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Cowbell Corner

Mississippi State Wins Governor's Cup for Season Sweep of Ole Miss

The Bulldogs' offense got started early and the pitching staff kept the Rebels' offense silent for most of Tuesday night at Trustmark Park.
Taylor Hodges|
Mississippi State pitcher Brendan Sweeney threw three scoreless innings in the 2026 Governor's Cup at Turstmark Park.
Mississippi State pitcher Brendan Sweeney threw three scoreless innings in the 2026 Governor's Cup at Turstmark Park. | Andy Hodges/Mississippi State On SI

Mississippi State may or may not reach its ultimate goals for this season, but it has the in-state bragging rights for the next year.

And there won’t be much wiggle room to argue against it.

The Bulldogs won the 2026 Governor’s Cup in a 7-3 win against No. 17 Ole Miss in the rivals’ annual game at Trustmark Park in Pearl. It’s the fourth-straight Governor’s Cup win for Mississippi State.

Tuesday’s win was just as dominant as the final two games of the regular SEC series last month at Swayze Field. The Bulldogs won those games 5-1 and 7-1.

Here’s how the 2026 Governor’s Cup was decided.

At the Plate

If you tuned into the broadcast late, or arrived at Trustmark Park after the second inning you missed most of the offensive output Tuesday night.

Mississippi State exploded for four runs in the bottom of the first inning. Gehrig Frei led off with a single, Noah Sullivan drew a one out walk, Jacob Parker drove in the first run with a RBI single and Bryce Chance followed with a infield single to give the Bulldogs a quick 2-0 lead.

Aidan Teel loaded the bases after getting hit with a pitch and Kevin Milewski extended the lead to 4-0 with a double to the gap in right centerfield.

Parker added another run in the second inning for his second of the day and that’s where most of the run-scoring production ended.

Ace Reese drove in a run on a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning, after Ole Miss got on the board in the top half of the inning.

On the Mound

It wasn’t perfect, it wasn’t smooth and at times it was anxiety-inducing, but the Bulldogs’ pitchers kept a high-powered Ole Miss offense at bay.

Brandon Sweeney gave up only two hits in three innings of work and struck out four. Maddox Miller gave up one hit (1.1 IP), Peyton Fowler have up two runs and a walk but also had four strikeouts. 

Chris Billingsley Jr. was the only Bulldog pitcher to not record at least one out and was charged with one run in the Rebels’ three-run sixth inning. Tyler Pitzer was able to end that big inning with a strikeout of Judd Utermark with the bases loaded (the second time an inning ended under those circumstances).

Mississippi State Batting Leaders

Next Up

Mississippi State’s time against the SEC’s bottom feeders is over. The Bulldogs are headed to Austin, Texas to face No. 4 Texas this weekend. 

Game one of the weekend series is set for Friday at 6:30 p.m.

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Taylor Hodges
TAYLOR HODGES

Award-winning sports editor, writer, columnist, and photographer with 15 years’ experience offering his opinion and insight about the sports world in Mississippi and Texas, but he was taken to Razorback pep rallies at Billy Bob's Texas in Fort Worth before he could walk. Taylor has covered all levels of sports, from small high schools in the Mississippi Delta to NFL games. Follow Taylor on Twitter and Facebook.

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