Ole Miss Loses Lead, Drops Game Two vs. Mississippi State 10-7

The Rebels built an early lead off of the long ball, but they failed to hold that advantage at the end of the night.

OXFORD, Miss. -- It seemed for a while that all of the runs in the Ole Miss-Mississippi State baseball series this weekend would come via the home run.

The Rebels led the Bulldogs 4-1 entering the top of the sixth after the two teams combined to hit five solo home runs, three of which came back-to-back-to-back for Ole Miss in the bottom of the first inning. That trio of long balls by Justin Bench, Jacob Gonzalez and Tim Elko was added to by Peyton Chatagnier in the second inning, as well.

It was in the top of the sixth, however, that the wheels began to fall off for the Rebels. Mississippi State was able to tack on two runs in that frame, four in the seventh and three in the eighth to push its run total to 10. Despite a late comeback effort by the Rebels, it was not enough to come away with the game two victory.

"They beat us tonight," Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco said, "but it's one that leaves a bad taste in our mouth because we started so well. Hunter [Elliott] competed on the mound, but credit them. Once we got to the bullpen, they had a lot of really good at-bats."

Elliott was plagued by some deep counts early in his outing that forced his departure after four innings. Following the freshman lefty, Riley Maddox, Jack Dougherty, Brandon Johnson and Mason Nichols toed the rubber for Ole Miss as it tried to find a combination of arms to stop the late bleeding.

"How much is our fault, and how much is credit them?" Bianco said. "They had really good at-bats, and we just couldn't get off the field."

Ole Miss and Mississippi State will conclude their series tomorrow at Swayze Field at 3:30 p.m. CT on ESPN2.

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