Ole Miss Baseball Clinches Series over Missouri State; Rebels Move to 7-0 on Season

OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss baseball advanced to 7-0 on Saturday afternoon as the Rebels earned a 6-3 win over the Missouri State Bears at Swayze Field, clinching the series following Friday’s victory.

Ole Miss moves to 7-0 on the season and clinched the weekend series win! pic.twitter.com/AGi9mvV2Km

— The Rebel Walk (@TheRebelWalk) February 21, 2026

The Recap

The Rebels struck first as Judd Utermark drew a walk and proceeded to steal second and advance to third on an overthrow of his steal, setting up a red-hot Tristan Bissetta, who knocked a single through the right side, scoring Utermark as the Rebs drew first blood in the first inning.

Rebels’ starter Cade Townsend retired his first six batters faced with four strikeouts, and had a chance to get run support in the second with two runners in scoring position, but nothing materialized leaving the score at 1-0 in favor of Ole Miss.

The bats died down for both teams as Townsend brought a no-hitter into the fourth inning before Carter Bergman slapped a single into the opposite field for a two-out knock, but Townsend escaped unscathed to end his day with 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 8 K, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 63 TP.

Taylor Rabe took over on the mound and opened his day with a three-pitch strikeout before nine-hitter Jax Ryan defeated some hefty winds, sending a ball over the left center fence for a solo home run to even the score at 1-1 in the fifth inning.

The bats stayed quiet for the Rebels as they were held scoreless in the fifth — their fourth-straight inning with no runs. However, in the sixth, Ole Miss was led off by Collin Reuter who beat the shift with a double into the gap, and Will Furniss knocking a single and moving runners to the corners. Cannon Goldin pinch-hitting for the Rebels, drawing a walk to load the bases with no outs for Austin Fawley, who roped a double down the third base line, clearing the bases and reinstating the Rebels’ advantage at 4-1.

Fawley advanced to third on a groundout for Hayden Federico, who dropped down a perfect suicide squeeze and was safe at first base.

Ole Miss then hit into three consecutive fielder’s choices to end the four-run inning.

Rabe settled in on the bump after giving up the solo home run, retiring eight in a row until Ryan led off the eighth inning with a single, followed by Gabe Roessler with another single, putting runners on the corners with no outs.

A pair of RBI groundouts from Caden Bogenpohl and Bryce Cermenelli left the Bears down just 2 headed into the bottom of the eighth as Ole Miss held a 5-3 lead.

However, Decker got the Rebels lead back to three with a sacrifice fly scoring Randle to give Ole Miss a 6-3 lead into the ninth inning as Landon Koenig looked for a five-out save.

Koenig entered again for the ninth, and he delivered — recording two strikeouts and a lineout to end the game and secure the Rebels’ seventh straight victory to open the season.

A Look Ahead

Ole Miss returns to the diamond for one more game against the Bears tomorrow as they look to stay perfect and gain their second straight weekend series sweep.