Southern Miss Golden Eagles baseball vs. Ole Miss Rebels baseball
Date: Tuesday, March 10, 2026
First Pitch: 6:00 PM CT
Location: Pete Taylor Park 3321 W 4th St, Hattiesburg, MS 39401Â
Tickets: Southern Miss Golden Eagles Baseball Tickets – StubHub
Broadcast: ESPN+
College baseball fans in Mississippi don’t need much of an introduction when Southern Miss and Ole Miss meet on the diamond. When the No. 7 Southern Miss Golden Eagles host the Ole Miss Rebels Tuesday night in Hattiesburg, it will be another chapter in a rivalry that stretches back more than a century and has produced everything from dramatic postseason battles to one of the strangest games the state has ever seen.
The Rebels hold the all-time edge in the series, leading Southern Miss 85–55 entering the 2026 season. The schools have been playing each other since 1916, and while many of the matchups are midweek games, the rivalry has grown much bigger in recent years as both programs have become regular NCAA Tournament contenders.
Some of the most memorable games between the two schools have happened in the postseason. In 2021, the teams met in the Oxford Regional championship game with a trip to the Super Regional on the line. Ole Miss won that game 12–9, ending Southern Miss’s season in dramatic fashion. The following year the programs met again in the 2022 Hattiesburg Super Regional, where Ole Miss swept the Golden Eagles 10–0 and 5–0 to advance to Omaha. That series proved to be a turning point for the Rebels, who went on to win the 2022 College World Series and the program’s first national championship.
The rivalry has also produced its share of unusual moments. One of the strangest happened in 2023 at Trustmark Park in Pearl, when the two teams met in a midweek game that ended in controversy. Southern Miss led 2–1 in the fourth inning when umpires stopped the game because of unsafe field conditions. Pieces of sod were coming loose in the infield, forcing the grounds crew to repeatedly repair the surface. When Ole Miss pitcher Brayden Jones slipped on the mound during a play, officials decided the field was unsafe and called the game a no-contest. The result was wiped from the record books and left fans from both schools frustrated.
Tuesday’s game comes with both programs playing well early in the season. Ole Miss enters the matchup 15–2, powered by a lineup that has produced strong offensive numbers through the first few weeks of the season. Tristan Bissetta has been one of the Rebels’ hottest hitters, batting .406 with seven home runs and 24 RBIs, while Collin Reuter is hitting .423. Power has also come from Judd Utermark, who already has 10 home runs, and Will Furniss, who is batting .362. Dom Decker has also been productive and leads the team in walks.
The Rebels have also received strong pitching. Right-hander Taylor Rabe is expected to start Tuesday’s game and comes in with a 2-0 record and a 2.53 ERA. Another key arm is Cade Townsend, who has been dominant early in the season with a 0.48 ERA through his first four starts. Meanwhile, Hunter Elliott remains one of the most recognizable pitchers in the program after posting a 10-win, 100-strikeout season in 2025.
Much of Ole Miss’s consistency over the past two decades has come under head coach Mike Bianco, who is now in his 26th season leading the Rebels. Bianco has built one of the most successful eras in Ole Miss baseball history. Entering the 2026 season, he had compiled more than 1,000 career wins as a head coach and nearly 950 victories at Ole Miss alone.
During his tenure, the Rebels have become a fixture in the NCAA Tournament. Ole Miss has made 19 postseason appearances under Bianco, reaching eight Super Regionals and two College World Series appearances before finally breaking through with the 2022 national championship. That title cemented Bianco’s legacy in Oxford and gave the Rebels their first baseball national title in program history.
Overall, Ole Miss baseball has built a strong tradition over the decades. The program has made more than two dozen NCAA Tournament appearances, won multiple regional championships, and reached the College World Series six times, with the 2022 team delivering the ultimate prize.
All of that history sets the stage for another compelling meeting between the Rebels and Golden Eagles. For Southern Miss fans, it’s a chance to measure themselves against the state’s SEC program. For Ole Miss, it’s another test against a team that has become one of the most consistent programs outside the Power Five.
And for Mississippi baseball fans, it’s simply another night in a rivalry that rarely lacks drama.
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