FINAL: Ole Miss 2, Auburn 1

BOBBY WAHL VIDEO

Two of the top-hitting teams in the SEC produce just a combined 13 hits, Auburn with eight, Ole Miss with five.

The Rebels were more efficient with theirs, an RBI single by Zach Kirksey in the fourth proving to be the difference. It was the team-leading 31st RBI for Kirksey, who drove in Auston Bousfield after a leadoff double.

The Rebels also got a run across in the second to lead 1-0. Matt Snyder was hit by a pitch, went to third on a hit-and-run with Andrew Mistone and scored on Will Allen single.

Auburn's run came in the third to tie the game at 1. It was unearned, because Creede Simpson, who had singled, took third on a error by Bobby Wahl on a pickoff throw.

It was an otherwise solid SEC debut for Wahl, even if he wasn't dominant. He absorbed six hits in six innings, fanned six and walked one.

Dylan Chavez pitched a scoreless seventh and eighth, not without some drama. He sandwiched a strikeout between a single and a hit-batter to being the seventh, and the runners moved to second and third on his wild pitch. After a visit from Mike Bianco, Chavez settled down and struck out the next two he faced, Jay Gonzalez and Simpson, the top two in the Tigers' order.

Huber looked good in the ninth. He's had some saves where he didn't look good, not so tonight. He retired the Tigers in order with a ground ball and two strikeouts.

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About 30 minutes to first pitch. I'll have live updates on Twitter and will be back here after the game. Lineups below.

Auburn

Jay Gonzalez RF .324

Creede Simpson 2B .439

Ryan Tela CF .410

Cullen Wacker LF .333

Garrett Cooper 1B .298

Justin Bryant DH First game

Dan Glevenyak SS .373

Zach Alvord 3B .277

Blake Austin C .268

Ole Miss

Tanner Mathis LF .349

Austin Anderson SS .303

Alex Yarbrough 2B .471

Matt Snyder 1B .410

Andrew Mistone 3B .286

Auston Bousfield CF .273

Zach Kirksey DH .410

Will Allen C .308

Senquez Golson RF .244

Weekend Rotations

Tonight, 6:30 p.m.

Ole Miss RHP Bobby Wahl (3-0, 1.96) vs. Auburn RHP Derek Varnadore (1-1, 5.55)

Saturday, 1:30 p.m.

Ole Miss RHP R.J. Hively (3-0, 2.08) vs. Auburn LHP Will Kendall (2-0, 0.00)

Sunday, 1:30 p.m.

Ole Miss RHP Mike Mayers (2-1, 3.43) vs. Auburn LHP Daniel Koger (1-1, 1.82)

Other Notes

- The Rebels are second in the SEC in hitting (.334), fifth in ERA (2.74); Auburn his third in hitting (.319), ninth in ERA (3.74).

- Ole Miss is batting .231 against lefties, and Auburn will start two this weekend.

- Ole Miss is sixth in the league in feilding (.975), Auburn is 11th (.960).

- Ole Miss' Alex Yarbrough leads the SEC in hitting (.471), while Auburn's Creede Simpson is third (.439). Ole Miss' Matt Snyder and Auburn's Ryan Tella are tied for fifth at .410.

- Zach Kirksey (.410) does not have enough at-bats to qualify for the SEC statistical rankings.