Ole Miss Baseball Sweeps Nevada with 13-2 Run-Rule Victory Sunday

OXFORD, Miss. — The Ole Miss Rebels came away with a 13-2 win over the Nevada Wolf Pack on Sunday afternoon to secure a weekend sweep on the opening weekend — their first since 2023.

The win advances Ole Miss to 3-0 on the season as the offense continued to impress, scoring runs in a multitude of ways, while the Ole Miss staff delivered strong pitching throughout the weekend.

Inning One

Wil Libbert took the mound for his highly anticipated Rebel debut and introduced himself to Ole Miss fans with a 1-2-3 inning, including consecutive strikeouts to end the frame.

Dom Decker filled the lead-off spot for Ole Miss and opened the Rebels’ first plate appearance with a seven-pitch walk.

Ole Miss capitalized on the lead-off walk as Tristan Bissetta and Judd Utermark both worked long at-bats before roping a base hit and a double to open the scoring for the day.

Judd getting us started pic.twitter.com/k06ufH7xzu

— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) February 15, 2026

That was just the beginning of a long first inning as Ole Miss batted all nine, scoring five runs.

Will Furniss drove in both Bissetta and Utermark with an opposite-field single before Daniel Pacella notched his first home run as a Rebel, sending a ball 447 feet into the student section, all before recording an out.

Only one more Ole Miss batter reached in the first thanks to an error, but they took a 5-0 lead out of the first.

Inning Two

With the newfound five-run lead, Libbert retook the mound and gave up his first hit of the season on the first pitch when Sean Yamaguchi sent a ball high and deep over the left field wall for a solo home run, cutting the lead to 5-1.

Following the home run, Libbert responded with two strikeouts and a groundout without allowing a base runner.

Ole Miss’ second trip to the plate was a complete 180 from their first as they were retired in order by reliever Eric Valdez.

Inning Three

The third opened with a throwing error from Owen Paino, which allowed the batter to not only be safe, but advance to second, giving Nevada a runner in scoring position with no one out.

However, Libbert stood tall, retiring the next three hitters in order in what was an impressive opening third, where he notched 5 strikeouts over his first nine outs.

Ole Miss then put together another lengthy inning, loading the bases multiple times and adding on two runs. Hayden Federico drew a walk following a long plate appearance, and just two pitches later, Austin Fawley scrambled home on a passed ball to extend the Ole Miss advantage to 7-1, where it would stand at the end of the frame.

Come on home 🏠 pic.twitter.com/52XqVCYeAu

— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) February 15, 2026

Inning Four

Following the long inning in the dugout, Libbert opened the fourth with a five-pitch walk. This eventually came back to bite him as he allowed a 0-2 single, putting runners on the corners before a sacrifice fly scored the Wolf Pack’s second run of the game, cutting it to 7-2.

Libbert immediately worked out of the inning, producing a foul ball pop-up to conclude the fourth.

Ole Miss also began their offensive frame with a lead-off walk that came around to score when Collin Reuter ripped an RBI double down the line with two outs, scoring Utermark and moving Pacella to third, giving Ole Miss a six-run advantage once again, this time at 8-2.

Nice one🙂‍↕️ pic.twitter.com/K2lqReAxqD

— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) February 15, 2026

Ole Miss proceeded to load the bases for Paino, but left-handed reliever Nik Miller stood tall for the Wolf Pack, coming away with a strikeout to end the inning.

Inning Five

Libbert came out to the mound again for the fifth, and seemed to lose the zone a little bit, but still worked through the inning, notching his sixth and seventh strikeouts of the day to tie a career high as he eclipsed the 80 pitch mark.

Ole Miss came back to the dish and drew a one-out walk before Utermark slammed a line drive off the left field wall for an RBI double, allowing Bissetta to score all the way from first.

What a missle‼️ pic.twitter.com/PPx4XgQfhV

— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) February 15, 2026

Utermark then stole third and advanced home on an errant throw to put Ole Miss into double-digit runs for the second time on the weekend, as the Rebels took a 10-2 lead. Furniss and Pacella then drew back-to-back walks before Fawley recorded his first hit of the season, which was an RBI double, sending Furniss around third, to the plate.

Too easy😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/A5hHTia2Zg

— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) February 15, 2026

Reuter then followed with a two RBI single to clean up the others in scoring position, giving Ole Miss a 13-2 lead with just one out in the fifth.

I like to see it🙂‍↕️ pic.twitter.com/cCkmvvVEcG

— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) February 15, 2026

However, Ole Miss could not get Reuter around the passes as the inning expired.

Inning Six

Beginning the sixth, Patrick Collopy entered the game for Ole Miss on the mound, concluding Libbert’s afternoon, giving him a final line of 5 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 7K, 2 ER with 81 total pitches.

allow us to introduce, @WilLibbert 🫡 pic.twitter.com/xubnAvPXA6

— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) February 16, 2026

Collopy was also making his Rebel debut on the mound, and looked good, striking out the first two batters he faced, before allowing a two-out knock, but coming away unscathed after producing an inning-ending groundout to keep the run-rule hopes alive.

Inning Seven

Landon Waters took the mound for Ole Miss in the seventh as he looked to sustain a double-digit lead to send the fans home early.

Waters was greeted quickly with a lead-off double from Lee Matsuzaki and allowed two more baserunners; however, he held strong and completed the scoreless inning for the 13-2 run-rule win.

A Look Ahead

Ole Miss will return to the diamond for a pair of mid-week games, first hosting Arkansas State at 4 pm on Tuesday, and then Jackson State at 4 pm on Wednesday.