OMAHA, Neb. – The last team to enter the NCAA baseball tournament was the last team.
Ole Miss scored twice on wild courts in the eighth inning with three runs, and the rebels won their first national baseball title, sweeping Oklahoma in the World College Series finals with a 4-2 victory on Sunday.
The Rebels (42-23) became the eighth national champion to come out of the Southeast Conference in the last 13 tournaments, and the third in a row. The trophy will remain in Magnolia for another year after Mississippi won last year.
Ole Miss took advantage of the runner’s interference, which escaped from Oklahoma (45-24) in the sixth inning. The rebels also overcame a spectacular performance by Cade Horton, who set a record for the CWS finals with 13 outs.
Brandon Johnson hit from the side in the 1-2-3 ninth inning, as the catching Hayden Dunhurst ran to the mound to hug and then deal with Johnson after Sebastian Orduno swung and missed on the last pitch.
The national title is first for the Ole Miss men’s team and second for the school. The women’s golf team won the 2021 NCAA Championship.
It was an incredible journey for the rebels and 22-year-old coach Mike Bianco, who was under fire when his team had a total of 22-17 and 7-14 in the SEC match on May 1.
Ole Miss beat the state of North Carolina for the final bid and had to go on the road to regional and superregional competitions. The rebels finished the season 20-6, including 10-1 in the national tournament.
Their only CWS loss was 3-2 to Arkansas on Wednesday. The next day, Dylan DeLucia made 4 shots to beat the Razorbacks and send Rebels to the final. DeLucia was named CWS’s best player after allowing one run to win, erasing 17 and failing in 16⅔ innings.
Ole Miss, who won the first CWS final 10-3, lost 2-1 in Sunday’s eighth inning. Trevin Michael relieved Horton with an out, and Jacob Gonzalez headed to the right to drive in an equalizer.
Then Michael (4-2) unlocked wild pitches, which brought Justin Bench for the start and Gonzalez.
Ole Miss became the first team to win a championship game, trailing after seven innings after LSU in 2000 against Stanford. Sunday’s competition was also the first game in this year’s College Men’s World Series, which included a number of changes in the leaders.
Hunter Elliott scattered three goals, while allowing two runs in 6⅓ innings. Mason Nichols and John Gaddis (4-2) gave Johnson the game in the ninth.
Horton conceded four goals and scored none during a 107-point performance.
Oklahoma seemed to take a 1-0 lead in the sixth, but the run failed when John Spikerman, who struck, was called in for the runner’s intervention for obstructing first baseman Tim Elko as he tried to catch Elliott’s throw.
Jackson Nicklaus was hit by Elliott at the start of the inning and was third after a victim and wild terrain. He went home while Spikerman was dead, but Bianco asked for a video review when Spikerman was called safe at first.
Spikerman broke Elko’s glove when he ran first, and the ball ended up in foul territory. The call was canceled, and Spikerman was determined to be in the baseline as he ran through the bag, demanding that Nicklaus return to third base.
It was the first MCWS final to end on a grand scale since 2017, when Florida beat LSU.
ESPN Stats & Information and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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