OXFORD, Miss. — The good news for Murray State is it has another chance to win the program’s first-ever NCAA Baseball Championship regional title.
The bad news is the opponent is 2022 College World Series champion Mississippi, and the Rebels appear to be taking the role of a team that suddenly achieves a very high level of play after being at the verge of elimination. Earlier in the day, the Rebels survived a very tense battle with Georgia Tech to decide who would face the Racers in championship round of the Oxford Regional that the Rebels are hosting at Swayze Field.
Then, playing very loose and oozing with confidence after saving its season with a come-from-behind win, Ole Miss fed on the energy of a fired-up crowd at Swayze and destroyed the Racers’ first shot at history, erasing an early deficit with a powerful offensive outburst that included five home runs in a 19-8 win. That forces a winner-take-all meeting Monday at Swayze. That game is set for first pitch at 5 p.m.
“Obviously, not a whole lot to say … we took it on the chin there,” said Murray State Head Coach Dan Skirka, whose team (41-14) was actually pretty good on offense. The Racers ended with 13 hits in the game and failed to score in only three innings. The problem was the Rebels (42-20) had 19 hits as the Racers’ pitching staff — which had some clutch moments in their first two wins of the weekend — simply could not control the Ole Miss bats tonight, allowing a super-charged crowd of about 11,600 fans to be a big part of the game throughout the evening.
“I was proud of the guys. They kept fighting and, early on, we punched back. But (Ole Miss) was hot and we’ve got to find a way to get them off the barrel and get some quick innings to get our offense going.”
Things seemed to be going well for Murray State in the early going. Luke Mistone’s RBI single had the Racers up, 1–0, in the first inning. That was countered in the second by a two-run homer by Ole Miss catcher Austin Fawley to dead center field, which was then countered by a two-run bomb down the left-field line from outfielder Jonathan Hogart — his third of the regional — that gave the Racers a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the second.
Then, Ole Miss first baseman Will Furniss clubbed another two-run homer, this time to left-center field to return the lead to the Rebels at 4-3. However, Ole Miss kept going.
Eventually, it loaded the bases and Fawley earned an RBI the hard way when he was hit by a pitch to increase the lead to two runs. Then, No. 9 hitter Brayden Randle reached base on an infield hit to score another run before teammate Mitchell Sanford’s two-run single up the middle continued the inning. The frame ended with Sanford scoring from second on a wild pitch and the Rebels with a 10-3 lead, much to the delight of the Swayze crowd.
Racer catcher Will Vierling’s triple off the center-field wall cut the lead to 10-4 in the bottom of the third, but the Rebels were only getting started.
They opened the fourth by having its first three hitters — Furniss, Judd Utermark and Campbell Smithwick — all homer. A wild pitch and a Sanford groundout added two more runs to make the score 15-4.
Dustin Mercer’s two-run double cut the lead back below double digits at 15-6 but the Rebels continued to score. A Hayden Frederico sacrifice fly in the fifth pushed the lead to 16-6 before Furniss’ shot off an umpire resulted in a single and a 17-6 lead in the sixth, followed by Humphrey’s RBI double later in that frame.
With Skirka opting to play his reserves in order to save some starters for Monday, backup catcher Kingsley Guthrie’s double in the seventh was rewarded when teammate Nico Bermeo plated him with a double of his own. A Conner Cunningham double finished the scoring in the ninth.
Hogart continues to hammer the Rebels at Swayze. Tonight’s homer marks his third against Ole Miss in the past two seasons, all at Swayze. He added a huge solo shot in Saturday’s 13-11 win over Tech. Mercer also now has six doubles against the Rebels in this regional, including the four he had in Friday’s 9-6 win.
“Yeah, it’s unfortunate, for sure,” Hogart said. “We’ve just got to keep trusting ourselves. It just wasn’t our night. Hats off to them, but we get to come back and get them (Monday).”
“I think we’re in good shape,” Mercer said. “Nothing really changes. Honestly, I thought our approach at the plate was pretty good.”
Ole Miss had its cause helped by an outstanding stint from reliever Ryne Rodriguez, who went 3 2/3 innings and only allowed one run on four hits. That is something Ole Miss needed after starter Gunnar Dennis surrendered six runs on eight hits and after the Rebels entered tonight with a pitching staff that had been hammered throughout the weekend.
Something the Racers pitching staff had avoided until tonight was free passes. That was not the case and it contributed to a lot of problems as the Rebels reached base on 10 walks and three batters being hit by pitches. Two wild pitches also directly led to Rebel runs.
Several of those came in the fatal third and fourth innings.
“Just too many walks,” Skirka said, noting that he is not sure who will get the call on the mound for Monday’s final game. “We’re going to have to assess it but it’s going to be a matter of trying to get ahead (in the pitch count) and not give up that many (walks). It’s one of those things where, when they get on the barrel, it’s leaving the yard and, if we give up, two and three-run home runs like they’ve been hitting, we’re going to be in trouble.
“But I talked with the guys the other day about the path we’ve been on (from a fall season that was anything but indicative of a future Valley champion to now) and it’s been a grind, but I don’t expect anything but our best effort tomorrow.”
Hogart put it in simple terms.
“We’re playing with house money,” he said, smiling. “We’re not even supposed to be here (as a fourth seed trying to reach a Super Regional). This is pretty awesome for us to be here, so to God be the glory!”