Through six games, Ole Miss hadn’t really been asked to sweat too much.
Everything had come pretty easily: early runs, clean pitching, comfortable margins.
Saturday felt different. For the first time this season, the Rebels had to play a real, honest-to-goodness close game. And they handled it.
Missouri State pushed back in a way no one else has so far, turning the middle innings into a tight, low‑scoring grind.
Game 1 Recap: Ole Miss Powers Past Missouri State as Offense Carries the Night
Ole Miss actually trailed for a moment, the bats went quiet, and the margin for error shrank. It wasn’t panic time, but it was the first time this team had to settle in and win something that wasn’t already drifting their way.
That’s what made Austin Fawley’s swing in the sixth inning feel bigger than just a three‑run double. It wasn’t a blowout‑padding moment — it was the swing that broke open a game Ole Miss had to earn. Fawley’s been the most productive hitter in the series (he had a grand slam home run on Friday), and his bases‑clearing shot turned a 1-1 stalemate into a 4-1 lead the Rebels never gave back.
Before that, it was all about pitching. Cade Townsend gave Ole Miss exactly what you want from a weekend starter in a tight game: four innings, eight strikeouts, and no runs allowed. He didn’t give up a hit until the fourth and matched Missouri State’s Max Knight pitch for pitch.
Once Townsend exited, Taylor Rabe took the baton, shook off a solo homer, and settled in long enough for the offense to finally breathe.
The insurance came late — a bunt that turned chaotic enough to score Fawley, then a sacrifice fly from Dom Decker in the eighth — but Ole Miss needed every bit of it.
Missouri State kept chipping, and Rabe had to work through traffic before Landon Koenig came in to lock down the final five outs and earn his first save as a Rebel.
It wasn’t the cleanest win of the season. It wasn’t the loudest. But it was the first one that required some composure, some patience, and a few timely swings.
If you’re Ole Miss, that’s exactly the kind of game you want to win in late February — the kind that tells you something about who you are when the easy stuff dries up.
The finale is set for Sunday afternoon, and for the first time this season, Ole Miss heads into it knowing it can win a game that doesn’t follow the script.
