OXFORD – As much as he tried to keep things ho-hum following Ole Miss’ key series win over No. 9 Texas A&M, Rebels third baseman Judd Utermark couldn’t help himself.
This series meant a lot.
Utermark, who has spent all four of his seasons at Ole Miss – a rarity in modern college sports – broke a 5-5 tie in the seventh inning of Game 2 of Saturday’s doubleheader at Swayze Field with an RBI single in the No. 20 Rebels’ 6-5 series clinching win, the final regular-season home series of the season.
In Game 1, Texas A&M scored 17 runs in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth innings combined in an 18-5 seven-inning win.
The Rebels (34-18, 14-13 SEC), who won Friday’s opener, held a Senior Day ceremony before the first game Saturday. Among the players honored were Utermark, first baseman Will Furniss and pitcher Hunter Elliott, a redshirt junior who has a year of eligibility remaining should he choose to use it. Utermark and Furniss got to Ole Miss right after the Rebels’ College World Series title run but did not make it to the NCAA Tournament in their first two college seasons. They stuck it out, however, and after hosting a regional in 2025, Ole Miss has put itself in position to host postseason baseball in Oxford once again with one regular-season SEC series at Alabama remaining.
Sophomore Taylor Rabe struck out a career-high 14 batters with no walks over six innings in Game 2 despite allowing five runs in the fourth.
“I mean, I’d like to say the professional in me wants to say that it’s just another series and I’m glad that we won it. But it’s really special,” Utermark said. “I think a story that a lot of people don’t know is that I was born in College Station. I grew up an A&M Aggie. But playing here, especially the senior weekend, honoring the seniors and of course getting a win – especially in this fashion – it meant a lot.”
Sophomore Cade Townsend surrendered a season-high six earned runs in 3 1/3 innings in the opener, all of the runs coming via four home runs. The Aggies’ 18 runs scored in Game 1 were the most allowed by Ole Miss this season.
Rabe started the second game of the day and struck out the most batters by an Ole Miss pitcher since Doug Nikhazy punched out 16 in June of 2021. Junior catcher Austin Fawley and sophomore outfielder Topher Jones hit back-to-back home runs in the second inning. The Rebels led 5-0 before Texas A&M tied the game with their five-run fourth.
Rabe struck out eight of the first 10 batters he faced in Game 2 – surpassing his previous career high of seven strikeouts by the third inning. Fawley and Jones put the Rebels on the board in the second with a two-run home run and solo shot, respectively. Senior designated hitter Collin Reuter launched a no-doubt two-run home run into the visiting bullpen in the third to make it a 5-0 Rebels lead. Texas A&M loaded the bases on Rabe in the fourth and eventually scored five runs, four coming with two outs on home runs from Binderup and Royo.
Rabe pitched scoreless fifth and sixth innings before being lifted for sophomore JP Robertson for the seventh. Utermark gave the Rebels the lead with his RBI single in the bottom of the inning. The Aggies got the tying run to third base on junior Hudson Calhoun in the eighth, but the Tupelo native struck out Jorian Wilson to end the threat. Sophomore closer Walker Hooks pitched a scoreless ninth inning and got the save.
Ole Miss hosts UT Martin at 6 p.m. today. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network.
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