Mississippi State, Southern Miss, and Ole Miss win their opening day series

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – No. 4 Mississippi State, No. 20 Southern Miss, and Ole Miss all won their respective opening weekend series to begin their baseball seasons.

The Bulldogs avoided a major upset against the visitors, Hofstra, on Opening Day, edging past them 6-5 despite recording just three hits.

State cruised past Hofstra in the first game of a doubleheader on Saturday, 6-1, before beating the Pride 7-5 later that day to secure the sweep.

Mississippi State set a new school record for opening day attendance with 12,824 packing out Dudy Noble Field in head coach Brian O’Connor’s first game at the helm of the program.

2025 Ferris Trophy nominee Ace Reece finished the weekend with 5 hits, including 1 home run and 4 RBI, in 12 at-bats over the weekend.

Ridgeland native Bryce Chance recorded 3 hits and 2 RBI.

No. 20 Southern Miss hosted UC Santa Barbara in one of the most anticipated opening weekend series in the country.

The Golden Eagles dropped the opening day game 5-1 on Friday in pitcher Colby Allen’s first Friday night start of his career.

USM rebounded on Saturday with a comeback victory over the Gouchos 8-6, after trailing the contest 6-2 at one point. Center fielder Joey Urban belted a two-run home run in the eighth inning to give Southern Miss the late lead and victory.

Then on Sunday, first baseman Matthew Russo drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the ninth to lead Southern Miss to a 6-5 walk-off series-clinching victory.

Sumrall native Kros Sivley recorded 7 strikeouts out of the bullpen on Friday to lead the USM pitchers over the weekend. Urban and Dray Barrett recorded 5 hits and a home run.

Southern Miss saw its largest opening weekend attendance in program history, with 16,518 fans at the games.

Ole Miss enjoyed a series sweep as well over the weekend at Swazye Field in a lopsided affair against Nevada.

Rebels Friday night pitcher Hunter Elliot, a Tupelo native, recorded seven strikeouts and allowed just one earned run on three hits in an 11-3 opening day win.

Ole Miss beat Nevada 5-1 on Saturday, with the Rebel bats hitting three home runs. The Ole Miss offense recorded 11 hits in the first two games of the season.

The Rebels stayed hot in the batters box and on the mound on Sunday to clinch the series sweep.

Ole Miss beat Nevada 13-2 with the game ending in the seventh inning.

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