Three Rebels hit two long balls apiece to help lift Ole Miss to an 8-6 win over Western Kentucky on Saturday in the Oxford regional.
Mike Bianco’s club is still in the hunt this postseason, despite Friday night’s loss to Murray State. A solid outing from ace Hunter Elliott, paired with two jacks by Mitchell Sanford, Austin Fawley, and Judd Utermark, lifted the red and blue to its first victory of the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
Ole Miss (41-20), the visiting team in the matchup against the Hilltoppers, instantly got on the board, courtesy of a leadoff home run by Sanford. Later in the top of the first inning, an RBI single by Isaac Humphrey scored Luke Hill, putting the host team up 2-0.
Western Kentucky countered in the bottom of the first. A leadoff double converted into a run scored later in the frame, due to a fielding error by Rebel right fielder Hayden Federico. A two-out RBI single scored another Hilltopper run to even the score.
Fawley, the Ole Miss catcher, homered to center field to begin the top of the second, but that was it for the Rebels in the frame. Ole Miss’ 3-2 advantage was short-lived. Western Kentucky third baseman Carlos Vasquez knocked a two-out double down the left field line to knot things up in the bottom of the second.
Both clubs were held scoreless in the third inning. Ole Miss, looking to separate from its Conference USA opponent, was boosted by Fawley’s second long ball of the afternoon. Rebel shortstop Luke Cheng proceeded to reach first base on a fielding error and was later sent home on an RBI single by Hill.
A no-doubter smacked by Utermark in the top of the fifth inning gave Ole Miss more insurance. The ball, which sailed over the batter’s eye in the center field, traveled 438 feet. A solo home run by Sanford in the next inning put the Rebels up 7-3.
Judd clears the batter’s eye for the SECOND TIME this weekend 👀
📺 ESPN+@JuddUtermark x #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/YkqLe8jFLI
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) May 31, 2025
As the Rebels found offensive success with the long ball, Elliott continued to battle. Though he gave up three runs early in the contest, the Tupelo southpaw settled and worked four scoreless frames before his day came to an end. Elliott found himself in a bit of a jam in the bottom of the sixth inning when the Hilltoppers loaded the bases with two outs.
After waving his head coach off from making a pitching change, the veteran stepped up and delivered a called strike three to keep Western Kentucky from scoring. The lefty also eclipsed his 100th strikeout of the season. He joined former Rebel legends Mark Holliman, Lance Lynn, and Drew Pomeranz in accomplishing the feat.
“The strikeout there in the end — it was really special. It meant a lot to me, and I think I let my emotions flow after it,” Elliott said. “I knew [the offense] had my back … I just wanted to do my job and put up zeroes and get deep into the game. I really feel like we needed some length today, so I was really happy with that.”
💯 Strikeouts for @elliotthunter10 this season!
Hunter becomes the fourth Rebel in program history to have 2️⃣ 100 K seasons!
📺 ESPN+@NCAABaseball x #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/stohKB5GmW
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) May 31, 2025
Utermark gave Ole Miss its final run of the contest with a homer in the top of the seventh inning. Freshman right-hander Taylor Rabe took over for Elliott on the mound. After the Rebel defense worked a double play, the Hilltoppers found a breath of life with a solo shot to cut their deficit to four runs.
Both teams were held scoreless in the eighth inning. Ole Miss’ batters were retired in order in the top of the ninth, and Bianco turned to his closer, Conner Spencer, to seal the deal. Spencer struck out his first batter, then gave up a single. An ensuing ground-rule double found Western Kentucky with two runners in scoring position with one out.
Ole Miss pitching coach Joel Mangrum visited the mound to chat with Spencer, though that chat did not bear immediate fruit, as Hilltopper first baseman Kyle Hayes singled, scoring a baserunner. A follow-up flyout put the Rebels one out away from walking away on top. But Western Kentucky was not out of late-game magic. An errant play to first by Will Furniss sent another Hilltopper to home plate.
Trailing 8-6, Western Kentucky had the winning run at the plate, with runners on the corners, and two outs. Spencer, though, forced a Reid Howard flyout to wrap the game in red and blue. The Hilltoppers, which also lost on Friday, were eliminated from the regional.
Ole Miss, after using six arms on Friday, was able to preserve some pitching by only throwing three guys on Saturday. Bianco and company hope to have enough strong pitching in the arsenal to withstand the loser’s bracket of the regional, though the longtime skipper admitted one day ago that he will need some unexpected heroes to step up.
Stat Leaders
Hunter Elliott was the winning pitcher. He gave up eight hits and just one earned run while striking out seven batters through six complete innings in his first outing at Swayze Field.
Aside from the trio of Rebels who launched two balls out of the park, Luke Hill and Isaac Humphrey had solid showings at the plate. Each of the two players had two hits and an RBI.
Hilltopper hurler Dawson Hall was handed the loss after throwing three complete innings in which he surrendered three hits and an earned run, while striking out one batter.
Kyle Hayes was the bright light for Western Kentucky offensively. The first baseman had three hits and a trio of RBI in the contest. Ryan Wideman also had a three-hit day.
Coach’s Comments
After taking a gut punch from Murray State on Friday, Mike Bianco knew that his team had a steep hill to climb to make it out of the home regional. However, the Rebel frontman was confident that his team would take a big step forward by eliminating the Hilltoppers from the four-team field.
“It’s nothing anybody doesn’t know, but somebody’s going to come through the loser’s bracket of the 16-team regionals. Somebody does every year,” Bianco said. “It’s doable. You just have to win games … Knowing you have your ace on the mound and you’re playing at home, I like that. That’s a good matchup for us.”
Though his club faced adversity and the potential of being walked off in the final frame, Bianco was assured that the maturity of his ballclub, mostly made up of upper classmen, had what it took to eliminate the threat of an upset.
“This is an older team. It might not always be pretty, and it wasn’t pretty in the ninth … But this is postseason baseball, and you have to be able to handle it,” Bianco said. “Thankfully, we have some older guys who can handle it.”
Next Up
Ole Miss will return to the diamond on Sunday at 2 p.m. and face the loser of Saturday’s winner’s bracket battle between Georgia Tech and Murray State.
