How It Happened: Ole Miss Baseball Comes Up Short in 5-4 Loss to Mississippi State

OXFORD, Miss. – Ole Miss baseball (19-8, 3-4 SEC) fell to Mississippi State (22-4, 5-2 SEC), 5-4, in game one of the series Friday evening at Swayze Field.

Judd Utermark and Austin Fawley each launched home runs for the Rebels. Utermark blasted his 40th career homer and etched his name next to some Ole Miss greats. He became just the fifth Rebel to ever hit the 40-homer mark, tying Brad Henderson and Jacob Gonzalez for fifth-most ever in the process.

Fawley put Ole Miss ahead in the bottom of the seventh with a three-run homer. His third of the season traveled 344 feet into the pocket of the left field bullpen. Will Furniss and Hayden Federico each contributed a hit while Daniel Pacella and Dom Decker each recorded runs.

Hunter Elliott got the start on the mound and worked 5.1 innings, striking out seven in that span. Taylor Rabe entered in relief in the sixth, pitching 2.2 innings with a pair of strikeouts, but picked up the loss. Mississippi State's Tyler Pitzer got the win.

A pitcher's duel between the team's starters headlined the opening third of the game. Elliott got his outs by working the zone, fanning four in his first three innings worked. Meanwhile, Mississippi State's Charlie Foster got outs by leaning on his defense and forcing weak contact. Neither pitcher had allowed a hit entering the fourth inning.

Ole Miss Baseball. — Courtesy of Ole Miss Rebels Baseball.

Ole Miss got the bats going in the bottom of the fourth when Utermark sent showers into right field with his 11th homer of the season to put the Rebels ahead.

After striking out the first batter of the fifth inning and 4.1 hitless innings, the Bulldogs got their first knock off Elliott on a line drive to right field. However, Ole Miss' infield silenced the momentum with a 6-4-3 double play. Ole Miss threatened in the bottom half of the inning after Furniss doubled off the right field wall but got stranded after three straight outs.

In the top of the sixth, Mississippi State strung together six consecutive baserunners, four off the bats, to rally and take a 3-1 lead.

Down two, the Rebels put a pair of baserunners in scoring position with Austin Fawley on deck in the bottom of the seventh. On a 1-1 count, Fawley pulled the ball high into the very corner of left field to circle the bases and give Ole Miss a 4-3 lead.

After a scoreless eighth, the Bulldogs reclaimed the lead in the top half of the ninth. Mississippi State strung together a single, a double, and a triple in consecutive at-bats to tack two runs on the board, which would be the deciding factor of the game.

Ole Miss and Mississippi State compete in game two of the series tomorrow with first pitch at 1:30 p.m. CT. The game will be streamed on SECN+.

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