Ole Miss second baseman Dom Decker makes contact for a hit during the second game of a double-header against Texas A&M. | Ole Miss Athletics
Ole Miss second baseman Dom Decker makes contact for a hit during the second game of a double-header against Texas A&M. | Ole Miss Athletics

Ole Miss Moves Closer To NCAA Regional Host Territory With Texas A&M Series Win

BY Taylor Hodges

Ole Miss didn’t just salvage the day. It won the weekend, and that’s the part that matters most right now.

After getting run off the field in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader, the Rebels steadied themselves, punched back in the nightcap and beat No. 9 Texas A&M 6-5 to take the series.

Add that to Friday’s 5-3 win, and Ole Miss walks out of Swayze with a 2-1 weekend that pushes the Rebels a lot closer to locking down NCAA regional host territory.

The nightcap looked like it might turn into a stress‑free cruise. Taylor Rabe carved through the Aggies early, retiring six straight to open the game, and the offense gave him a cushion in a hurry.

Hayden Federico doubled, Austin Fawley launched his 10th homer, Topher Jones followed with another shot, and suddenly it was 3-0. A Collin Reuter homer made it 5-0 through three, and Swayze felt pretty comfortable.

Then the fourth inning happened.

Texas A&M put up five runs, tied the game and forced Ole Miss to decide whether to ride Rabe or turn it over to its bullpen early.

They stuck with him, and he rewarded them with one of the best outings by a Rebel in years.

Six innings, 106 pitches, 14 strikeouts, no walks. It was the most strikeouts by an Ole Miss pitcher since Doug Nikhazy’s 16 in 2021, and paired with Hunter Elliott’s 11 on Friday, it gave the Rebels their first double‑digit strikeout duo in a series since Nikhazy and Gunnar Hoglund in 2020.

Once Rabe handed it off, the bullpen did exactly what it needed to do. JP Robertson gave them a clean seventh, and the Rebels scratched across the go‑ahead run that same inning when Dom Decker walked, stole second and scored on a Judd Utermark single through the left side. From there, it was six outs to survive.

Hudson Calhoun handled the eighth. Walker Hooks handled the ninth. Both allowed a hit, neither blinked, and Hooks ended it with a double play ball that sent the Rebels into the night with a one‑run win and a series they absolutely needed.

Ole Miss is now 34-18 and 14-13 in SEC play, winners of back‑to‑back series and trending toward the right side of the hosting line. Saturday wasn’t clean, and it definitely wasn’t easy, but it was the kind of response that keeps a season moving forward.

At this point in the season, every win matters and has big implications.

HOTTYTODDY.COM HEADLINES