Ole Miss Rebels' Will Furniss (36) celebrates his home run as Ole Miss Rebels take on LSU Tigers during the SEC baseball tournament at Hoover Met in Birmingham, Ala., on Saturday, May 24, 2025. Jake Crandall/ Montgomery Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

What Went Right: Ole Miss Baseball Punches Ticket to SEC Championship Game

Originally posted on Ole Miss Rebels on SI
By Billy Kuhl | Last updated May 25, 2025 8:00 AM ET

The Ole Miss Rebels defeated the LSU Tigers 2-0 on Saturday to advance to the SEC Championship Game for the first time since 2019 after a statement win in Hoover (Ala.)

The Rebels have been heating up as of late after taking claiming a series win over No. 6 Auburn to close out the regular season followed by back-to-back wins over both Florida and Arkansas.

Now, to top it all off, the program has captured a victory over the top-ranked LSU Tigers to reach the SEC Tournament Championship Game.

What went right at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium on Saturday afternoon?

The Takeaways: Rebels Remain Alive in Hoover

Masterclass Day on the Bump:

Ole Miss had a pitching display on Saturday as they have been throughout their first few games of the tournament.

On Saturday, the Rebels pitching staff combined for a two-hit shutout, which is the first time all year a team has held LSU to that little amount of hits and the first time all season they were shut out in a loss.

The Rebels started the day with Cade Townsend, a freshman who normally appears as the mid week starter, however, over the season Townsend has improved heavily and cemented his role as a valuable aspect to the rotation.

The freshman turned in an impressive outing allowing the only two hits of the game while striking out three while allowing a pair of walks in 4.1 innings pitched.

Bullpen Steps in to Handle Business:

After Townsend's outing, the Rebels' bullpen put the nail in the coffin for Ole Miss as three pitchers combined for 4.1 innings pitched where only two base runners reached for LSU via walks.

The Rebels pen members combined for five strikeouts for a total of eight on the day for the entire staff.

Here are the final lines for each bullpen arm to appear in todays game for Ole Miss:

Gunnar Dennis - 2.1 innings pitched, 0 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, 30 total pitches

Will McCausland - 1.0 innings pitched, 0 hits, 0 runs, 2 strikeouts, 14 total pitches

Connor Spencer - 1.0 innings pitched, 0 hits, 0 runs, 1 strikeout, 20 total pitches.

Early Offense Sets the Tone:

However, the Rebels still needed to win the game on both sides of the diamond and they did so striking quick as a result of a first inning solo home run from first baseman Will Furniss.

OPPO TACO @WillFurniss x #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/x0xI383IHf
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) May 24, 2025

Furniss' home run was his tenth of the season and it carried 356 feeet and left his bat at 98 miles per hour to give Ole Miss a 1-0 lead in the first.

The Rebels plated the final run of the game in the fourth inning as Campbell Smithwick roped a single into right field where it was bobbled to allow Isaac Humphrey to round third and score; giving Ole Miss a 2-0 lead.

The Rebels bullpen then put the hammer down for the remainder of the game in help to some big time defensive stops as the Rebels survived and advanced to the SEC Championship.

Ole Miss will take on the Vanderbilt Commodores who took away an impressive run-rule victory over Tennessee on Saturday to clinch their spot.

The Rebels and Commodores have already faced off this season in a series that Ole Miss took 2/3 games from, and heading into Sunday midday matchup, the Commodores are looking to avoid the season series loss while the Rebels look to take the 3-1 series victory.

The SEC Championship's first pitch is set for 12 p.m. CT on Sunday in Hoover (Ala.) as both squads look to make a statement to round out the tournament.

This article first appeared on Ole Miss Rebels on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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