OXFORD, Miss. – Returning to the home field was good for the Rebels on Tuesday as No. 5 Ole Miss (11-3) used a six-run third inning to power past Western Kentucky (6-5) by a score of 10-3.

Brett Basham and Tim Ferguson, who made his first start in the field at second base, paced the Rebels offense as Basham was 3-for-3 with three RBI and a run scored and was also hit by a pitch. Ferguson was 3-for-4 on the night with three runs scored and an RBI. Michael Guerrero also hit a home run in the outing.

Phillip Irwin (2-1) picked up the win as he worked a career-long 6.0 innings. Irwin allowed three runs, only one of which was earned, on eight hits with two walks and a strikeout.

Rye Davis (0-3) suffered the loss for the Hilltoppers as he gave up six runs on six hits with a walk and a strikeout in 3.0 innings of work.

“It’s good to score runs, but more importantly was how we scored some of them,” said Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco. “We were able to bunch hits together and get the offense going.”

Ole Miss exploded offensively in the third inning, sending 10 batters to the plate and putting six runs on the board. Tim Ferguson singled to center field to lead off the ending before the Rebels would rattle off five more hits, including Guerrero’s home run as the Rebels took a 6-0 lead.

The Hilltoppers answered in the fifth inning as Western Kentucky pushed three runs across the plate to cut the lead in half with a two-out rally. Matt Rice homered to start the rally. Matt Payton then reached on a fielding error in left field and moved to second on the error before taking third on a wild pitch. He then scored on a single up the middle from Matt Hightower. Hightower would score two batters later to make the Rebel lead 6-3.

Ole Miss answered again in the sixth with a single run on a Basham single through the right side that scored Tim Ferguson from second.

The Rebels reached the final margin of victory with a three run eighth inning. Michael Guerrero reached on an error before moving to second on a walk of Fuller Smith. Ferguson then singled to score Guerrero and move Smith to third, placing runners at second and third for Basham. The catcher then singled sharply up the middle, driving in the final two runs for the 10-3 margin of victory.

Matt Hightower led the Hilltoppers at the plate as he went 4-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI.

Ole Miss and Western Kentucky will return to action on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field.