provided the offense for Evansville in game one, hitting a pair of solo home runs in the second inning. Kenton Deverman (Dardenne Prairie, Mo./Fort Zumwalt West) pitched 5.1 innings for the Aces, striking out three while allowing four runs. Hunter Elliott got the win for Ole Miss, while Hudson Calhoun took the save.

In game two, Trenton Lombardo (Thousand Oaks, Calif./La Salle) and Drew McConnell (Blue Springs, Mo./Blue Springs) led the Aces offensively, picking up a double apiece. Max Hansmann (Elmhurst, Ill./York) struck out four in four innings, but picked up the loss, while Cade Townsend got the win for Ole Miss.

HOW IT HAPPENED (Game 1)
Evansville grabbed the lead in the second inning, with Haire getting the scoring started with a no-doubt home run to right field before Baftiri snuck a fly ball over the left field wall for his second home run of the week.

In the bottom of the third, Ole Miss answered back, plating two runs on four hits to even the score.
Evansville threatened in the fourth, as Charlie Longmeier (Seymour, Ind./Seymour) led off the inning with a ground rule double. Following a strikeout, Spike Magill (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Mountain Vista) walked to put two on with one out. However, the runners were left stranded.

In the top of the fourth, the Rebels led off the inning with a solo home run to take their first lead of the day.
Evansville threatened again in the fifth, with McConnell reaching third following an HBP and Harrison Taubert (Casper, Wyo./Northeast CC) walking and stealing second. The Aces were unable to cash in, though, leaving the runners stranded.
Ole Miss added to their lead in the fifth, using another leadoff home run to make it 4-2.

Owen Byberg (Barrie, Ontario/Frontier CC) took over for Deverman with one out in the sixth, picking up a strikeout before inducing a ground out to end the inning. Byberg put up another zero in the seventh, but Ole Miss posted a crooked number in the eighth, scoring three insurance runs before retiring the side in order in the ninth to take a 7-2 win.

HOW IT HAPPENED (Game 2)
Ole Miss scored first in game two, using three first inning singles to plate a run.

In the second inning, Hansmann put up a zero punching out two in the process. In the third, the Rebels added a run with a solo home run, but the Evansville right-hander retired the next three to keep it a 2-0 game.

However, the Rebels broke the game open in the fourth, scoring six times to open up an 8-0 lead. In the fifth, Ole Miss broke it open even further, scoring five more runs before adding another in the sixth.

Evansville got on the board in the seventh, with Lombardo hitting a pinch-hit double and McConnell hitting another double of his own to drive in two. However, the game would end with a 14-2 final in seven innings.

UP NEXT
Evansville and Ole Miss will wrap up the series on Sunday with game three. First pitch is set for 1:30 PM.