No. 18 Ole Miss baseball drops series finale against No. 6 Mississippi State; Rebels swept at home for first time since 2024

OXFORD, Miss. — No. 18 Ole Miss fell 7-1 Sunday in the series finale against No. 6 Mississippi State, dropping the Rebels’ fourth straight game and suffering their first home series sweep since 2024.

Ole Miss now sits at 19-10 (3-6 SEC), while Mississippi State advances to 24-4 (7-2 SEC).

The Recap

Cade Townsend took the ball for Ole Miss on Sunday, marking his first appearance in fifteen days due to a shoulder injury. Mississippi State welcomed him back with a leadoff single followed by a two-run home run from Ace Reese to give the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead just two batters into the game.

Ole Miss responded at the plate in the first when Collin Reuter smacked an RBI single through the infield to make it 2-1 Bulldogs. The Rebels looked threatening as they had bases loaded with two outs, but a three-pitch strikeout concluded the inning.

Following the home run, Townsend really settled in on the mound, retiring the following three in order. Through the third inning, he only allowed one other hit, a double in the second, while striking out six.

Duke Stone, the Bulldogs’ starter, found himself in some trouble in the first and third with the bases loaded, but worked out of both without allowing a run.

Townsend then ran into trouble in the fourth when the Bulldogs hit two deep balls, first from Jacob Parker, who launched a solo home run just fair down the right field line. The inning was capped off by Andrew Raymond, who sent a deep fly ball into centerfield for a two-run home run, making it 5-1 in favor of Mississippi State.

State continued to add on when Reed Stallman smacked a two-out RBI single through the left side of the infield, beating the shift and making it a 6-1 ballgame in the fifth.

The Bulldogs continued as they chased JP Robertson after 1.0+ innings pitched. With runners on first and second and no one out in the sixth, head coach Mike Bianco brought in Walker Hooks.

Hooks proceeded to work out of the inning with a double play and a strikeout, keeping the score at 6-1.

The Rebels continued their weekend-long struggle at the plate as they again loaded bases in the sixth with two outs, but a shallow outfield pop-up ended the frame with no runs across.

Two scoreless innings later in the eighth, Ole Miss found itself in the same scenario. The Rebels moved to 0-5 with the bases loaded on the day as a called strike three ended the inning and sent the ballgame to the ninth with a State leading, 6-1.

The Bulldogs put on the final touches offensively in the top of the ninth when Kevin Milewski sent a solo home run off the batter’s eye in dead center field to make it 7-1 for the Bulldogs with three outs to go.

Ole Miss went to the plate in search of a six-run comeback in the ninth, but a two-out single was all they could produce as they experience their first home sweep since 2024.

A Look Ahead

Ole Miss will return to the diamond for their annual kids game on Tuesday, hosting the Little Rock Trojans at 11 A.M CT.