OXFORD — Ole Miss baseball coach Mike Bianco made it clear ‒ there was no intent behind his ejection in the 12th inning of the Rebels’ victory over Mississippi State on Saturday.

To him, the notion that a coach might get himself tossed on purpose to fire up his team belongs in a movie script, not reality. But maybe there was a little Hollywood magic to what happened in the second game of this weekend’s rivalry series at Swayze Field.

Bianco felt Mississippi State catcher Johnny Long should have been ejected for a bat flip following his go-ahead homer off Connor Spencer. Long was issued a warning instead. Bianco left the dugout and made his disagreement known to home plate umpire Scott Cline ‒ and a national television audience, for that matter, thanks to a live microphone. And Cline sent him to the locker room early.

In the bottom half of the inning, Jackson Ross delivered a two-out, two-run single that gave the Rebels a 10-9 win and evened up the series.

“That’s the first time he’s gotten tossed all year,” Ross said postgame. “I mean, perfect time for it. Guy hits a home run. He was going crazy ‒ whatever, bat flips, all that stuff. Coach B gets the crowd into it, gets the guys into it. I think we fed off of it for sure.”

Mississippi State coach Chris Lemonis said he thought Long probably flipped his bat “a little too much” after his first homer with the Bulldogs (22-13, 7-7 SEC).

“That’s all that was,” Lemonis said. “First home run I think of his career here, and it was a big one. Like the umpire said, kids are excited and everything else.”

RECAP: Ole Miss baseball evens series vs Mississippi State with walk-off from Jackson Ross

Bianco said his emotions got the best of him in his exchange with Cline. He watched Ross’ walk-off hit from the locker room, and emerged from the tunnel expecting to find the celebration at home plate.

Instead, it was toward the outfield. By the time the scene cleared, Ross’ jersey had been pulled off by his Ole Miss (19-16, 4-10) teammates.

“Maybe we needed me out of the dugout,” Bianco joked. “Maybe that’s it.

“I didn’t do that to fire up the team. I know they talk a lot about that in the movies. I want to make sure that I stay on the field as much as possible. I don’t wanna get suspended ‒ unless my daughter’s graduating. You can tell, I don’t get ejected very much.”

David Eckert covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at deckert@gannett.com or reach him on Twitter @davideckert98.

Get the latest news and insight on SEC football by subscribing to the SEC Unfiltered newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox.