Ole Miss Drops Heartbreaker to Mississippi State in SEC Tournament
HOOVER, Ala. — The Ole Miss baseball season came to a close in the first round of the SEC Baseball Tournament on Tuesday as the Rebels fell to the Mississippi State Bulldogs, 2-1, in a walk-off that can only be described as heartbreaking.
“You never prepare for this. It’s always a tough time because you don’t expect to lose your last game, but everyone loses their last game except for the team that wins the championship.“
Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco after the 2-1 loss
Ole Miss (27-29, 11-19 SEC) got into a pitcher’s duel against the Bulldogs. The two pitching staffs together accounted for 24 strikeouts on the night.
The Rebels ace Riley Maddox took the mound against State and was electric. He struck out seven batters with three hits and surrendered no hits or walks.
“Everything was working tonight,” Maddox said.
Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco talked about Maddox’s performance after the game.
“He was great and Auger (Mississippi State’s pitcher) matched him pitch for pitch,” Bianco said.
Mississippi State sent Brooks Auger to the hill to face Ole Miss in Tuesday’s elimination game. Auger surrendered just one run in the game with 13 strikeouts on three hits and no walks in eight innings of work.
Ole Miss took the lead in the fifth inning on a solo home run by Will Furniss to center field.
In the eighth inning, Bianco made the call to the bullpen for left-hander Liam Doyle. Doyle took the loss as he worked 1.2 innings, allowed two runs on a hit with three strikeouts and walk.
The Bulldogs got the win on a two-run home run by Connor Hujsak to left field.
Coach Bianco explained his message to his team.
“You never really have the words that you want to convey to them…I told them I loved them, and I’m sorry for the year and that we weren’t better, but I do appreciate them, especially the seniors and the guys that will sign to play professionally.”
Coach Mike Bianco
Mississippi State moves on to the double elimination portion of the tournament to take on No. 4 seed Texas A&M on Wednesday night at approximately 8:00 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.
Adam Brown
Adam Brown joins The Rebel Walk as the Managing Editor after being on the Ole Miss beat as a Sports Editor for over 11 years. He is a lifelong Oxford resident. Brown graduated from the University of Mississippi with a bachelor’s degree in journalism.
Prior to The Rebel Walk, Brown was the sports editor of HottyToddy.com covering every Ole Miss sport and local high school sports in the community.
