Like me, you didn’t see it live. Nobody who has to be somewhere on Saturday morning saw it live.
You may have fell asleep in the recliner sometime around midnight, the remote slipped down between the cushion and the armrest and when you jolted awake at 1:30 in the morning, ESPN2 was showing cornhole highlights or a bass fishing tournament from three years ago.
I don’t even remember.
So you grabbed your phone, squinted at the screen and started frantically searching to find out what happened to the Rebels.
Yeah, I did all of that trying to even find out if the Rebs won.
Here’s what happened.
Brayden Randle singled home Luke Romine in the bottom of the 14th inning at 1:14 a.m. to give Ole Miss a 7-6 win over Arizona State in the Lincoln Regional.
You can go back to sleep now. The Rebs are fine.
A Long, Strange Night in Nebraska
It started late and it got later. A 36-minute weather delay somewhere in the middle of things didn’t help matters.
Neither did Arizona State, which refused to go away quietly on a Friday night in Lincoln when most of the country had already called it a day.
The Rebels came in needing three wins this weekend to advance to the Super Regionals.
Losing Friday night would’ve meant an elimination game Saturday morning with barely enough time to eat breakfast first.
So yes, all 14 innings mattered. Every single one of them.
Ole Miss moves to 37-21 and will now face Nebraska in the winners game Saturday night at 7 p.m.
That’s the one that puts them in the driver’s seat for the whole weekend if they can pull it off.
Randle calls ballgame‼️ pic.twitter.com/IorBE9hvHl
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) May 30, 2026
The Guy Who’d Been Waiting
Brayden Randle hadn’t started since April 28. He’d only played in five games since then, working in a limited role while the lineup moved on around him.
The former starting shortstop was doing what reserve players do — staying ready, staying quiet and trusting his moment would come.
It came at 1:14 in the morning in Lincoln, Nebraska, in the 14th inning of a game that had already tested everyone’s patience and stamina.
Coach Mike Bianco had seen enough of Randle all year to know what he was capable of, even when the box score didn’t show it.
“He’s been a big part of this all year long, and still is,” Bianco said. “Tonight was a different role for him. I thought he did a good job the at-bat before, but they just made a hell of a play. Luckily he was able to get one through.”
That at-bat before came in the 12th inning.
Arizona State pulled its centerfielder in as a fifth infielder — an empty-net kind of move, pulling everyone up to cut off a run at the plate.
Nu’u Contrades made the play on Randle’s shot and threw out Hayden Federico at home. Game still tied. Clock still ticking.
Two innings later, Randle got another chance and this time nobody threw anybody out at home.
Make that 100 K’s for @elliotthunter10! pic.twitter.com/mpMYEO5Z4T
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) May 30, 2026
Before It Got Weird, Bissetta Got Loud
For a while it looked like Ole Miss might not even need 14 innings. The Rebs put up a four-run third that had to wake up whatever crowd was still paying attention.
Will Furniss got it started with a two-RBI double and then Tristan Bissetta stepped in and hit a 433-foot home run that didn’t just leave the ballpark, it cleared the entire right field wall of the stadium.
Gone. Not close. The kind of home run that makes you rewind it twice just to make sure you saw it right.
For those of you who were still awake at that point, that was the good part.
Judd Utermark had already done something worth staying up for in the first inning. His solo home run off Arizona State’s starter was the 50th of his Ole Miss career, making him the first player in program history to hit that many.
History, right there in the first inning of a Friday night regional game most people watched for about three innings before the couch won.
SMOKED by @TristanBissetta for the lead!☄️ pic.twitter.com/0HoaxVHPIb
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) May 30, 2026
The Pitching Staff Did What It Had To Do
Hunter Elliott wasn’t sharp. Five innings, four earned runs, six hits and four walks.
It wasn’t what the Rebs needed from their starter on a night that was going to stretch everybody thin.
Walker Hooks came on in the sixth inning with a simple mission to go as long as you can and let the team save Hudson Calhoun and the back end of the pen for the rest of the weekend.
Hooks responded with 5.1 innings, the longest outing of his season, giving up two earned runs on three hits and throwing 75 pitches.
He did give up a two-run home run to Contrades in the seventh that tied things at six and set the stage for the extra-inning madness that followed.
But he gave Ole Miss everything it could’ve asked for on a night the pitching staff had no margin for error.
Bianco was direct about it after the game.
“They were outstanding and we don’t win without those guys,” Bianco said. “What Hooks did — that was really the goal. Just to see if we could just go that route and really bypass guys like Hudson, save those guys for the rest of the weekend. Unfortunately, that didn’t quite turn out that way. The guys were terrific all around.”
Calhoun came on in the 11th anyway, once the game pushed into territory nobody planned for.
He worked 3.2 innings and threw 51 pitches to close it out. It cost a little more than the Rebs wanted to spend on a Friday night but the win’s in the books.
The first Rebel EVER to hit 50 home runs in their career! pic.twitter.com/f4ahWJdTc9
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) May 30, 2026
Now the Weekend Really Starts
Taylor Rabe gets the ball Saturday night against Nebraska. Win that one and Ole Miss controls the rest of the weekend.
Cade Townsend is lined up for Sunday in whatever game the Rebs need him — elimination or regional final, depending on how Saturday goes.
The staff is a little more taxed than the coaching staff would’ve liked after a 14-inning night. But the Rebels are still in a good spot.
They’ve got a path. They’ve got the pitching to do it if everyone does their job.
And if you fell asleep before it ended Friday night, no judgment here.
It was late. It was a long game. Whatever was on TV was probably pretty good too.
Just make sure you’re awake by 7 Saturday night.
