For the first time since 2022, Ole Miss Baseball (39-21) will be competing in the Super Regional round of the NCAA Baseball Tournament as they head to Auburn, Alabama this weekend to take on the No. 4-nationally seeded Tigers (42-20). First pitch on Friday is set for 7 p.m. CT while Saturday’s game two is set for 4 p.m. CT. Sunday’s game three will be announced if necessary.
LEADING OFF
- Ole Miss advanced to the Super Regional round last weekend after sweeping through the Lincoln Regional 3-0.
- The Rebels beat Arizona State on Friday in 14 innings, host Nebraska in a suspended game that began on Saturday but was finished on Sunday, and the Sun Devils again Sunday night in 10 innings to claim their first Regional Championship since 2022.
- The Ole Miss bullpen combined for a 2.12 ERA, allowing just four earned runs with 15 strikeouts over 17 innings during the regional. Hudson Calhoun earned the win on Friday and locked down a save on Sunday morning, allowing just one hit over 4.2 innings.
- Hayden Federico went 7-for-14 with a double and three runs scored in the regional. Brayden Randle went 5-for-10 with an RBI single in all three games.
- Hunter Elliott became the first Rebel in program history to post three 100+ strikeout seasons in their career, reaching the mark on Friday against Arizona State.
- This is the ninth time in program history that Ole Miss has competed in a Super Regional, the first since 2022.
- Taylor Rabe has struck out 36 batters over his last three starts and gone six innings in all three.
- Rabe leads the SEC and is third in the NCAA in strikeout-to-walk ratio, striking out 9.00 batters for every walk issued. He has issued just 10 walks all season.
- Rabe also leads the SEC in walks allowed per nine innings (1.42), is ranked third in the SEC in WHIP (1.03), and fourth in the conference in K/9 (12.79).
- Hayden Federico is hitting .474 (9-for-19) with four RBI, four runs scored, and an OPS of 1.229 this postseason.
- Brayden Randle is hitting .429 (6-for-14) with three RBI this postseason including the walk-off winner against Arizona State on Friday.
- Austin Fawley has hit nine home runs over his last 17 games, after hitting just four over his first 36. 11 of his 13 home runs have come against SEC teams.
- Fawley, Judd Utermark, and Tristan Bissetta have combined to hit 56 of Ole Miss’ 103 (54%) home runs this season.
- The Ole Miss pitching staff is one of 19 staffs in the entire country to have over 600 strikeouts, racking up 672 punchouts this season. They lead the SEC and are fourth in the NCAA in total strikeouts, trailing only Oregon State, Arizona State, and Wake Forest.
PROJECTED PITCHING MATCHUP (Game 1)
LHP Hunter Elliott (5-3, 5.21 ERA) vs. RHP Andreas Alvarez (10-3, 3.52 ERA)Â
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Friday’s game will be broadcast live on ESPN2 with Tom Hart (PxP) and Todd Walker (analyst) on the call. Saturday’s game will be broadcast live on ESPN with the same crew.
Fans can listen to all Ole Miss Baseball games, home and away, on the Ole Miss Radio Network with David Kellum (PxP) and Brad Henderson (analyst) on the call.
SCOUTING REPORT
Head coach Butch Thompson has guided Auburn to its fifth Super Regional since 2017, with this season marking back-to-back hosting bids. Thompson and the Tigers have reached the CWS twice, in 2019 and 2022. This season, he’s guided Auburn to a 42-20 record entering the weekend.
Auburn coming off a turbulent regional round, having lost game one to Milwaukee. Facing elimination, it came back the following day with a 17-run outburst over NC State, then handled UCF on Sunday to force a rematch with Milwaukee. The Tigers didn’t blink as it bested the Panthers twice in a row to advance to the supers.
Auburn’s strengths lie in its pitching staff, as it holds a 3.62 team ERA, which leads the SEC and is sixth in the country. Among qualifying pitchers, Auburn has four in the top 10 of the conference in terms of ERA, led by Jackson Sanders. The sophomore lefty allows a 2.63 ERA, which is second in the conference. Auburn excels at not allowing free baserunners, holding the best strikeout-to-walk ratio in the country at 3.75. Jake Marciano leads the team in strikeouts with 108 and Andreas Alvarez is close behind with 103.
At the plate, Chase Fralick and Ethin Bingaman have combined for 35 home runs this season, with Fralick’s 20 serving as the ninth best mark in the conference. Both batters are hitting north of .320 at the plate, but Chris Rembert is Auburn’s most consistent hitter with a .345 average. Rembert, Fralick and Eric Guevara each have at least 70 knocks for the year, and each have at least 10 doubles. Fralick leads the team with 18, the seventh most in the SEC.
