5 Key Reasons Why Ole Miss Baseball is Back in College World Series

The Ole Miss Rebels just swept the number four team in the nation to punch their ticket to the College World Series.

The Rebels were firing on all cylinders against the Auburn Tigers. Their pitching was excellent, and they had some very timely hitting.

The Rebels needed a lot to go their way to win this series, and these players helped them get it done.

Taylor Rabe

Taylor Rabe was unbelievable in the final game of the series. He went seven innings, with eight strikeouts and two earned runs.

One of those runs was given up because of a defensive blunder when the Tigers snuck in a run during a poorly executed rundown defense. It counted as an earned run, but it was easily preventable.

Rabe really only gave up one run.

Rabe's most heroic moment came at the top of the seventh inning when he sent three straight Auburn hitters back to the dugout after throwing 104 pitches.

Rabe was a huge part of why the Rebels clinched a trip to Omaha this past Saturday.

Will Furniss & Tristan Bissettas' timely homers

Ole Miss Rebels' Will Furniss celebrates his home run as Auburn Tigers take on Ole Miss Rebels during the NCAA Super Regional | Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Will Furniss and Tristan Bissetta both played hero ball in the bottom of the eighth inning in game two.

The game had been at a stalemate. No hitters on either side could get a run across. Then Will Furniss came up to the plate, and he burned baby burned a Jaxson Sanders slider over the wall.

He scored, along with Judd Utermark to give the Rebels their first lead of the day.

Bissetta couldn’t let Furniss have all the fun, and he crushed a homer to make the score five to two Rebels. The Tigers would score one in the ninth, so this was a very important insurance run.

Neither of those two hitters had a superb super regional before that, but they helped cement the series win for Ole Miss with those two home runs.

Judd Utermark

Judd Utermark had a great super regional that was overshadowed by other great moments. He went three for six, with a home run and four RBI’s.

Utermark also had a crucial walk in the bottom of the eighth in game two that set up Furniss’ two run homerun.

Utermark has been a leader for this Rebels lineup all season, and he clearly continued that role throughout the Auburn region.

Walker Hooks

Walker Hooks came in and got the save in both games for the Rebels.

He pitched two innings in game one, only allowing one run. He then came back for game two and sealed the Tigers' fate in the ninth.

Hooks has seemed to find his groove and will look to continue his dominance in Omaha.

Staff surrendered 7 runs across two games.

Ole Miss Rebels' Hunter Elliott pitches as Auburn Tigers take on Ole Miss Rebels during the NCAA Super Regional | Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Ole Miss pitching staff had another fabulous outing. Coach Bianco is sticking with the same formula of using three pitchers a game.

Both his starters against Auburn got deep enough into their games to set this up perfectly. The Rebels' pitching staff only allowed seven runs to a great Tiger lineup.

To put that in perspective, the Tigers had scored at least eight runs in their last five games. This staff wasn’t messing around and were able to get it done in Alabama.

The Rebels are taking a trip to Omaha, where they will face the number five-ranked University of North Carolina. It will be a tough battle, but if they continue the streak they’re on, they will take care of business.

Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook and X for the latest news.

Add us as a preferred source on Google