Ole Miss baseball rides superb outing from Xavier Rivas to sweep of Purdue
Ole Miss baseball's monthlong demolition of the Big Ten has reached completion.
The Rebels wrapped up a three-game sweep of Purdue on Sunday afternoon at Swayze Field, riding an outstanding outing from starter Xavier Rivas and three scoreless innings from the bullpen to a 6-1 victory – their eighth in a row overall.
The win gave Ole Miss (14-2) an 8-1 record against the Big Ten teams on its nonconference slate. The Rebels took three out of four games against Maryland, and also topped Nebraska and Minnesota in addition to the three victories over the Boilermakers (8-7).
Xavier Rivas masterful for Ole Miss
Rivas, a lefthanded Division II transfer, produced arguably the best outing by an Ole Miss starter this season, and certainly his best showing in a Rebel uniform, coming into the game with a 7.30 ERA.
He spotted his fastball with mechanical authority and mixed in a biting breaking ball on his way to six innings of one-run ball, earning the win. He surrendered six hits, and one walk and struck out six Boilermaker batters.
But that stat line didn't do his outing justice. Purdue didn't truly square up more than two or three balls against Rivas through his six stellar innings ‒ tying the longest outing by a Rebels starter this season.
He worked around some spotty defense by his infield, too. Ole Miss made two errors with Rivas on the bump, and failed to make a few other plays that went down as hits.
"Fastball had some life," Rivas said. "Slider was real good, I was happy with that. And threw some changeups, too, which was really good. I wanna start incorporating that more."
GAME 1: Ole Miss baseball takes series opener from Purdue behind TJ McCants' performance
GAME 2: Kemp Alderman slugs walk-off homer to give Ole Miss baseball Saturday win over Purdue
FULL UPDATES: Ole Miss baseball score vs. Purdue: Live updates from Swayze Field
Nice day for Lege
Ethan Lege put Ole Miss in trouble on Saturday with a throwing error that allowed the tying run to score in the eighth inning before Kemp Alderman won the game in the 10th with a walk-off homer.
The Rebels' third-baseman redeemed himself a day later.
Lege tied the game at one with a clutch, two-out single in the second inning. Calvin Harris singled home another run in the third to put Ole Miss in front 2-1. The Rebels clung to that lead until the sixth, when Lege delivered some insurance via a sacrifice fly that scored TJ McCants.
He capped off his day with a two-run single in the eighth that put the game out of reach for Ole Miss.
"We've swung it really well, but he's one of the guys that hasn't," Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco said. "He's gotten off to kind of a slower start. But I think he's going to be a big piece of the offense and you can see today why."
Up next
Ole Miss travels to Jacksonville State for a midweek game on Tuesday (6 p.m., ESPN+). The Rebels then begin SEC play on Thursday (6 p.m., ESPNU) at Vanderbilt.
David Eckert covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at deckert@gannett.com or reach him on Twitter @davideckert98.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Ole Miss baseball rides superb outing from Xavier Rivas to sweep of Purdue
