Ole Miss Baseball shut out by No. 19 Texas in run-rule loss at Globe Life Field
ARLINGTON, Texas – Ole Miss baseball fell flat against No. 19 Texas in game two of the Shriners Children’s College Showdown, collecting just two hits as the Longhorns cruised to a 10-0, run-rule victory in seven innings at Globe Life Field.
Game Recap
The Rebels batted first to begin this one as head coach Mike Bianco switched the lineup around from the win over Arizona. Luke Harrison got the nod for Texas and sat the Rebels down in order.
Harrison finished his start with 6.1 innings pitched, allowed just two hits, gave up no runs and punched out six Ole Miss batters on the way to recording the win. After the loss, Bianco spoke about the Texas lefty keeping the Rebel lineup off balance.
“The breaking ball was tough on the left hander. We knew it would be a good pitch, I don’t know if we thought it’d be that good of a pitch. Especially to the left handers, they just had a lot of bad early swings. You could tell they weren’t very comfortable.”
~ Bianco on Harrison’s performance against Ole Miss
2024 Friday night starter Riley Maddox took the bump for the Saturday start against the Longhorns. The Mississippi native cruised through the bottom of the first inning, striking out Texas in order to begin his 2025 campaign.
Riley Maddox (@OleMissBSB) comes out pumping 92-83 w/ EZ sinking action. 82-84 SL (2900) is legit 2-pln bender. CH has upwards 19’ of run too in mid-80s. Big stuff. Sr. ‘25 elig pic.twitter.com/UJS5Iq7J0x
— PG College Baseball (@PGCollegeBall) February 16, 2025
Judd Utermark picked up the first hit of the day for Ole Miss in the top of the second, a double to left that put the leading run in scoring position with one out. However, Harrison delivered for Texas and eventually left Utermark stranded on third base.
Following the game, Utermark added to Bianco’s statement on the starter’s breaking ball but claimed Harrison’s fastball was dangerous as well.
“It’s never a good sign when he’s blowing it by you or mixing up spots. He was hitting his spots tonight, he did a great job, but we need to capitalize next time on the heater. The off-speed pitches were his plus pitches, he obviously improved on those since last year.”
~ Utermark on facing Harrison
Maddox gave up his first hit of the night in the bottom of the second to Tommy Farmer IV but picked the Texas outfielder off at first for the second out and got a ground ball to end the second scoreless frame. Freshman shortstop Owen Paino reached base for the Rebels in the top of the third, but Harrison stranded another runner and picked up a couple of strikeouts along the way.
In the bottom of the third, Maddox gave up his second hit to Ethan Mendoza. However, the righty punched out the side again, making it six strikeouts through three innings of work for Maddox. Harrison then came right back for the Longhorns and put up a zero for the Ole Miss lineup again in the top of the fourth.
Texas began the bottom of the fourth with back-to-back base knocks off Maddox, a double and a single that put runners on the corners for 2024 Big 12 Player of the Year Max Belyeu. The highly touted MLB draft prospect singled through the right side to put the first run on the board for the Longhorns.
However, the bleeding did not stop there. Maddox hit the next Texas batter which loaded the bases for the Longhorns. The Ole Miss starter then gave up a double to Will Gasparino and a single to Rylan Galvan that scored four more runs for the Longhorns. Junior Sam Tookoian was called out of the pen with just one out, but three walks and a double gave Texas a 7-0 lead and forced another call to the bullpen.
Freshman lefty Walker Hooks came into to replace Tookoian with still just one out and the bases loaded. The Ole Miss lefty sat the next two batters down swinging to end the Texas onslaught.
In the fifth and sixth innings, Harrison continued to look impressive for the Longhorns, allowing his second hit but picking up a pair of strikeouts before being replaced in the top of the seventh inning. In the bottom half of those frames, Hooks ended the sixth inning with eight straight retired Texas batters while picking up a couple of strikeouts as well.
.@Walker_Hooks9 has retired every batter he’s faced 🤯#ShrinersShowdown | @shrinershosp | @GlobeLifeField | @OleMissBSB pic.twitter.com/tmnffFQSWV
— FloCollege | Baseball (@FloCollegeBSB) February 16, 2025
Harrison was replaced by Thomas Burns after putting Utermark on base for the third time in the game and hitting Campbell Smithwick with a pitch shortly after. Burns came in and got two ground balls to end the frame and strand a pair of Ole Miss runners.
Junior college transfer Landon Waters came into to replace Hooks to begin the bottom of the seventh. Hooks finished with 2.2 innings of work and threw up zeros in every other category.
Waters hit Jalin Flores with a pitch to open the frame and then gave up a two-run shot to right-center field to Belyeu, making it 9-0 Texas with no one out. After giving up a triple and getting the first out of the frame, Waters was replaced by senior righty Gunnar Dennis.
Dennis walked the first batter he faced, and after picking up the second out of the inning, Mendoza singled to left to score the tenth run and secure the run-rule win in seven innings for the Longhorns.
Up next
The Rebels will play their third and final game at Globe Life Field tomorrow when they take on No. 15 Clemson. First pitch is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT and will be streaming on FloSports.
Kameron Wicker
Kam is a senior at Ole Miss, currently pursuing a degree in Journalism. Even though he's from Delhi, Louisiana, that didn't stop Kam from growing up a diehard Ole Miss fan. He's a sports guru who watches and follows all sports at all times. He lettered four years in football and baseball in high school and is an avid Saints, Pelicans, and Astros fan. In his free time, you can find him watching sports or at the rec participating in them.
