Ole Miss and No. 2 Texas played one of the most exciting SEC games of the night on Friday, with the Rebels eking out a 9-8 win in 11 innings.
Saturday’s game was the exact opposite, unless you’re a Longhorns fan.
Texas bounced back from Friday’s loss and beat Ole Miss 11-2. Longhorns pitcher Luke Harrison essentially shut down the Rebels, allowing just five hits and two runs while striking out eight.
But what happened to Ole Miss’ starting pitcher is the bigger concern.
Injury Puts Stress on Rebels’ Bullpen
Whatever Ole Miss planned for Saturday unraveled quickly. Starting pitcher Cade Townsend had a pitch sail out of his hand during the first at-bat of the second inning. He left the game immediately. In an in-game television interview, coach Mike Bianco said it was something involving Townsend’s shoulder.
Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco said on the broadcast that righthander Cade Townsend was removed after "experiencing some shoulder soreness" and "didn't feel like he could go."
"Probably one where we have to wait until we get back home and have the doctors take a look at him."
— Jacob Rudner (@JacobRudner) March 14, 2026
More details will come later, but the immediate impact was obvious. Townsend is one of the pitchers Ole Miss can usually count on for five solid innings, maybe more. Instead, the Rebels had to use five relievers less than a day after using four in Friday’s marathon.
One of those relievers, Owen Kelly, pitched in both games but has thrown only 16 total pitches. Ole Miss may need even more bullpen help in Sunday’s series finale.
No Pop in Ole Miss Bats
The Rebels rely heavily on home runs, and when they’re not hitting them, they usually aren’t winning. It has only happened once this season, but it happened again Saturday.
Ole Miss finished with seven hits (Tristan Bissetta was the only Rebel with two) and only two went for extra bases. They drew just one walk and had just one RBI.
Sac fly, tie game @WillFurniss pic.twitter.com/wPPfkM93wm
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) March 14, 2026
Harrison pitched a great game, which is part of the story. Sometimes a pitcher is simply unhittable. But Ole Miss also missed an opportunity to force Texas into its bullpen the way the Rebels were forced into theirs.
Pitching Decisions
- WP: Luke Harrison (2-0), 7 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 8 K, 2 WP, 1 HP, 102 TP, 73 ST
- LP: Grayson Gibson (1-1), 2.1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 2 HP, 26 TP, 20 ST
Ole Miss Batting Leaders
- Tristan Bissetta: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 K
- Will Furniss: 1-2, 1 RBI, 1 HBP, 1 SF
- Tate Sirmans: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 K
Next Up
Ole Miss and Texas will wrap up their SEC-opening weekend Sunday with a series-deciding rubbermatch at 1 p.m. on SECN+.
For the Rebels, a series win on the road against the No. 2 team in the nation would do wonders for them in the SEC standings, national rankings, RPI, DSR and every other metric that you have to believe they’ll pull out all of the stops to get the win.
