No. 17 Ole Miss Baseball lost to No. 10 Mississippi State, 7-3, on Tuesday, April 28, in the annual Governor’s Cup in Pearl, Miss. The game did not count toward either team’s SEC record.
The Rebels fell behind early in the game. They did not score in the first inning. Mississippi State’s bats were hot from the jump.
Gehrig Frei got things started for the Bulldogs with a single to left field. Rebel starter Owen Kelly then walked a batter, and Jacob Parker singled to score Frei and advance another runner.
Bryce Chance singled to drive in a run, and Kevin Milewski doubled to bring in two more runs. The Bulldogs ended the first inning with a 4-0 lead.
After two singles in the second, Kelly was pulled, and Landon Waters came into the game. He surrendered a RBI single up the middle but closed the inning without giving up another run.
In the top of the fourth, Mississippi State replaced starter Brendan Sweeney with Maddox Miller. Miller got a quick three up, three down. To start the bottom of the fourth, Will Libbert replaced Waters. He did not give up any runs.
After Miller walked both Collin Reuter and Daniel Pacella in the top of the fifth, the Bulldogs brought in reliever Peyton Fowler. Fowler hit Tristan Bissetta with a pitch to load the bases, but he then struck out Judd Utermark, stranding three runners on base.
Libbert struck out two batters in the bottom of the fifth. Fowler was replaced in the top of the sixth by Chris Billingsley Jr. after recording four strikeouts in just 1 ⅓ innings.
Billingsley struck out two batters, then walked Topher Jones and hit Brayden Randle with a pitch. Reuter doubled to deep right center to score two and get the Rebels back in the game, 5-2.
Pacella was then hit by a pitch. Dom Decker followed with a single up the middle to score Reuter, making the score 5-3. Tyler Pitzer replaced Billingsley.
In the bottom of the sixth, Milewski singled to right center. He scored later in the inning on a sacrifice fly to extend the Bulldog lead to 6-3.
Leo Odom opened the seventh inning on the mound for Ole Miss. Odom struck out two batters in his lone inning of work.
After a Mississippi State leadoff double in the eighth, the Rebels put Landon Koenig in the game. Mississippi State scored on a bunt to extend the lead, 7-3. The Rebels failed to score in the final inning.
The biggest problem for the Rebels was their inability to capitalize in big moments. Ole Miss struck out 13 times, tallied only five hits and left 10 runners on base. On two occasions, Utermark struck out with two outs and the bases loaded.
What’s next?
Ole Miss (31-15, 11-10 SEC) will travel to Fayetteville, Ark., for a weekend series against No. 22 Arkansas (30-16, 11-10 SEC) on May 1-3. The first game will be May 1 at 6 p.m. SEC Network+ will broadcast the games.
