OXFORD, Miss. (Interstat) — Hudson Calhoun struck out nine over four dominant innings of relief, and the Mississippi Rebels used a 15-hit attack to pull away from the Evansville Purple Aces 7-2 in the first game of a doubleheader on Friday.

The Rebels (13-2) overcame an early two-run deficit, with Judd Utermark and Tate Sirmans providing home runs, before Calhoun entered and stifled any chance of an Evansville comeback. The Purple Aces fell to 3-9.

Evansville’s Reid Haire and Ximi Baftiri hit back-to-back solo home runs in the top of the second inning off Mississippi starter Hunter Elliott, staking the visitors to a 2-0 lead. Elliott settled in after the homers, finishing with seven strikeouts while allowing four hits and two earned runs over five innings to earn the win.

Mississippi began chipping away in the third against Evansville starter Kenton Deverman. Hayden Federico doubled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Utermark. Dillon Decker then stole second and came home on an RBI single by Will Furniss to tie the game 2-2.

Sirmans gave the Rebels their first lead in the fourth, launching a solo homer to left-center field. Utermark extended the lead to 4-2 in the fifth with another solo shot, this time to left-center.

The pivotal shift came in the top of the sixth when Calhoun relieved Elliott. The Purple Aces had just put a runner on with a single, but Calhoun induced a fielder’s choice and then saw the runner caught stealing. He proceeded to strike out the side in the seventh and finished his outing by striking out two more in a perfect ninth. In total, Calhoun allowed just one hit and no walks while fanning nine of the 14 batters he faced.

Mississippi broke the game open with a three-run eighth inning against Evansville reliever Owen Byberg. A sacrifice fly by Decker and an RBI single by Furniss were followed by a bases-loaded walk to Trenton Bissetta, pushing the Rebel lead to 7-2.

The Rebels’ offensive output featured multi-hit games from Furniss, who went 3-for-5 with two RBIs, Federico, who was 2-for-3, and Decker. Evansville managed only five hits total, with Haire’s 2-for-4 day accounting for nearly half of them.

The most important part of the game was the relief appearance by Hudson Calhoun. Entering with a two-run lead, he completely extinguished Evansville’s momentum and any potential rally, striking out nine and allowing only one baserunner. His dominance from the sixth inning onward transformed a close game into a comfortable victory, showcasing the depth of the Mississippi bullpen and shifting the contest firmly into the Rebels’ control.

Deverman (0-2) took the loss for Evansville, charged with four earned runs over 5 1/3 innings.

The teams were scheduled to play the second game of the doubleheader later Friday.