On a beautiful day in Lower Alabama, the 13th-ranked Ole Miss Rebels traveled to Mobile, Alabama, to take on the South Alabama Jaguars in a fun road test against a hungry mid-major program with a lot of tradition and the potential to cause havoc in an NCAA Tournament Regional this summer.

Riding the high of a 13-game win streak, the Rebels would look to the South Alabama game as a final tune-up before starting the Southeastern Conference slate on Friday with a three-game opening slate with the Razorbacks of Arkansas. Just last weekend, Ole Miss swept a good Jacksonville State team at Swayze Field and needed another momentum boost on Tuesday night with a road game at South Alabama.

South Alabama jumped out on Ole Miss early, racing out to a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the 1st inning, before adding a run in the bottom of the second and third innings to make 6-0 in favor of the Jaguars. Ole Miss would cut into the South Alabama lead in the top half of the 5th inning and add two runs to the board to bring the Rebels within striking distance of the Jaguars. South Alabama responded with a three-run in the bottom of the 5th inning to extend the lead to 9-2 over Ole Miss. With their backs against the wall in the top of the 6th inning, the bats of Ole Miss came alive a bit, adding three runs to the scoreboard to make it 9-5 in favor of South Alabama. South Alabama would add an insurance run in the 7th inning to make it 10-5 before blowing the lid off the game in the bottom of the 8th, making it 14-5 in favor of the Jaguars.

In a game where South Alabama kept scoring, the midweek pitching for Ole Miss left the Rebels in a dire situation as they had no answer for the onslaught of offensive fireworks from South Alabama. South Alabama came into the matchup with Ole Miss looking for a statement win, and the Rebels needed a loss before starting the Southeastern Conference play against Arkansas on Friday. Although losing sucks, in baseball, it isn’t the end of the world. Sometimes, a program like Ole Miss needs a piece of humble pie to succeed in the long term. Coach Bianco and his Rebels will be fine; trust the process, and don’t overthink a midweek blunder.

Ole Miss will welcome Arkansas to Swayze Field for a three-game series to open the Southeastern Conference slate, starting with game one on Friday.

Photo Credits – South Alabama Baseball on X