DOM ON THE BIG STAGE
Last season, Dom Decker played with Murray State as the Racers made a magical postseason run to the College World Series. Decker hit .351 with nine RBI, six walks, and six runs scored playing second base for the Racers as they rolled through the Oxford Regional and the Durham Super Regional.
Last weekend in the Lincoln Regional, Decker hit .308 with three RBI, three walks, and three runs scored including the walk-off sacrifice fly to send the Rebels to the next round.
Over two combined postseasons, Decker is hitting .340 with 12 RBI, nine walks, and nine runs scored.
JUST A KID FROM GREENVILLE
Taylor Rabe has struck out 36 batters over his last three starts and has gone six innings in all three outings. Rabe became the first Rebel since Liam Doyle in 2024 with back-to-back 10+ strikeout outings when he struck out 14 against Texas A&M and 13 against Alabama to ende the regular season. His 27 total strikeouts over those two outings were the most over two starts since Gunnar Hoglund in 2021.
Rabe leads the SEC in strikeout-to-walk ratio (9.00) and walks per nine innings (1.42). He has issued just 10 walks all season.
UPPER DECKER
Dom Decker has 10 home runs this season, fourth-most on the team. He came to Ole Miss this season after two seasons at Murray State and one season at Wallace State Community College and had never hit a home run in his career before coming to Oxford.
POWER HOUR
The Rebels have hit 100+ home runs this season for just the third time in program history. This is the first time in program history that they have had back-to-back 100-home run seasons, after hitting 124 a season ago.
Last season Ole Miss set a new single season record with 124 home runs. The only other triple digit home run season came in 2022.
HOOK ‘EM
Walker Hooks finished the regular season leading the SEC in ERA (1.73), WHIP (0.80), and appearances (17) during conference play. He was also tied for the league lead in saves with seven. The big left-hander was also ranked second in fewest walks allowed (6) and tied for fifth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.00) in league games.
Hooks has converted six of his last seven save opportunities and has allowed just five earned runs over his last 14 appearances.
HOME RUN KING
Judd Utermark hit the 50th home run of his career on Friday against Arizona State, becoming the first Rebel in program history to reach the half-century mark.
Utermark has now hit 21 home runs this season giving him back-to-back 20 homer seasons. He is the first Rebel in program history to post multiple 20+ home run seasons.
Ole Miss Career Home Run List
1. Judd Utermark                                          50
2. Kyle Gordon                         48
3. Tim Elko                                                     46
4. Matt Smith & Matt Snyder              41
6. Brad Henderson & Jacob Gonzalez           40
BIG GAME HUNTER
Hunter Elliott is in the midst of his third postseason with the Rebels, showing that he thrives in big games on the national stage. Over three seasons he has allowed just nine earned runs over 42.2 postseason innings. The Rebels have never lost a postseason game that Elliott has started, and he has picked up a win in four of his six postseason starts.
Elliott In the Postseason (NCAA & SEC Tournaments)
| W-L | ERA | IP | H | ER | BB | K | BAA | |
| 2022 | 2-0 | 1.42 | 25.1 | 15 | 4 | 9 | 28 | .170 |
| 2025 | 2-0 | 0.79 | 11.1 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 16 | .208 |
| 2026 | 0-0 | 6.00 | 6.0 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | .300 |
| Career | 4-0 | 1.90 | 42.2 | 31 | 9 | 17 | 48 | .238 |
KEEP IT 300
In his second-to-last start of the regular season against Texas A&M, Hunter Elliott became just the third Rebel in program history to reach the 300-strikeout mark in their career. He joined Drew Pomeranz and Lance Lynn as the only players to cross the mark.
With his 100th strikeout of the season on Friday against Arizona State, Elliott also became the first Rebel in program history to post three 100+ strikeout seasons in their career.
Ole Miss Career Strikeout List
1. Drew Pomeranz 344
2. Lance Lynn 332
3. Hunter Elliott 316
4. Jeff Calhoun 282
5. Mark Holliman 281
RETURN OF TB
After spending three seasons at Clemson, Tristan Bissetta has already set career highs in home runs, RBI, hits, doubles, walks, and total bases in one season at Ole Miss.
Bissetta has four multi-homer games under his belt, coming against Jackson State, Baylor, Austin Peay, and Kentucky. He had just one in his entire career before coming to Ole Miss.
He became the fastest Rebel to hit 13 home runs in a season, hitting his 13th home run on March 19, just 23 games into the year.
On February 18 against Jackson State, Bissetta hit two home runs in the third inning, becoming the first Rebel to accomplish the feat in almost a decade. Nick Fortes was the last Rebel to hit two home runs in the same inning, doing so in 2017 against ULM.
