Ole Miss is continuing a game of cat and mouse — one in which it returns to the college baseball rankings, just to drop out the next week, and rinse and repeat — with the Rebels squeaking in this week’s D1Baseball top 25. Meanwhile, Mississippi State and Southern Miss fell in the rankings but remained in the top 10.
The Rebels, after suffering a bad RPI loss to Memphis in a midweek showdown before being swept at home by Mississippi State, bounced back with a 3-1 week, earning them the No. 25 spot in the poll. Mike Bianco’s club (22-11, 5-7 SEC) defeated Little Rock on Tuesday before heading down to Florida in what was seemingly a must-win series versus the then-No. 21 Gators. Ole Miss did just that by taking games one and three and only dropping game two despite a solid outing by ace Hunter Elliott and the bullpen.
Pitching was the strong point for the Rebels, who only surrendered eight total runs over the weekend against a Florida offense that scored 23 at then-top-five Arkansas the week prior. Weekend starters Taylor Rabe and Cade Townsend, along with Elliott, gave the Gators fits in each matchup, while bullpen arms – most notably Brandon native Walker Hooks – held the home club at bay for the most part. Situational hitting continued to be a struggle, though, as the Rebels had gone 20 innings without scoring a run at one point in the series. Saturday’s finale found the red and blue trailing 2-0 in the top of the ninth. A game-tying home run by Judd Utermark catalyzed a five-run frame that helped the visitors cruise to victory.
Next up for the red and blue is a midweek game against Alcorn State before No. 24 LSU rolls into town for what is expected to be an intense series, especially with both fanbases having very little love, if any at all, for one another.
Mississippi State fell to No. 9 in the rankings after being on the wrong side of the broom at home. The Bulldogs, previously ranked No. 4, earned a 10-run rule midweek win over Grambling, then welcomed arguably the best hitting club in the nation — Georgia. The Bulldogs from Athens lived up to the hype, hitting six home runs over the three-game affair, and pitching well enough to pull off the near-impossible at Dudy Noble Field. Brian O’Connor’s club (25-7, 7-5 SEC) boasted a perfect home record up until the series.
Georgia scored 10 runs quickly in Thursday’s opener and threatened to end the game early, but a valiant effort by the home club found Mississippi State surging back, just to lose 10-9. A strong pitching performance played out in Friday’s battle, but the home Bulldogs could not muster up enough offense to come out victorious in the 3-1 loss. Saturday’s finale found both clubs going into extras while tied 5-5. Georgia scored three runs in the top of the 10th and Mississippi State went scoreless in the final frame, preventing them from salvaging the series.
Next up for the maroon and white is a midweek game against UAB before Tennessee comes to Starkville for the weekend.
Southern Miss dropped two spots to No. 10 in the rankings after splitting its four games of the week. After falling to a feisty Southeastern Louisiana club in a midweek showdown, Christian Ostrander’s (23-9, 7-5 Sun Belt) club traveled to Old Dominion and took two of three from the Monarchs. Southern Miss cruised to a 10-4 win on Thursday, but got behind the 8-ball in Friday’s matchup and could not score its way out of the jam in the 10-8 loss.
The Golden Eagles appeared to be cruising to a series win through six innings on Saturday before disaster struck. Not ready to call it quits, Old Dominion, trailing 6-1 in the bottom of the seventh, scored six runs in the frame to take a 7-6 lead. Southern Miss, recognizing it could not afford to lose a series to a team with the No. 165 RPI, did what it needed to win, and did so by scoring two more runs to secure an 8-7 victory.
Next up for the black and gold is a home midweek contest versus New Orleans before having to hit the road and play at Louisiana.
The full top 25 can be viewed below:
- UCLA
- Texas
- Georgia Tech
- Georgia
- Florida State
- North Carolina
- Oregon State
- Alabama
- Mississippi State
- Southern Miss
- Coastal Carolina
- Central Florida
- Virginia
- USC
- Auburn
- Oklahoma
- West Virginia
- Texas A&M
- Nebraska
- Arizona State
- Oregon
- Arkansas
- Boston College
- LSU
- Ole Miss