Rivalries in sport are some of the most integral parts to any good season. From the Celtics and Lakers to Notre Dame and USC, we write about and watch sports because of these stories.
For any SEC fan, the Egg Bowl is one of the most storied rivalries in football history, and that animosity is not left at the diamond, come the spring.
Ole Miss and Mississippi State, the former being the reigning national champions, and the latter holding the title before Ole Miss faced off. These teams, both behind the eight ball compared to how they had hoped this season would go.
In an away series for the Rebels, played at Dudy Noble Field down in Starkville, the matchup started scoreless. Nothing for both squads coming into the third inning, Jacob Gonzalez hammered a home run over center, putting Ole Miss up 1-0.
A scoreless fourth later, the Bulldogs slugged a home run of their own, tying the score by the end of the fifth.
All quiet for two more innings, before Kemp Alderman ended the silence with a home run in the eighth, and Calvin Harris hit a clutch single, scoring T.J. McCants, bringing the lead to 3-1.
State did score another home run to close the game, but too little too late for the boys from Starkville, and Ole Miss prevailed, 3-2.
The Rebels returned for Game 2, ready to again march on Dudy Noble and disappoint the cowbell-carrying, maroon-wearing Starkville faithful.
Scoring commenced at the top of the second, as Will Furniss won a single, which scored Anthony Calarco, before getting a run of his own on a two-base error.
The second closed with a double and a run by State, tying the game at 2-2.
A scoreless third and fourth flew by, before Calarco again scored for the Rebels on a solo home run to left. The sixth began with the score showing a Rebel advantage, 3-2, before an all-too-familiar Ethan Groff single scored McCants.
Groff scored shortly after, thanks to a Gonzalez double. State took the field for the bottom of the sixth, down 5-2, before back-to-back home runs made it a 5-4 ballgame.
Set up by a double, the Bulldogs scored a two-run homer, giving State their first lead of the game, 6-5, to close the seventh. No runs in the eighth set up a dramatic ninth inning, where Gonzalez doubled to score Groff, before being run in by a Calarco single.
Ole Miss held strong, 7-6. Thanks to a clutch single by State, however, the Bulldogs prevailed, scoring two in the bottom of the ninth to walk it off and even the series 1-1.
The series was tied on Sunday, and both teams were amped up for a game that may not impact any national standings, but absolutely matters to fans of the sport in the state.
No scores in the first two innings, despite a double from Ethan Lege in the first, before a grand slam from Mississippi State in the bottom of the third made the score 3-0 in favor of the Bulldogs.
The fourth and fifth were scoreless, before Calarco hit for a much-needed run, putting the Rebels on the board in the sixth. The seventh came, and with it, a scoring barrage, as Peyton Chatagnier scored and Alderman drove in a single to tie the game 3-3.
The bottom of the seventh dashed the momentum of the top, as State hit a home run with two on base, putting them up 5-3. No scores were to be had in the eighth, and Ole Miss dropped the series two games to one.
Although the season is not yet lost, the Rebels are in low spirits leaving Starkville.
Games are yet to be played, and wins are yet to be had, but the loss to Mississippi State was disappointing, to say the least.
The Rebels play at Arkansas State on Tuesday, April 18 at 6 p.m. CDT on ESPN+.