SEC PLAYER OF THE WEEK (x2)
Tristan Bissetta was named SEC Co-Player of the Week and Cade Townsend was named SEC Co-Pitcher of the Week after the two led the Rebels to wins over Southern Miss and Tennessee in week ten.
Townsend was the first Rebel to earn Pitcher of the Week honors since Gunnar Hoglund in May of 2021. Bissetta was the first to be named Player of the Week since Issac Humphrey won it in March of last year.
Bissetta hit a home run in each game the Rebels played, hitting .500 with four home runs, three doubles, 10 RBI, and seven runs scored. He slugged 1.333 with an OPS of 1.883 and launched a 424-foot grand slam on Saturday to help clinch the series.
Townsend put together his third-consecutive quality start on Saturday against Tennessee, locking down the series win for the Rebels. The sophomore took a no-hit bid into the sixth inning and would leave the game after six shutout innings. He allowed just four baserunners while striking out seven.
CALIFORNIA DEALIN’
Cade Townsend put together three-consecutive quality starts from April 4 to April 18. He was the first Rebel to accomplish that feat since both Hunter Elliott and Dylan DeLucia did it in 2022.
Elliott did it twice his freshman season, including a stretch during the postseason starting in the super regional against Southern Miss and his next two starts in the College World Series against Arkansas and Oklahoma.
DeLucia did it in April of 2022 against South Carolina, Mississippi State, and Arkansas.
HIGH QUALITY
For the first time since 2019, all three Rebel starting pitchers in a series put together quality starts in Ole Miss’ sweep of LSU. All three had very similar lines, working six innings, allowing two runs, and just one walk each.
Hunter Elliott worked six innings and allowed eight hits and two earned runs on Friday night. He struck out eight batters and issued just one walk. It was his second quality start of the season.
Cade Townsend worked six innings and allowed six hits and two earned runs on Saturday. He also struck out eight batters and issued just one walk. It was his second consecutive quality start of the season.
Taylor Rabe took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning on Sunday but did not record an out in the seventh giving him six innings with two earned runs. He struck out five batters while also issuing just one walk in what was the first quality start of his career.
CAPTAIN CLUTCH
Brayden Randle has had six game-winning or game-tying hits this season that have set up Ole Miss for wins down the line. Three of them have come in conference games in the month of April.
It started on February 17 against Arkansas State with a walk-off sacrifice fly to beat the Red Wolves 7-6. His next came on February 22 against Missouri State when he hit a game-winning RBI single in the eighth inning as Ole Miss defeated the Bears 3-2. On March 4 against North Alabama, Randle broke a 4-4 tie in the sixth inning with an RBI single to set up an 8-5 win over the Lions.
Following Judd Utermark’s game-tying home run on April 4 against Florida, Randle broke the 2-2 tie in the ninth inning with a sacrifice fly to give Ole Miss a lead they would not relinquish.
He had two more clutch hits in the sweep over LSU, tying the game on April 11 with a single in the fourth inning and driving in the game-winning run on April 12 with a single that completed the sweep.
WELCOME TO THE SHOW
Brett Moseley and Tate Sirmans each launched a home run for their first collegiate hit Opening Weekend against Nevada. Moseley hit a pinch-hit, two-RBI home run in the eighth inning of game one and Sirmans hit a solo shot in the fourth inning of game two. It was also Sirmans’ first career start.
Moseley and Sirmans join a decent sized list of Rebels who hit a home run for their first career hit. Will Furniss and Judd Utermark each hit a pinch-hit home run for their first hits in 2023 when they were freshmen. Austin Fawley also hit a home run for his first career hit as a redshirt freshman at Kentucky in 2024.
BRING THE BOOM
The Ole Miss offense set a new program record for home runs in a season in 2025, crushing 124 home runs. It was just the second time in program history that an Ole Miss team has cracked the 100-home run mark.
The Rebels finished fifth nationally in total home runs, ninth nationally in home runs per game (1.94), and 13th nationally in walks drawn (345). They were one of just four programs in the country to have two 20+ home run hitters and one of six programs to finish with 100+ home runs, 100+ doubles, and 100+ hit by pitches.
There are only 16 returning players who hit 20 or more home runs in 2025 and three of them will be in Ole Miss’ Opening Day lineup: Judd Utermark, Austin Fawley, and Daniel Pacella.
BASH BROS
Judd Utermark and Austin Fawley both broke the 20-home run mark in 2025, becoming the first pair of Rebel teammates in program history to each hit 20+ home runs in a single season.
Utermark finished with 22 home runs, the second-most by a Rebel in a single season, just two shy of the program record of 24 set by Tim Elko in 2022.
The 2025 Rebels finished with three hitters with 15+ home runs for the first time in program history and six hitters with 10+ home runs, also for the first time in program history.