Arkansas State baseball has made life difficult for Ole Miss in recent years.
Last season required a Judd Utermark walk-off home run in the 10th inning for the Rebels to win 4-2. The year before, the Red Wolves beat Ole Miss by that same 4-2 score.
So what happened Tuesday night at Swayze Field shouldn’t have shocked anyone.
Ole Miss and Arkansas State entered the ninth inning tied 6–6, and after a scoreless top half from the Red Wolves, Brayden Randle lifted a sacrifice fly deep to right field to score Brett Moseley for a 7-6 win.
REBS WALK IT OFF @BraydenRandle pic.twitter.com/1XtcHh390o
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) February 18, 2026
What was surprising was how Arkansas State got into that position.
Mike Bianco’s teams don’t commit many errors, but the Rebels did Tuesday night. Ole Miss made five errors (all in the early innings) and those miscues led to three unearned runs. Add in some timely two‑out hitting, and it’s easy to see how the Red Wolves built a 6-3 lead in the fifth.
But the Rebels never folded. Colin Reuter’s solo home run in the bottom of the fifth cut the deficit to two. Tristan Bissetta doubled to right‑center in the seventh to make it 6-5.
Ole Miss loaded the bases with no outs in the eighth and managed to score only once. Dom Decker tied the game with a bases‑loaded walk, but Utermark and Will Furniss struck out, and Bissetta lined out to center to end the inning and send the game to the ninth tied 6-6.
BASES. LOADED. 💪 @haydenfederico3 pic.twitter.com/8EGvwiEzxj
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) February 18, 2026
Arkansas State needed three pitchers to escape that jam, but once the Rebels stopped giving away outs, the Red Wolves stopped scoring runs.
In the end, Ole Miss did just enough. The Rebels cleaned up the defensive miscues, kept Arkansas State off the board for the final four innings, and finally broke through when it mattered.
It wasn’t pretty — and it rarely is when these two meet — but Ole Miss found a way to survive another tight one against a Red Wolves team that always seems to make things complicated.
Winning/Losing Pitchers
- WP: Luke Koenig (1-0), 2 IP, 3 K, 34 TP
- LP: Andrew Allen (0-1), 0.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
Ole Miss Batting Leaders
- Collin Reuter: 2-4, 2 RBI, HR, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K
- Tristan Bissetta: 2-5, 1 RBI, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 K
- Austin Fawley: 3-5, 1 R, 1 K
- Dom Decker: 1-4, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
Next Up
Ole Miss won’t have long to dwell on what went right and what went wrong Tuesday night as they’ll be in action in less than 24 hours.
The Rebels will host Jackson State at 4 p.m. Wednesday. That game will be streamed on SECN+.
