No. 17 Ole Miss drops Governor's Cup as the offense continues to scuffle

After getting swept by Mississippi State over a month ago Ole Miss then went on a run that saw them get right back in the mix of hosting as well as back in the top half of the Southeastern Conference standings.

On April 28 all that momentum feels evaporated after the 10th-ranked Bulldogs complete the season sweep, beating the 17th-ranked Rebels 7-3 to win the 2026 Governor’s Cup at Trustmark Park in Pearl. Both teams feel back where they were prior to that series in Oxford.

Ole Miss (31-14) is now riding a three-game losing streak, all to SEC opponents, while Mississippi State (35-10) has won its last seven games against SEC opponents.

The ingredients that were contributing skid at the start of SEC play have come back to plague the Rebels, specifically at the plate. Since Will Furniss hit the tying home run in the ninth inning of Friday’s second game in the double header against Georgia, the Rebels have scored four runs in the last 23 innings.

It took until the sixth inning for Ole Miss to get on the scoreboard on Tuesday, where it scored all three of its runs.

Stranding runners in scoring position is back to being a major issue. Twice the Rebels had the bases loaded and both times they were stranded when Judd Utermark struck out. The center fielder struck out a total of four times during an 0-for-5 night at the plate.

Second baseman Dom Decker was the only Rebel to have a multi-hit night, recording two of the five hits on a 2-for-5 night. Will Furniss, Brayden Randle and Collin Reuter accounted for the other three hits. Reuter finally snapped out of a slump for a brief moment with a double that scored two runs.

“We gave ourselves opportunities a few times. Put runners in scoring position, got guys on base and we just collectively didn’t get the big hit and cash in the runs when we had the opportunity,” Decker said. “I think we just need to find a way to do that a little more efficiently. They’re a good team and we just didn’t do that.

“We’re going to get over this. Obviously sucks right now but I think there’s some good things that happened tonight, too. Like Reuter getting a bid double. That was huge for him, huge for us. Hopefully he can carrey that into Fayetteville and I’m excited to go.”

Ole Miss got behind the proverbial eight ball early when starter Owen Kelly gave up four runs in the first inning. Kelly ended up lasting 1.2 innings, giving up five runs – all earned – off six hits while walking one batter and not recording a strikeout.

From there the Rebels bullpen did stabilize, holding Mississippi State to three runs the final eight innings. Wil Libber went the longest in relief, going three innings and giving up only a run off three hits and struck out a pair.

Ole Miss will travel to Fayetteville for a weekend series against No. 22 Arkansas (29-16, 9-9 SEC) starting Friday at 6:30 p.m. CT