OXFORD – With the season on the line for the second day in a row, No. 10 seed Ole Miss won a pair of elimination games Sunday to force a winner-take-all matchup against Murray State with a berth in the Super Regional on the line.
The Rebels outlasted Georgia Tech in a back-and-forth 11-9 thriller to advance to Sunday night’s regional final, a matchup that featured four lead changes, 11 total pitchers and a combined 26 hits.
In the second game, Ole Miss (43-20) scored a combined 13 runs in the third and fourth innings – which included back-to-back-to-back home runs in the fourth on three straight pitches to junior first baseman Will Furniss, junior second baseman Judd Utermark and senior center fielder Isaac Humphrey in an eventual 19-8 win over the Racers.
Ole Miss and Murray State will play in the regional championship game Monday.
Furniss hit two home runs in the nightcap and five runs in the two games. Humphrey had six RBIs in the two games and finished a single short of the cycle in the finale.
A two-out RBI single from Furniss in the seventh inning of the first game put the Rebels ahead for good, and a solo home run from sophomore designated hitter Campbell Smithwick in the eighth provided much-welcomed insurance. Ole Miss went 6 for 17 with runners in scoring position in the game.
Georgia Tech (41-19) loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth, but senior closer Connor Spencer – pitching for the third day in a row – struck out star shortstop Kyle Lodise to end the game.
Even in a game as up and down as their matchup with the Yellow Jackets was, the 2025 Rebels never feel like they’re out of a game.
“Definitely not. Not with how our pitching staff has done all this year. They’ve been able to give us chances as an offense,” Furniss said. “ … Our offense always seems to come back. When you have as much firepower as our offense does … It’s one swing of the bat and it can change in an instant.”
True freshman Cade Townsend started Game 1 and did not record an out in the second inning before being lifted for sophomore Hudson Calhoun.
Kent Schmidt and Lodise each hit home runs in the first, helping the Yellow Jackets jump out to a 3-0 lead. The Rebels knocked Georgia Tech starter Jaylen Paden out of the game with a five-run bottom of the inning, which included a three-run home run from senior center fielder Isaac Humphrey. The Rebels tacked on a run in the second on a sacrifice fly from Humphrey to take a 6-3 lead.
A throwing error from senior shortstop Luke Cheng led to an unearned run in the third, and Drew Burress and Schmidt hit back-to-back home runs leading off the fourth to tie the game. Caleb Daniel’s two-run double later in the inning put Georgia Tech back in front 8-6.
Junior second baseman Judd Utermark launched his fourth longball of the weekend in the bottom of the fifth, and the Rebels tied the game later in the inning on a bases-loaded walk by senior left fielder Mitchell Sanford.
Senior Mason Nichols — who missed the previous two weeks with an oblique injury — entered the game in the sixth and surrendered a go-ahead run with two outs to Daniel. The Rebels responded again in the bottom of the inning, as freshman right fielder Hayden Federico tied the game with a two-out RBI single. Ole Miss scored the final three runs of the game, including Furniss’ go-ahead RBI single.
Junior Will McCausland entered the game with an out in the seventh and struck out Schmidt and Lodise to end the inning; he pitched two innings and allowed just one hit. Rebels pitchers held Georgia Tech to 3 for 19 with runners in scoring position.
In the second game of the day, Murray State (40-14) scored a run off senior starting pitcher Gunnar Dennis in the bottom of the first, though the Rebels responded with a two-run home run from sophomore catcher Austin Fawley in the top of the second. Fawley and Utermark became the first Ole Miss teammates with 20 home runs in the same season. The Racers retook the lead in the bottom of the inning with a two-run home run from Jonathan Hogart.
Ole Miss scored eight runs in the top of the third, five coming with two outs. Furniss hit a two-run home run that bounced off the top of the visiting bullpen and into it that put the Rebels back ahead. Ole Miss loaded the bases with two outs in the inning and scored a run on a hit-by-pitch, another on a single from sophomore shortstop Brayden Randle, a bases-clearing single from Sanford assisted by an error and a wild pitch that Sanford scored on from second base. Sanford finished the game with three RBIs.
Furniss, Utermark and Humphrey each hit the first pitch they saw off Murray State’s Reese Oakley into the stands in a five-run fourth inning. The Rebels added a run in the fifth, two more in the sixth and another in the ninth.
Junior Ryne Rodriguez pitched 3 2/3 innings in relief against the Racers and surrendered just one run.
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