Ole Miss scores first, then finishes the job in Auburn super regional sweep

Ole Miss scored first and never looked back in the opening game of its NCAA Super Regional against No. 4 Auburn on Friday night at Plainsman Park, then carried that edge through Saturday’s rematch. In Game 1, the Rebels jumped in the second inning on a two-out RBI single by Brayden Randle, and Ole Miss’s power came through as Judd Utermark and Collin Reuter each homered in a 6-4 win. Hudson Calhoun earned the win in relief, and Walker Hooks closed it out for his eighth save, as Ole Miss moved to one victory from Omaha.

The scoring sequence reflected the way both teams tried to control the Super Regional. After Auburn starter Andreas Alvarez worked through the first inning, Ole Miss took a 1-0 lead with Randle’s RBI single in the top of the second. Auburn answered in the third with a sacrifice fly that tied the game, but Ole Miss regained the lead in the fourth when Randle drove in Austin Fawley. From there, Utermark’s two-run homer in the fifth stretched Ole Miss to 4-1, and Reuter’s two-run shot in the sixth extended the margin again, setting the tone for the late innings.

Auburn threatened throughout, but Ole Miss’s pitching held up when the game tightened. Alvarez struck out 10, a steady theme for Auburn’s plan early, before finishing with 5.2 innings of work that ended with Ole Miss plating five runs. On the other side, Ole Miss starter Hunter Elliott allowed two runs in 4.1 innings, then Calhoun took over and limited Auburn to one run over 2.2 innings. Hooks, pitching the final 2.0 innings, preserved the lead despite Auburn’s late run production.

With the Game 1 win, Ole Miss grabbed the series lead heading into Saturday, a swing that matters in baseball’s best-of-three format. The payoff is immediate: the Super Regional winner earns a spot in Omaha, and the NCAA schedule places Auburn’s Super Regional winner into the College World Series bracket after the June 5 and June 6 games. For Ole Miss, it also meant staying aligned with a program goal it had not reached since the 2022 season.

Saturday’s Game 2 showed how Ole Miss could replicate the opener’s formula. The Rebels won 5-3, again turning timely run scoring into separation, including a big stretch in the middle innings. Ole Miss plated two in the sixth when Judd Utermark doubled and drove in two runs, then put the game away in the eighth with back-to-back homers from Will Furniss and Tristan Bissetta. Taylor Rabe started and went seven innings, allowing two runs while striking out eight, and the bullpen finished the sweep.

Ole Miss’s 2-0 sweep over Auburn did more than extend a hot week. It marked the Rebels’ return to the College World Series for the first time since their 2022 national championship season, with a run through the NCAA bracket that included key pitching control and multiple extra-base hits in high-leverage moments. Auburn, despite carrying the No. 4 seed and protecting its home field with a packed opening-site crowd in the opener, was unable to generate enough offense to change the series arc. The next question for Ole Miss is straightforward: can it keep translating this postseason form, especially its ability to clear the fence after falling behind or after early momentum fades, against the deeper pitching staffs it will face in Omaha.