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Diamond Dawgs take series from Ole Miss for ninth time in 10 tries

3rupauk8_400x400by: Robbie Faulk03/28/26RobbieFaulkOn3

OXFORD, Miss. – It could be said that starting pitcher Tomas Valincius didn’t have his best stuff on Saturday.

The bad news for Ole Miss was that even when he’s not having his best day, Valincius is incredibly difficult to rattle. Valincius battled through 5.0 innings without allowing a run and struck out nine and the Bulldog bats woke up in the middle innings to roll the rival Rebels 6-1, grabbing another baseball series.

A week after striking out 14 batters and going 7.0 innings against Vanderbilt, Valincius (6-0) had to battle it at times against Ole Miss but the Rebels could never knock him out. Over the course of his 5.0 frames, the left hander scattered just three hits and two walks without surrendering a run and nearly got another double-digit strikeout performance.

“I’ve talked about him so many times about how much of a warrior he is. He obviously wasn’t as good as he was the last two weekends in conference play, but he battled,” head coach Brian O’Connor said. “He buckled down when runners were in scoring position. They did a nice job against him for sure, but the kid is determined, he has great poise and he’s obviously very talented.”

Behind Valincius was some solid returns again from the Bulldog bullpen. Brendan Sweeney gave up a run on a hit and a walk in the sixth inning and then freshman Maddox Miller tossed 2.0 scoreless with three strikeouts as he worked around two hits and a walk.

“Really talented, young 18-year-old that’s not only going to do the job for the team this year, he’s got a really bright future,” O’Connor said of Miller. “That changeup is incredibly special to right handed hitters.”

Maddox Webb pitched for the second-straight day and walked a batter but left him stranded in the ninth.

While Valincius held the Rebels at bay, the Bulldog bats came alive again when they were needed. State got its first run of the game with a home run from Kevin Milewski in the third inning.

The Bulldogs had a chance  for a big inning in the fourth when they loaded the bases against starter Hudson Calhoun but the damage was limited by Will Libbert. He got a double play from Jacob Parker that would score just one run. Gehrig Frei got another run home on an RBI single, but a groundout from Milewski ended any more damage at 3-0.

Just before Valincius officially exited the game in the sixth, State’s offense would make it completely unattainable for the Rebels. Parker hit a two-run home run to right field and Frei followed him with a solo shot to make it 6-1.

The big shot from Parker meant a little something extra for him. As one of the few players on the team from the state of Mississippi, he wanted to do whatever he could to help the team.

“It’s special,” Parker said of hitting the home run and getting the win. “Obviously, I grew up in Mississippi and I know the rivalry. It’s really special to me and hopefully we get one more tomorrow.”

State finished with nine hits as a team from eight different players. Frei was the only player with two hits and he drove in two runs along with Parker.

The win gave the Diamond Dawgs (23-2, 6-2 SEC) a series win over the Rebels for the ninth time in the last 10 series dating back to 2016. On Saturday, State has a chance at its third sweep against Ole Miss in Oxford since that time.

“Obviously, when you play a rival on the road and you win the series after two games, you feel great,” O’Connor said. “That said, I know this group of men will not be satisfied. They’ll be ready to play again tomorrow and tomorrow is another opportunity.

RHP Duke Stone (1-0, 6.23) will be on the mound against Ole Miss RHP Cade Townsend (2-0, 0.92 ERA). Game time is set for 3 p.m. with a broadcast on SEC Network.

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