Dom Decker hit a fly out against a drawn in infield from Arizona State to send Ole Miss to the NCAA Super Regionals.
Decker battled off hard pitches from ASU closer Derek Schaefer to get a pitch and drive in the outfield to score pinch runner Goldin for 5-4 win.
Ole Miss, 39-21, will await the Auburn Regional winner next week. Auburn must beat upstart Milwaukee to advance to host next week. A Milwaukee win would have Ole Miss as host.
“I had a rough night, but got something to hit,” Decker said who last year helped Murray State beat the Rebels to win the Oxford Regional last year
“We didn’t play well, but Wil Libbert came in and lit it up and J.P. Robertson was great,” Decker said.
The game was tied at 3 after three innings. ASU led 4-3 in the fourth and held until Ole Miss tied in the seventh when Austin Fawley doubled in Hayden Federico for a 4-all tie.
In the 10th, Collin Reuter got on and Golden came in to run. Luke Romine then got his third hit of the season, a single to move to Goldin to third. Goldin had made it second on a wild pitch
Arizona State placed five infielders but Decker foiled it.
J.P. Robertson got the win with a perfect 10th inning.
Federico scored three runs to lead the Rebels including runs on second and third innings. The Rebels defense was strong especially short stop Owen Paino who made a diving stop on a line drive to end a rally in the ASU fourth. He added more in the latter innings as the Rebs kept it tied.
Brayden Randle who Friday/Saturday game that went 14 innings, stayed hot reaching base three times, including hits in the second and third innings.
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LINCOLN, Neb. – For the first time since 2022, No. 18 Ole Miss baseball is heading to the NCAA Super Regional round after defeating No. 22 Arizona State, 5-4, Sunday evening in extra innings.
Last time Ole Miss (39-21) played in the supers, it knocked off No. 10 Southern Miss in back-to-back games in Hattiesburg. In those games, the Rebels outscored the Golden Eagles, 15-0.
Ole Miss had an interesting path to the supers this season, going 3-0 in the Lincoln Regional, hosted by No. 20 Nebraska and included two wins over Arizona State. Game one saw the Rebels and Sun Devils battle for 14 innings until a Brayden Randle single acted as the game-winning run. The following day, Ole Miss and Nebraska’s nightcap got suspended in the ninth inning with the Rebels ahead, 6-3. The Rebels closed that game out earlier on Sunday.
In the rematch against Arizona State this evening, Ole Miss never led until Dom Decker’s game-sealing sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 10th inning. Both of the Rebels’ wins over the Sun Devils came in extra innings.
Randle paced Ole Miss batters, going 2-for-4 with an RBI. He earned five hits in Lincoln, averaging one RBI a game. Five Rebels added a hit, including Tristan Bissetta and Austin Fawley. Bissetta hit his 22nd home run of the season, tying teammate Judd Utermark for the second most in a single season in Ole Miss history. Fawley hit a game-tying double in the seventh, which was pivotal in Ole Miss’ win.
Cade Townsend got the start for Ole Miss, working 5.0 innings and fanning seven batters. He allowed four runs, three of which were earned. Wil Libbert and JP Robertson backed Townsend in relief, neither allowing a run scored with four combined strikeouts. Robertson, who was in a groove Saturday evening prior to the game’s suspension, earned the win.
Like the first time the teams faced off, Arizona scored first. A leadoff home run in the first inning started it, followed by a two-run single in the second put the Sun Devils ahead 3-0.
The Rebels started to claw back when they loaded the bases in their portion of the second. Randle knocked Hayden Federico home with a single, shortly preceding Decker sending Owen Paino home on a sacrifice fly. Bissetta’s home run in the third inning knotted the game at three.
The Sun Devils took the lead once more in the fourth, scoring off a wild pitch.
The bats of both teams stalled until Fawley touched the plate in the seventh inning. With Federico on first, having reached on a walk, Fawley slammed a ball to deep left field that bounced off the wall, allowing Federico to jaunt home and tie the game at four each.
Libbert and Robertson then teamed up to keep the score as is until the ninth inning. Libbert worked 3.0 innings, fanning a pair until Robertson arrived and guided the Rebels into the final stretch. He struck out the final batter he faced to set up Ole Miss’ game-winning run.
In the bottom of the 10th, Collin Reuter walked as a pinch hitter before getting replaced by pinch runner Cannon Goldin. With Luke Romine at the plate, Goldin advanced to second on a wild pitch before Romine singled up the middle, putting Goldin at third. With just one out, Decker flied deep into left field, allowing ample time for Goldin to tag up and score the winning run.
Ole Miss has the chance to host a Super Regional for the first time since 2009, depending on the outcome of the Auburn regional. That outcome will be decided either later this evening or tomorrow, following the conclusion of the regional.
