OXFORD – Ole Miss junior shortstop Brayden Randle singled in the go-ahead run with two outs in the eighth inning, and the Rebels finished off a three-game sweep of Missouri State and stayed undefeated with a 3-2 win at Swayze Field on a windy Sunday afternoon.
Rebels junior second baseman Dom Decker led off the game with a home run – the first of his college career – and senior third baseman Judd Utermark hit his team-best sixth home run in the seventh inning, a solo shot that tied the game at 2-2.
“Keep it simple. Just do my job. Don’t try to be too big,” Randle said. “ … I had the feeling it was going to come up to me, and just … got the confidence that I could get the job done.”
Sophomore Wil Libbert pitched five innings, surrendered two earned runs and notched a career-high tying seven strikeouts without allowing a walk. He made 84 pitches, 60 of them for strikes.
Decker’s solo shot went deep into the home bullpen on a 2-2 count and would serve as Ole Miss’ (8-0) lone hit until the sixth inning. The Bears (3-4) returned the favor in the top of the second, as Curry Sutherland launched a home run into right-center that tied the game at 1-1. That was the only scoring until the top of the fifth inning, when Missouri State took a 2-1 lead on a Charlie Carter single and Rebels fielding error.
Ole Miss got a pair of runners on base in the bottom of the inning but failed to plate any runs. The Rebels left six runners on base through the first five innings and reached base nine times via walk or hit-by-pitch in that span. Sophomore Walker Hooks entered the game in relief of Libbert in the sixth and struck out the side. He pitched two scoreless, hitless innings.
“I thought (Libbert) was terrific. Again, a guy that handled the weather and didn’t look like it affected him one bit as far as command, as far as stuff,” Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco said. “ … And I thought the other guys were tremendous. … Hooks was tremendous as well in the middle, and that’ll be the forgotten thing when you look at the box score.”
Senior designated hitter Collin Reuter ended the Rebels’ hitless drought in the bottom of the sixth with a leadoff double but was stranded on third to end the inning. Utermark tied the game with two outs in the bottom of the seventh with a solo shot into the wind in left. With two outs and runners on first and second in the eighth, Randle bounced one up the middle between a pair of Missouri State infielders and brought in what wound up being the game-winning run.
Sophomore JP Robertson pitched scoreless eighth and ninth innings and picked up the win.
Ole Miss hosts Southeast Missouri State at 4 p.m. today. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network+. Sophomore Terry Hayes Jr. will start on the mound, per Bianco.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 42 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 42 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
