OXFORD, Miss. -- Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn tipped his cap to Mississippi starter Brady Bramlett.
There wasn't much else he could do after the junior right-hander struck out 12 in a 7-3 victory over the Razorbacks on Friday night at Oxford-University Stadium.
Bramlett tied his career high in strikeouts during seven scoreless innings. He allowed only 1 hit through 5 innings and 3 overall.
The No. 21 Razorbacks (20-10, 4-6 SEC) had trouble hitting his fastball, slider and curveball. At one point, Bramlett retired 16 consecutive Razorbacks.
"He got ahead of the hitters most all night, and he was really just mixing it up, in and out," Van Horn said. "He pitched a baseball or two off the plate, but he just kept throwing it there, and he kind of earned it.
"We didn't adjust to it very well. We swung and missed at a lot of pitches. We took a lot of different backwards Ks, and we knew he was good at that coming in."
Bramlett was second in the SEC in strikeouts looking with 22 before the game.
"We watched video of him, and we saw how many backwards Ks he had, and that means he is ahead in the count with two strikes on you," Van Horn said. "He probably did it as well as you could tonight."
Ole Miss Coach Mike Bianco said Bramlett was the best he's been all season Friday.
"He's pitched well, but he hadn't won on Friday night in the SEC," Bianco said. "He reminded that I said seven innings, shutout baseball. I probably did. He's that kind of kid. He really believes in himself in a good way. I think in any sport, especially in baseball when you pitch on the mound, you have to believe in yourself. He was really, really good tonight against a really good offense."
No. 15 Ole Miss (23-7, 4-6) jumped on Arkansas starter James Teague, scoring all seven runs in the first three innings. That was it for Teague, who allowed 8 hits while walking 2 with 3 strikeouts.
"We have to pitch better from the start," Van Horn said. "That's been an issue. We've been down a lot and come back and won games, made games close, but how long can we do it? We've got to stop people and get some early momentum."
Bianco was pleased with the Rebels' 11 hits. Ole Miss won its first series-opener in the SEC this season.
"I thought we were terrific. Teague has good numbers, and I wish I could tell you why that happened," Bianco said. "Hitting is contagious, and we got some good at bats and we were able to chain them together. We hit all kinds of pitches. We hit some fastballs, some breaking balls. It was a good night for us, especially early."
Freshman right-hander Blaine Knight shut down the Rebels in relief, tossing four scoreless innings while allowing only three hits.
Arkansas did have some success against Ole Miss reliever Connor Green, scoring three runs in the top of the eighth. Tucker Pennell led off with a double, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on Clark Eagan's sacrifice fly.
Then with two outs, Carson Shaddy walked, Alex Catron singled, and they both stole bases for a second and third situation. Cullen Gassaway drove them home with a double to deep center field. Green was relieved by Cullen Woolfolk, who got Rick Nomura to ground out to second base to end the threat.
"They brought in a new pitcher, and we hit five or six balls hard in that inning," Van Horn said. "We scored a few runs and swung the bat pretty well. You're always looking for a positive when you get it handed to you."
Michael Bernal singled with two outs in the ninth, but Eric Cole flied out to left field to end the game.
Seven different Razorbacks collected a hit, but no one had more than one. Arkansas struck out 13 times.
Colby Bortles had 2 doubles and 2 runs scored for the Rebels, while Henri Lartigue had 3 hits and drove in 1. Tate Blackman led Ole Miss with two RBI, and he was one of six Rebels with at least one run driven in.
Tonight's second game will begin at 7. Ole Miss is scheduled to start left-hander David Parkinson. Parkinson has yet to start a game for the Rebels. Arkansas is slated to start right-hander Zach Jackson (2-2, 3.68), who also doesn't have a start this season.
Sports on 04/09/2016