The Recap: Ole Miss Baseball Falls 9-6 in Oxford Regional Opener Versus Murray State

The Ole Miss Rebels and Murray State Racers faced off for the second time this season as the Racers secured a 9-6 win in both squads first game of the NCAA Tournament.

The Racers wasted zero time as Jonathan Hogart sent the first pitch of the game over the center field wall off Isaac Humphrey's glove for a leadoff homer.

Murray State then loaded up the bases with a double, single and walk before Luke Mistone drove in the Racers' second run of the game with an RBI fielders choice before the Rebels finally escaped down 2-0 after just half an inning.

The Racers added on more in the second; starting with Dustin Mercer doubling into left field to drive in a run and allowing Hogart to advance to third before he was driven in by Carson Garnor's sacrifice fly to make it 4-0 Racers after two innings.

However, the Rebels put themselves right back into the game as Judd Utermark launched a three-run home run over the batters eye to make it a 4-3 ball game.

Ole Miss was not done there as they leveled the game in the fourth with Cambell Smithwick sending a low line drive into the student section to knot the game at four.

The Rebels continued on in the fourth as they claimed their first lead of the game from a Luke Hill RBI single which plated Luke Cheng to give the Rebels a 5-4 advantage.

The Racers stormed back to even the game just an inning later as Will Vierling roped a ball deep into right field which was initially grabbed by Hayden Federico before it was dislodged from his glove.

Federico ran into the fence allowing the runner to advance home and Vierling to record an RBI double.

The Racers continued their run scoring streak in the sixth after a double went just off the glove of Will Furniss before a 5-3 groundout allowed the runner from third to cross and reinstate Murray State's lead at 6-5.

Throughout all the madness at the plate, Racers starter Nic Schutte was through it all as he pitched into the seventh inning after racking up 119 pitches and nine strikeouts before being taken out after 6.1 innings pitched.

The Rebels then capitalized on the pitching change. Schutte left the game following a walk to Hill and reliever Jacob Hustedde threw a pitch to the backstop before Furniss roped a base hit into the gap which knotted the game even once again, this time at 6 apiece.

However, that lead did not make it past the next half inning as Murray State once again took the lead; this time behind a Dom Decker RBI single to give the Racers a 7-6 advantage with six outs to go.

With the disadvantage becoming crucial, Ole Miss turned to Ryan Moreman, who has not been seen on the playing surface since his collision with Humphrey during the SEC Tournament.

However, Moreman hit a ball hard on the first pitch right at the shortstop for the final out of the eight.

In the ninth, the Racers loaded up the bases with no one down. Following back-to-back strikeouts, it looked as the Rebels would escape unharmed.

That was until Mercer slapped his fourth double of the game past a diving Hill at third down the line for a two-RBI double to extend the Racer lead to 9-6 with just three outs to go.

The Rebels looked threatening in the ninth as they loaded the bases with two outs, but could not scrape a run across as Murray State recorded the win 9-6.

The Rebels will now face the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers at 1 p.m. CT on Saturday in a win or game home matchup as they look to avoid elimination in Swayze Field.

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