Murray State jumps on Ole Miss, holds on to win Oxford Regional 12-11 for 1st super regional berth
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Luke Mistone and Will Vierling had four hits apiece in Murray State's 19-hit attack and the Racers won the Oxford Regional by holding off 15th-seeded Ole Miss 12-11 on Monday night to make their first super regional.
The Racers (42-14) advance to the Durham Super Regional against unseeded Duke, which won the Athens Regional. Murray State is the third straight Missouri Valley Conference team to make the second weekend after Indiana State (2023) and Evansville (2024).
Mistone and Vierling both went 4 for 5 and Carson Garner and Dom Decker both had three hits as the Racers shocked the team that pounded them 19-8 on Sunday night by opening a 12-3 lead in the seventh inning.
Ole Miss (43-21) used a single, a hit batter and three straight walks to turn the game around. Luke Hill had a two-run single and Will Furniss another single to make it 12-8.
Graham Kelham got two strikeouts to end the inning. A video review was used to overturn a hit batter that would have loaded the bases with one out.
Brayden Randle hit his first home run of the season, a three-run shot in the eighth to make it a one-run game.
Kelham allowed two more singles before getting out of the inning and then had a perfect ninth. He gave up six hits in 2 2/3 innings but struck out six to get his seventh save. Nic Schutte (8-3), who started in the Racers' 9-6 win over the Rebels on Friday, got the win in relief.
Walker Hooks (1-2), the first of six Ole Miss pitchers, gave up eight hits and five runs in 2 1/3 innings in the loss.
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AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports
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