OXFORD, Miss. — In a thrilling display of power hitting, Mitchell Sanford, Judd Utermark, and Austin Fawley each delivered multi-home run performances, propelling No. 10 national seed Mississippi to an 8-6 victory over Western Kentucky in the Oxford Regional on Saturday.
This rare achievement marked the first instance since at least 1997 that three players from the Rebels hit two home runs in the same game.
Moving forward, Ole Miss, with a season record of 41-20, will face another elimination challenge on Sunday against the team that loses the duel between Georgia Tech and Murray State.
For Western Kentucky, their impressive season ends with a record of 46-14, marking the second highest single-season wins in the program’s history.
Sanford set the tone early, leading off the game with a home run to right field and recording his 17th home run of the season in the sixth inning, giving the Rebels a 7-3 advantage. Fawley contributed significantly, hitting Ole Miss’ record 109th home run of the season in the second inning, which also provided them with a 3-2 lead. Later, Fawley homered to center in the fourth inning, bringing his personal tally to 19 home runs this season and restoring the Rebel’s lead at 4-3.
Utermark kept the momentum going, smashing a massive 438-foot home run in the fifth inning, extending the score to 6-3. He added another homer in the seventh, his 19th of the season and the 113th for the team, this time clearing the right-field wall.
On the mound, Ole Miss starter Hunter Elliott delivered a strong performance, going six complete innings while allowing only one earned run on eight hits. He tallied seven strikeouts against three walks. Elliott’s effort places him in an elite category, becoming only the fourth Rebel pitcher in program history to achieve two seasons with 100 strikeouts.