Ole Miss Blanks LSU 2-0 to Reach SEC Tournament Final

HOOVER, Ala. — A dominant pitching performance and early run support lifted Ole Miss to a 2-0 win over the top-ranked LSU Tigers, sending the Rebels to the SEC Baseball Tournament championship game for the first time since 2019.

No. 16 Ole Miss defeats No. 1 LSU👀

With a shutout win over the Tigers, @OleMissBSB is headed to the SEC championship👏

(🎥@SECNetwork)
pic.twitter.com/zP9KTWPvFE

— Baseball America (@BaseballAmerica) May 24, 2025

Following the victory, head coach Mike Bianco commented on how close of bond the 2025 Ole Miss baseball team has.

“Chemistry, leadership, those are essential to success, but a lot of times those are questions that are answered at the end — we haven’t always been our best this year, but we never had a stretch where we were just bad — this team is one where even when we weren’t at our best, we weren’t too down.”

~ Bianco on the bond and fight that the 2025 team has

Game Recap

For the first time since 1950, the Rebels and the Tigers did not matchup in the regular season due to the expansion of the SEC. Also a first, the Ole Miss pitching staff held the LSU offense scoreless for the first time this season.

It was freshman Cade Townsend getting his first career SEC start, and he took advantage of the spotlight. In his SEC Tournament debut, the righty pitched 4.2 innings, did not allow a run, gave up just two hits, issued three walks and punched out three.

Freshman dealing through 3️⃣ innings in Hoover!@cadetownsendmlb x #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/gw5M2pbwN4

— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) May 24, 2025

Bianco boasted about the start he got from his freshman pitcher after the win.

“Cade has been our midweek starter — you can tell he’s got some great stuff — he’s kind of been groomed for this. He’s going to be a future Friday night guy in the SEC, and what an opportunity to pitch in this crowd and this atmosphere. For him to go through that environment, that’s going to bode well for weeks to come.”

~ Bianco on Townsend’s SEC Tournament debut

Southpaw Gunnar Dennis took over for Townsend in the bottom of the fifth with two outs. Dennis was credited with win (4-1) in his two and a third innings of work with one walk and a two strikeouts. Will McCausland came out of the bullpen in relief for Ole Miss in the eighth and looked nearly untouchable in his lone frame; and it was closer Connor Spencer picking up his seventh save of the season, third of the tournament.

Two punchouts for Will in the 8th 🔥@MccauslandWill x #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/g5yUQL17bS

— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) May 24, 2025

Thus far in Hoover, the Ole Miss bullpen has not given up a single run. Since the bottom of the second in the quarterfinal win over the Arkansas Razorbacks, the Rebel pitching staff has pitched 16 consecutive shutout innings.

Jaden Noot started on the mound for LSU and sat down the first two Ole Miss batters on strikes to begin the game. However, it was first baseman Will Furniss with a two-out, solo home run over the left field walk to give the Rebels an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first.

OPPO TACO 🌮@WillFurniss x #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/x0xI383IHf

— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) May 24, 2025

After the win, Furniss took the broadcast through the at-bat in which he launched his 10th home run of the season.

“I was going up there looking for a heater…I didn’t miss it. I didn’t think it was going to get out. I thought it was a double — Then I thought he caught it (until) I heard everybody cheering.”

~ Furniss on his solo home run against LSU

Ole Miss plated a second run in the top of the fourth with Noot still in the game for the Tigers. With one down, Isaac Humphrey singled into right field and eventually reached second base thanks to an error on a pickoff attempt by Noot. Campbell Smithwick then singled into right, plating Humphrey, to give the Rebels a 2-0 lead after three and a half played.

Another RBI for Smithwick puts us up two!@campbellrsoup x #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/yvnW3Lzxco

— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) May 24, 2025

Furniss, Smithwick and Humphrey were the only three Rebels to collect a hit in the contest, but the LSU pitching staff issued six additional free bases to the Ole Miss lineup. The Rebel offense went 3-for-29 at the plate in the semifinal win, but the two runs proved to be enough with the outstanding effort from the pitching staff. The Tigers only had a runner in scoring position three times throughout the course of the game and went 0-for-3 in those opportunities.

The Rebels now have 19 quad one wins, the most in the country, and a RPI of 10 as they prepare to host an NCAA regional at Swayze Field next weekend. Ole Miss was picked to finish 15th out of 16 teams in the SEC preseason poll.

FINAL: Ole Miss 2 – LSU 0

The Rebels will advance to the SEC Tournament final and take on the Vanderbilt Commodores at 12 p.m. CT tomorrow. The pitching staff has posted 16 consecutive scoreless innings for Ole Miss; what a performance from a team that was picked to finish 15th… pic.twitter.com/wthteaafLG

— The Rebel Walk (@TheRebelWalk) May 24, 2025

Up next

The Rebels will play in the SEC Tournament Final Sunday, May 25, as they look to bring home a fourth title for the program. Ole Miss vs. Vanderbilt is scheduled for 12 p.m. CT and will be televised on the SEC Network.