Ole Miss Crushes No. 22 Mississippi State to Earn First Rivalry Series Win Since 2015

The Ole Miss Rebels picked up their first series win over the Mississippi State Bulldogs since 2015 on Sunday afternoon in run-rule fashion.

OXFORD, Miss. – The Ole Miss Rebels closed out their weekend in glorious fashion, as they beat the No. 22 Mississippi State Bulldogs 14-2 at Swayze Field on Sunday afternoon in seven innings. It truly was a memorable Energy Sunday, as the Rebs secured their first series win over the Bulldogs for the first time since the 2015 season.

This was a much-needed bounce-back weekend for Ole Miss, as the Rebels snapped their eight-game losing streak on Saturday night, and picked up another SEC series win the next day.

Ole Miss was able to ice State’s winning streak thanks to monster performances from junior RHP Mason Nichols and senior outfielder Ethan Lege. In only the second start of his career, Nichols made it through 6.1 innings allowing one earned run, zero walks, and four hits while striking out four batters. The best appearance of Nichols’ career could not have come at a better time.

Nichols was relieved by just one Ole Miss reliever: Gunnar Dennis (0.2 IP). Dennis allowed zero runs and two walks.

Lege led Ole Miss at the plate on Sunday. The Abbeville, La., native got the Rebels on the board in the bottom of the first inning with a two-run bomb to give Ole Miss an early lead over the Bulldogs. A sac fly and ground out tacked on two more runs for the Rebels in the bottom halves of the second and third innings, but Lege opened things up in the bottom of the fifth with his second home run of the afternoon.

Lege registered two hits, three RBIs, two homers and one walk in Sunday's blowout win.

It was death by a thousand cuts in the bottom of the sixth, as the Rebels scored three more runs thanks to two singles and another sac fly. Senior outfielder Ethan Groff got in on the action in the bottom of the seventh when he ripped a double down the left field line to score three more Rebels, giving Ole Miss an 11-2 lead over State and putting the game in run-rule territory.

With the win over State, the Rebels have improved to 20-16 (5-10 SEC) and will now hit the road to take on the Arkansas State Red Wolves on Tuesday night in Jonesboro for some midweek baseball. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. CT, and the game will be televised on ESPN+.