How It Happened: Ole Miss Baseball Advances to SEC Championship, Take Down LSU Tigers

HOOVER, Ala. – No. 17 Ole Miss (40-18) shut out No. 1 LSU (43-14) 2-0 Saturday afternoon in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament to advance to the Championship game for the first time since 2019.

Saturday marked the first time Ole Miss has defeated a No. 1 ranked team since 2021, the first time they have shut out an opponent in the SEC Tournament since 2021, and the first time they have shut out a ranked opponent since the 2022 College World Series.

The Rebels will play No. 9 Vanderbilt for all the marbles on Sunday at noon in Hoover. It is the first time Ole Miss has made it to the championship since 2019 when they lost 11-10 to the Commodores.

Pitching was once again the story for the Rebels as they held the Tigers to just two hits. Ole Miss pitching has allowed just two earned runs through three games in Hoover and will head into the championship on a 16-inning scoreless streak.

Freshman Cade Townsend made his first weekend start, working 4.2 scoreless innings and allowing just two hits while striking out three Tigers.

Gunnar Dennis picked up his fourth win of the season, working 2.1 hitless innings of relief. Will McCausland worked for his second straight game, pitching a scoreless eighth inning with two strikeouts.

Connor Spencer locked down his third save of the week, pitching in his third-consecutive game. He had just four saves in the regular season and has almost doubled that total this week.

Will Furniss went 1-for-3 with a solo home run and a walk. Campbell Smithwick went 1-for-3 with an RBI and a walk.

For the seventh straight game, the Rebels scored the first run of the game. With two outs in the opening frame, Will Furniss hit a towering fly ball to left field that just snuck over the fence for his 10th home run of the season.

Each team had just two baserunners until Isaac Humphrey singled with one out in the fourth. He moved to second base on a failed pickoff attempt and came home to score on a Smithwick single to right field to make it 2-0.

There were just seven combined baserunners the rest of the way, all of which reached on a walk, as both pitching staffs settled in.

The bullpen combination of Dennis, McCausland, and Spencer did not allow a hit and issued just two walks while striking out five batters over the final 4.1 innings.