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A Star is Born? Hayden Federico stays hot, Ole Miss baseball sweeps away EKU

Ben Garrettby:Ben Garrett•about 10 hours•

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Ole Miss baseball true freshman Hayden Federico (Photo credit: Hayden Federico/Instagram)

Ole Miss baseball on Sunday secured its first sweep of the 2025 season.

The Rebels (6-1) outscored Eastern Kentucky, 26-7, over three games this weekend, punctuated by by a 9-3 drubbing in the finale. 

True freshman Hayden Federico continued the torrid start to his Rebel career. He made his second straight start, and third in seven games for Ole Miss, and finished 3 for 4 with a pair of runs scored. He was also hit by a pitch. His first start came against then-No. 15 Clemson a week ago. He had three hits.

Federico has led off in every start. He’s tallied eight hits in his first 13 at-bats, including two doubles, four RBI, two walks, six runs scored, four stolen bases and three HBPs. 

Federico stole three bases on Sunday.

“For me, I’ve been around the college game a long time with my dad being a coach,” said Federico, who’s the son of ULM head baseball coach Michael Federico. “Just had a lot of influential people in my life. Understanding the game and slowing it down has been huge for me. Not making it bigger than it is. At the end of the day it’s just a game.”

Federico was the nation’s No. 177 over prospect in the 2024 class.

He starred for West Monroe (Louisiana) High School and was a three-time All-State honoree. Federico also played football. He was the team’s starting quarterback, as well as school valedictorian.

He’s an infielder by trade but got the start in left field on Sunday. Federico served as the Rebels’ designated hitter on Saturday.

Federico sparked Ole Miss early. He was hit by a pitch to open the Ole Miss first, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and later scored on back-to-back steals.

UNO transfer outfielder Mitchell Sanford was the only other Rebel with multiple hits. He had two and three RBI, including a two-run single in the bottom of the second. Ole Miss led 6-0 after two innings. The Rebels added a run in the fourth and two more in the seventh. Campbell Smithwick hit his first home run of the season and the second of his career.

It was more than enough to back Mason Nichols, who picked up his first win of the season. Nichols went 4.0 innings and gave up one run (on a homer) on three hits with five strikeouts, one walk and two wild pitches.

“I’m proud of the team and the weekend we put together,” Nichols said. “We’ve got room to grow individually and as a team. I think that’s a great place to be. We’ve really limited our walks. We’ve done a good job of that so far. We’re doing good in 0-1 and 1-1 counts. Our process has been good. We’ve been pretty dialed in on what we need to do.”

The Ole Miss pitching staff struck out a collective 42 EKU hitters in three games.

Six Rebel hurlers produced 14 on Sunday. Veteran Sam Tookoian went 1.0 inning and struck out four of the five batters he faced — a nice rebound from his forgettable season debut in Arlington. Ole Miss opened with two wins in three games in the Shriners Children’s College Showdown in Arlington, Texas. 

“Another solid effort by him,” Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco said. “When it’s a little chilly, you want a strike-thrower, and I don’t know if we have a better one than Mason.

“It was good to get Tookian back out there. He had a tough outing in Texas, but he’s thrown so well for us, so it was nice to run him back out there. (Hudson) Calhoun, who threw on Tuesday, another good outing by him. (Landon) Waters, who had a tough outing in Texas, got back out there. (Owen) Hancock, who pitched well on Tuesday, didn’t have such a good day. 

“Some of those young guys, guys who haven’t touched the mound for us before, I think it’s important to keep getting those guys out there. Fortunately we had a little spread in the game and were able to do that.”

Ole Miss next hosts Southern Miss for a marquee midweek matchup on Tuesday at 4 p.m. CT.

“One of our arch rivals and a program that’s always good,” Bianco said. “They’re off to a really good start.”

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