No. 20 Ole Miss Baseball Splits Doubleheader, Takes Series in an Upset Over No. 9 Texas A&M
OXFORD, Miss. — The No. 20 Ole Miss Rebels and No. 9 Texas A&M Aggies took the field twice on Saturday in a doubleheader, with the Aggies exploding the scoreboard in game one, winning 18-5, before Ole Miss clinched the series in game two with a 6-5 win at Swayze Field.
REBELS WIN!!! No. 20 Ole Miss takes the series from the No. 9 Aggies behind an outstanding pitching performance from Taylor Rabe and his relievers in game 3. #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/tio6Ro0VBE
— The Rebel Walk (@TheRebelWalk) May 10, 2026
Game One
The Aggies got on the board first with back-to-back home runs from first baseman Blake Binderup, who crushed a 2-0 fastball, and Ben Royo, who sent a 1-2 fastball into the left-field stands to lead off the third inning, giving the Aggies a 2-0 lead.
They were not done there. Chris Hacopian joined the party with a little more punch, skying a three-run homer into right-center field for the Aggies’ third home run of the inning, making it 5-0 Aggies.
Ole Miss then put itself on the board in the bottom half of the inning when Judd Utermark hit a two-RBI double into the right-center gap, bringing the score to 5-2 Aggies. Utermark was then brought around by Hayden Federico’s two-out single into center.
Royo got one back for the Aggies when he crushed his second home run of the day into left field. Both home runs were his first hits of the season, coming into the day with just five at-bats. Caden Sorrell then smoked the Aggies fifth home run of the day into the student section for a two-run jack, capping off a four-run fifth inning and a 9-3 Aggie advantage.
Ole Miss then got some offensive help from Dom Decker, who sent an RBI single into center field, before Utermark roped his second RBI double of the cutting the Aggie lead to just 9-5.
However, the Aggies exploded for the third straight inning, with Bear Harrison scoring on a wild pitch before Gavin Grahovac roped a two-RBI double, making it 12-5 Aggies.
The following inning, they did it again, plating five runners, including their sixth home run of the game, putting Ole Miss in run-rule territory with two at-bats to go.
Ole Miss failed to score in the sixth, and Texas A&M put on another with a Chris Hacopian solo home run, making it 18-5 Aggies, where it would stand as Ole Miss could not score in the seventh, losing in run-rule fashion.
Game Two
Ole Miss came out firing in the series finale. In the second inning, Austin Fawley opened the scoring with a two-run blast, and was instantly followed by Topher Jones for back-to-back home runs, giving the Rebels an early 3-0 lead.
Fawley puts us on the board! pic.twitter.com/9m8DnM6pZv
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) May 9, 2026
BACK-TO-BACK HOMERS!! @TopherJones6 pic.twitter.com/LAFYbaVExQ
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) May 9, 2026
Ole Miss starting pitcher Taylor Rabe was dealing early on, notching a career-high eight strikeouts through the first three innings, allowing just one Aggie base runner.
NEW CAREER HIGH. 8 Ks. @RabeTaylor pic.twitter.com/F0eRrlyULe
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) May 10, 2026
The Rebels continued to rally offensively in the third when Collin Reuter hit a line-drive, two-run home run into the visitors’ bullpen to make it 5-0 Rebels.
Reuter sends one to left! 💣 pic.twitter.com/P9MO5SKTik
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) May 10, 2026
However, the Aggies offensive momentum from game one was far from gone as they exploded for a five-run fifth inning to knot the game. They got on the board via an Ole Miss balk, before a three-run home run from Blake Binderup and a solo home run from Ben Royo, his third of the day, evened the game at 5-5.
After the explosion, Rabe settled back in and notched 14 strikeouts on the day, doubling his former career high (seven), and completed six innings of work. His 14 strikeouts were the most by an Ole Miss pitcher since Doug Nikhazy’s 16 in 2021.
“Everybody will look at the 14 punch outs and the no walks, but I thought where he rally grew up, I think, after giving up the five (and then) comes back in. We had (JP) Robertson ready but we really didn’t want to go to the pen that early. We just felt like we didn’t have enough juice in the pen to throw five or six innings.”
Head coach Mike Bianco on Taylor Rabe
Offenses quieted out for a bit until Ole Miss broke the tie in the seventh when Utermark recorded an RBI single, scoring Decker from second, giving the Rebels a 6-5 advantage.
Judd RBI single for the lead! pic.twitter.com/y5JUK3OGxf
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) May 10, 2026
After the game, Utermark talked about the loss in the first game of the doubleheader.
“Coach B, he got it in our heads to shower well real quick because you only got an hour,” Utermark said of the time between the two games.
“But I think it was kind of a wake up call for us. Nobody likes to get run-ruled. Nobody likes to get run-ruled at home and nobody likes to get run-ruled by the Aggies at home. So, I think it was just trying to be a professional mindset about it. That it’s a separate game. You can’t at-bats in the previous game into this one, or outings. I thought our team did a good job of that.”
Judd Utermark on the win
Hudson Calhoun, who entered in the eighth for JP Robertson, found himself in a jam with the one-run lead, but worked his way out of it with an inning-ending strikeout to keep Ole Miss ahead into the ninth.
After Ole Miss could not add any insurance in the bottom of the eighth, Walker Hooks came in for his second straight day of work for the save opportunity in the ninth.
Hooks made quick work of the leadoff hitter with a strikeout, but Royo moved to 8-for-8 on the day with a one-out single, but Hooks produced a 6-4-3 double play to end it and secure the series win.
BALL. GAME. pic.twitter.com/OF524cdxY5
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) May 10, 2026
A Look Ahead
Most analysts suggest Ole Miss needed to win four of its final six SEC games, this weekend against A&M and next weekend at No. 19 Alabama, to have a shot at hosting a regional at Swayze. The Rebels still have all possibilities on the table after taking the series over the Aggies.
“It was massive. We can only control one game at a time and one at-bat at a time, but being able to look back on it now, it was huge. A&M’s a really good team. They can, obviously and y’all saw it, swing it really well but we were able to scratch off two wins.”
Judd Utermark on the series win
Ole Miss will return to the diamond on Tuesday to face UT Martin for the final midweek game of the season at 6 P.M. CT.
Billy Kuhl
Billy Kuhl joins The Rebel Walk as a sophomore at Ole Miss majoring in Journalism with a Sports Media concentration. He is from Jefferson Township, New Jersey and graduated from Jefferson Township High School where he played varsity baseball, and soccer, and swam competitively in his summers. You can contact him at wpkuhl88@gmail.com or DM him on X @Billykuhll or instagram @Billykuhll_
