Southern Miss stayed hot, Ole Miss slipped, and Mississippi State scored a rousing sweep in their first series without head coach Chris Lemonis in the heat of the final regular season stretch.
The No. 22 Golden Eagles (35-13, 18-6 Sun Belt) are now winners of nine straight ballgames – tied with Jackson State for the second-longest current winning streak in Division I baseball – after handling Arkansas State (23-24, 11-13) in all three contests this weekend in Hattiesburg.
JB Middleton dazzled yet again on Friday, tossing seven innings of one-run baseball and striking out six Red Wolves. On a quiet offensive night for both sides, Matthew Russo slammed the nail in the coffin on the final pitch, breaking a 1-1 ninth-inning tie on a walk-off home run to give the black and gold the opener by a score of 2-1.
It was all Southern Miss on Saturday and Sunday. The Golden Eagles convincingly clinched the series with an 8-0 win in game two and sealed the sweep with a 14-2 smacking of A-State on Sunday. Russo hit three of the team’s five home runs on the weekend, supplemented by 4 RBI performances from Carson Paetow and Tucker Stockman.
After Middleton set the tone on Friday, the pitching staff stayed in control the rest of the way. Matt Adams nabbed his fourth win of the year after taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning Saturday, while the bullpen spun 10.2 innings of scoreless relief and walked zero batters.
In Starkville, the drama surrounding Chris Lemonis’ termination earlier in the week was compounded by a theatrical sweep for Mississippi State on Super Bulldog Weekend. MSU (29-19, 10-14 SEC) clobbered Kentucky (25-20, 10-14) by pulling away in the middle innings to kick off the party on Friday.
Game two was a different story as both sides traded blows and settled at a 5-5 tie through four innings of baseball. The next score came seven innings later, when Joe Powell called game by singling in Bryce Chance in the 11th to keep the Bulldogs undefeated under interim head coach Justin Parker and clinch the series win.
Mississippi State added an exclamation point via a 6-1 win on Sunday to complete the sweep. Four pitchers combined for an impressive effort in the finale, allowing a single run and striking out eight Kentucky batters.
Powell led a long list of Bulldogs who contributed to the sweep, tallying six RBI, two doubles, and a home run on the series.
The postseason picture is still a bit muddled for MSU with 10 SEC wins, but the successful weekend vaulted the Bulldogs 13 spots to No. 32 in the latest RPI rankings, according to Warren Nolan. There is work left to do for an at-large NCAA Tournament bid with two weeks remaining in the regular season, but the maroon and white gave themselves a chance with the 4-0 week.
While their two in-state counterparts swept opponents at home, No. 23 Ole Miss (33-15, 13-11 SEC) dropped two of three to No. 21 Oklahoma.
The Rebel sticks went quietly in the first two ballgames, suffering their second shutout in as many weeks in a 2-0 Friday loss. The Sooners followed with a 5-3 clipping on Saturday, sealing a fourth straight SEC series defeat for Mike Bianco’s crew.
As they did in the previous two weeks against Tennessee and Vanderbilt, Ole Miss countered with a win in the series finale by a score of 7-3. Mason Morris was stellar again in relief, allowing one run and punching out four Sooners in 3.2 innings of relief work. Each run on the scoreboard was supplied by a different Rebel bat in the win.
But even after another deflating series loss, Ole Miss’ postseason resume is still a strong one. The Rebels hold a No. 15 RPI after the weekend to keep them in a favorable position to make a run at a hosting spot.
Next up
A midweek-free slate will allow the trio to gear up for important conference series in the penultimate week of regular-season play.
Ole Miss and Mississippi State will do battle at Dudy-Noble Field with an abundance of postseason implications on the line, with first pitch set for 7:30 p.m. on Friday to begin the Egg Bowl on the diamond. Southern Miss welcomes conference rival Louisiana to Pete Taylor Park for their final home regular-season series of 2025, starting at 6 p.m. Friday.
