OMAHA — The pain will subside in Ole Miss’ dugout and locker room eventually. And once it does, head coach Mike Bianco hopes his team realizes exactly what it accomplished in 2026.
Until then, however, the could haves, the should haves and the would haves are going to make the foreseeable future excruciating.
Troy’s Jabe Boroff broke a 6-6 tie with a two-run double in the seventh inning of Sunday afternoon’s College World Series matchup, and the Trojans outscored Ole Miss 10-2 over the final five innings as the Rebels’ stay in Omaha came to abrupt end with a 12-8 loss to the Trojans at Charles Schwab Field.
After sweeping through the Lincoln Regional and Auburn Super Regional, the Rebels (41-23) lost games to North Carolina and Troy (39-31) in the College World Series’ double-elimination round. It was Ole Miss’ seventh trip to the College World Series.
“If you’re going to lose, this is the best place to lose at. And right now I’m sure it doesn’t feel that way to our team,” Bianco said. “But my hope is, as the days pass and the weeks pass, they realize what a tremendous year they had.”
Ole Miss junior outfielder Brayden Randle launched a two-run home run 397 feet to right in the second inning and senior designated hitter Collin Reuter mashed a two-run shot to right in the fourth inning. Senior first baseman Will Furniss hit a home run to deep left field in the eighth. The Rebels led 6-2 after four innings.
Randle, who had 16 RBIs in the regular season, drove in seven this postseason.
Redshirt junior Hunter Elliott made his return to the mound in Omaha— four years after giving up just three combined runs over 13 innings in Omaha during Ole Miss’ title run — and surrendered five earned runs over 4 2/3 innings with nine strikeouts and four walks. It was Ole Miss’ first loss in a game Elliott started in the NCAA Tournament after winning the previous seven.
The leadoff man reached for Ole Miss in seven of nine innings Sunday, but the Rebels stranded nine runners on base in the game.
“I’ve been with a lot of these guys for a couple of years. Obviously, like, there’s some new guys around. But I think we had 19 returners or something like that. And some of those guys I’ve been with for four years,” Furniss said. “They mean a lot to me. They’ll be friends for life. And I think it just means the world to not only me, but the rest of the guys because we worked so hard for it. Just sucks that it ends the way it does.”
The Rebels struck first Sunday, as junior second baseman Dom Decker reached second base via error on the first pitch of the game and got to third on a wild pitch before senior third baseman Judd Utermark drove him home with an RBI single. Sophomore outfielder Hayden Federico drove in the game’s second run with a two-out double down the left-field line later in the inning.
Troy’s Sean Darnell tied the game with a two-run home run to right in the top of the second, though Randle quickly repaid the favor with his own two-run home run in the bottom of the inning. Reuter, who hit a key home run in the super regional at Auburn, launched a two-run homer to right in the fourth.
The Trojans loaded the bases on Elliott with two outs in the fifth and eventually scored three runs, the last two on a single just out of reach of sophomore shortstop Owen Paino’s glove. Elliott was replaced by sophomore JP Robertson, who got the last out of the inning.
Troy star catcher Jimmy Janicki tied the game 6-6 with a solo home run in the seventh off Robertson, who was taken out after surrendering an earned run over 1 2/3 innings. Sophomore Walker Hooks took over with one out in the seventh and surrendered the go-ahead double to Boroff, and Houston Markham followed with an RBI single that put the Trojans ahead by three.
Junior catcher Austin Fawley cut into the deficit with an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh, though Blake Cavill launched a solo home run in the top of the eighth to end Hooks’ outing. Hooks surrendered three earned runs in 2/3 of an inning of work; he gave up six earned runs in 2 2/3 innings in two College World Series appearances.
The Trojans scored two more runs with two outs in the eighth on a dropped pop-up from Paino. Federico led off the bottom of the ninth with a single, but the final three hitters of the game were retired in order — the final one on a swinging strikeout from Randle.
Following the 2022 national title-winning season, Ole Miss missed out on the NCAA Tournament two seasons in a row. The Rebels hosted a regional last year but lost in agonizing fashion to Murray State. Elliott, the lone holdover from the 2022 team, missed nearly two whole seasons due to an elbow injury before returning healthy the last two years.
This magical postseason ride — which could be the redshirt junior’s last in Oxford — meant the world to him.
“This season was special. I think some because of how hard it was. We had a tough schedule. We had really tough road trips. We had really just tons of tough games. And I think that’s why this team was so special and why we were so good late in the year, is because we were able to stick together through it all,” Elliott said. “This team means so much to me. Those teammates on that bus right now, they’re brothers for life. It’s hard to find the words right now, obviously. But it was a special season with a special group of guys.”
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