OXTON, Texas — Ole Miss baseball rallied from a three-run deficit in the ninth inning to beat No. 2 Texas 9-8 in 11 innings Friday night in the Southeastern Conference opener.
Trailing with two outs in the ninth, Tristan Bissetta hit a grand slam, driving in five RBIs and finishing 3-for-6 at the plate. Bissetta and Judd Utermark, who went 4-for-6 with an RBI and a run scored, combined for six RBIs and six hits, helping the Rebels improve to 16-3 overall and 1-0 in SEC play.
Texas jumped ahead early, scoring three runs in the third inning and taking a 4-3 lead in the fourth. The Longhorns extended their lead to 7-3 in the eighth with a second three-RBI home run. Ole Miss responded with a four-run ninth, capped by Bissetta’s game-tying blast, to send the game into extra innings.
In the 11th, Owen Paino drew a walk to load the bases with no outs, bringing home the winning run. Landon Waters struck out the final batter to secure the victory, earning his first save of the season. Taylor Rabe pitched the ninth and tenth innings, striking out five Longhorns to keep the Rebels alive.
The teams will face off again Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in Austin. Ole Miss’s head coach Mike Bianco praised his team’s resilience after the game, which was played before a crowd in Austin, Texas.
