Two-sport star? Ole Miss defensive tackle hits game-ending HR

Tywone Malone was a four-star defensive tackle in high school and is viewed as the centerpiece of the Ole Miss football program’s 2021 recruiting class. He made his debut for the Rebels on the gridiron last year, but he had more than just hunting quarterbacks on his mind when he got to campus.

Malone launched a game-ending home run in Ole Miss’ 14-3 mercy rule victory over Virginia Commonwealth on Sunday, improving the Rebels’ record to 6-0 on the season. It was his first collegiate home run, and according to a tweet he posted later in the day, not his last.

"It felt amazing," Malone said after the game. " ... It was good to get that one out of the way, looking forward to more."

This wasn’t a wall-scraper, either -- according to Ole Miss, Malone's drive traveled 404 feet. And if it wasn’t impressive enough that a 6-foot-4, 315-pound football player slugged a mammoth opposite-field homer, consider that he didn’t play baseball during his senior year of high school due to a knee injury.

Not only that, the COVID-19 pandemic cut short Malone's junior year of high school ball. In other words, he belted Sunday’s big homer in his second competitive at-bat in about three years.

Malone is Ole Miss’ backup first baseman, playing behind preseason All-American Tim Elko, who also homered in the game. But if Malone keeps doing what he did Sunday, the Rebels might just have to figure out a way to get him into the lineup moving forward.