Ole Miss Stunned by Murray State, 9-6, in Oxford Regional Opener

OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss clawed back from an early four-run deficit and tied the game twice, but a late surge from Murray State proved too much as the Racers upset the Rebels 9–6 in the opening round of the Oxford Regional.

Final from Swayze.

We will face WKU on Saturday at 1 p.m. CT pic.twitter.com/FBMLSfqtjj

— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) May 31, 2025

Head coach Mike Bianco reflected on the loss in his opening statement.

“Not the way we drew it up. A lot of credit coach Skirka and Murray State, they played really well and we didn’t play great. Again, I don’t want to take any credit away from them because they played really well and they beat us. We went for it, obviously. We shot a lot of bullets at them tonight and they had an answer for everybody. Once we decided to go with Riley (Maddox), we decided we were going to do whatever we could to win the game. As you all know, in this format you have to win the first two to have an advantage. So, we went for it tonight and unfortunately we weren’t good enough — we will shower well like we talked about all year and come out tomorrow to try and win a baseball game.”

~ Bianco on the loss

Game Recap

Similar to other teams around the country, Ole Miss elected to save ace Hunter Elliott for their Saturday matchup in the Oxford Regional. That decision led to senior righty Riley Maddox starting against the Racers; however, the opening frame did not go quite the way the Rebels drew it up.

Johnathan Hogart launched the first pitch he saw over the centerfield wall, giving Murray State a very quick 1-0 lead. Although, the scoring did not end there for the Racers as Maddox gave up a double, a single and issued a walk to load the bases. The Rebels picked up a second out on a fielder’s choice but another run crossed before the starter ended the frame as Murray State led 2-0.

The Rebels could not get anything going at the plate in the first two innings, stranding runners in the first and going down in order in the second. The Racers on the other hand put up another two-spot in the second to take a 4-0 lead. Maddox issued a leadoff walk in the frame with a double, single and a sacrifice fly helping Murray State plate the runs.

With two down in the bottom of the third, Will Furniss drew a walk to put a pair of runners on for Judd Utermark. The Rebel second baseman blasted his 17th home run of the season over the batter’s eye in centerfield to make it a 4-3 game in a hurry.

A TITANIC BLAST 💣

Judd clears with batter’s eye with a 453-foot homer 🤯

📺 ESPN+@JuddUtermark x #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/5R251MVzgb

— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) May 31, 2025

After the game, Utermark said there wasn’t much different about facing Murray State this time, aside from missed opportunities.

“They (Murray State) are a good ball club as coach mentioned. We have played them the last two years (in the regular season). They can really swing it, they throw the ball in the zone, and we just didn’t capitalize on the mistakes their pitchers made. We did not play great defense behind our pitchers. It’s frustrating but we know that we can bounce back and win tomorrow.”

~ Utermark on the loss

Maddox returned to the mound for Ole Miss in the top of the fourth but gave up a leadoff single and was immediately replaced by junior Mason Morris. The righty sat the Racers down in order on strikes to strand the runner. Maddox finished his first career postseason start with three innings of work, gave up six hits, four runs, walked three and punched out two.

Leading off the bottom of the fourth was Campbell Smithwick in the designated hitter role for the Rebels. With a 1-1 count, the sophomore sent a solo shot into the student section in right, tying the game at 4 apiece. Ole Miss would eventually take its first lead of the night thanks to a single through the middle of the infield off the bat of Luke Hill. The Rebels led 5-4 heading into the fifth inning.

SOUP GOES YARD! 💪

📺 ESPN+@campbellrsoup x #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/YAdYSwUfVD

— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) May 31, 2025

.@Luke_Hill22 puts us in front!

📺ESPN+#HottyToddy x #NCAABaseball pic.twitter.com/Se1tlR4b4l

— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) May 31, 2025

Murray State responded quickly in the top of the fifth with a one-out single followed by a double to tie the game at 5-5. Morris would eventually end the frame but the righty gave up the lead in the top of the sixth. It was a single for Hogart and a double down the line off the bat of Justin Mercer that put runners at second and third for the Racers. A ground out marked the second out of the frame but Murray State once again took a 6-5 lead in the back-and-forth matchup.

After the RBI-single from Hill, Murray State starting pitcher Nic Schutte retired the next seven batters for the Rebels.

Gunnar Dennis replaced Morris at the start of the seventh inning. The southpaw issued a walk in his lone frame but stranded the runner to post just the third zero of the game for the Racers. Will McCausland took over on the mound for Ole Miss at the beginning of the eighth. The junior was credited with his first loss of the season in the outing (2-1).

The Rebels finally knocked Schutte off of the mound in the bottom of the seventh after Hill drew a one-out walk to bring Furniss to the plate. Hill later advanced to second on a wild pitch with Jacob Hustedde on the mound out of the bullpen for the Racers. Furniss would eventually drive a ball into the right-center gap for a RBI-single, tying the game at 6-6 through seven innings.

Schutte threw 119 pitches in 6.1 innings of work, gave up five hits, six runs, walked three and punched out nine.

Burn, Baby, Burn!@WillFurniss drives in @Luke_Hill22 to tie the game!

📺 ESPN+#HottyToddy x #NCAABaseball pic.twitter.com/IyY1jjEQIq

— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) May 31, 2025

In the top of the eighth, Murray State regained the lead with McCausland on mound for Ole Miss. The righty walked a pair of runners and eventually gave up a single to Dom Decker with runners on the corners, giving the Racers a 7-6 lead. The Rebels stranded a runner in the bottom of the eighth after Smithwick drew a leadoff walk.

Walker Hooks took over to start the top of the ninth, however, the freshman loaded the bases for Murray State and only recorded one out before being replaced by Connor Spencer. The closer punched out Hogart for the second out of the frame, but it was Mercer with his fourth double of the night plating a couple of insurance runs for the Racers.

After the game, Bianco commented on how his feels about the bullpen and pitching staff for the remainder of the regional tournament.

“We have a lot more pieces left but when you get into the loser’s bracket there is going to have to be other guys who have to step up and pitch well. It starts with tomorrow. Somebody does it every year; somebody loses game one and makes it through. I like this club and I know they will stick together. Again, I think you just have to be careful about trying to look towards the finish line and look to the next step. The next step is tomorrow against a Western Kentucky team.”

~ Bianco on his pitching staff and bullpen

Mitchell Sanford led off the bottom of the ninth with a single as Ole Miss trailed 9-6 and Furniss gave the Rebels life with a double into the left field corner to put the tying run at the plate. Isaac Humphrey was then hit by a pitch to load the bases, but closer Graham Kelham shut the door with pop out on the infield to secure the win for the Racers.

Up next

The Rebels will face Western Kentucky at 1 p.m. CT on Saturday, May 31, in an elimination game at Swayze Field with Georgia Tech vs. Murray State playing in the winner’s bracket to follow. Both games will be streamed on ESPN+.