Ole Miss Baseball was eliminated from the 2026 Men’s College World Series following a 12-8 loss to Troy on Sunday, June 14. After a superb pitching season that saw the bullpen become the strength of the team and guide Ole Miss to Omaha, the Rebel staff struggled to shut down Troy’s offensive rallies and produce outs.
Hunter Elliott started the game for the Rebels. He pitched 4 ⅔ innings with a final line of nine strikeouts, seven hits, five earned runs and four walks.
Elliott had a strong outing that fell apart in the fifth inning. He gave up a two-run homer in the second. He worked two scoreless frames allowing three runs to score in the fifth.
In the fifth, Elliott gave up two singles and walked a batter to load the bases. After a controversial balk call, every runner moved up 90 feet, allowing a run to score. The next batter singled to score two runs. The balk allowed three runs to score.
The balk call came in a crucial moment, and it felt like a momentum shift for the Trojans. The call continued to affect Elliott’s outing. Another single ended his day.
“No explanation on it (the balk). (I was) surprised maybe a little, but it is what it is,” Elliott said in the postgame press conference. “I needed to make the next pitch, and I didn’t get off the field there. The balk doesn’t kill you if you don’t give up the base hit right after, so it is what it is.”
Head coach Mike Bianco brought in JP Robertson to replace Elliott. He finished the fifth inning on two pitches with a groundout. Robertson also completed a three-up-three-down sixth inning. In the seventh, he gave up a home run and single, ending his day. Robertson received the loss for the game.
Walker Hooks came in for Robertson in the seventh, which is earlier than he is typically put into games. In ⅔ inning, he gave up three hits, three earned runs and a walk, which is uncharacteristic of him.
“He (Hooks) has handled every situation, and again, we didn’t want to bring him into the seventh today,” head coach Mike Bianco said in the post game press conference. “We thought that was a lot of outs to ask him to get, not necessarily physically, but the adjustments that they’ve made, that they started to make against Hunter. I know when he (Hooks) came in today, it seemed like a lot of balls just missed (in the) middle.”
After Hooks gave up a homer, Wil Libbert replaced him in the eighth. He gave up a single and a walk, and two runs eventually scored later in the inning on an error by shortstop Owen Paino.
Landon Waters was brought in for the ninth inning to shut down the Trojan batters in their last plate appearance. He did not allow a run in his lone inning of work.
Ultimately, the Rebel bullpen was stretched thin and ran out of gas. They struggled to get Troy to swing and miss and gave away too many free bases. Seven walks and one hit by pitch put eight Trojans on base. Rebel relievers had uncharacteristic outings for a team that has had a good, deep bullpen this season.
