LINCOLN, Neb. — Ole Miss entered the NCAA Tournament Lincoln Regional with a fast start, remaining unbeaten through two games after a weather-interrupted contest against host Nebraska was completed on May 31. The Rebels carried a 6-3 lead into the ninth inning when their game with the Cornhuskers was suspended overnight because of rain and lightning; play resumed at noon the following day and neither team was able to score in the final frame, securing a 6-3 victory for Ole Miss. That result, recorded at Haymarket Park, kept the Rebels alive in the winners bracket and set up a nightcap against Arizona State with the regional final on the line.
Shows: Ole Miss coach in Rebels uniform walks the field during a game as the program prepares for the NCAA Tournament's Lincoln Regional.
Ole Miss improved to 38-20 on the season with the win over Nebraska, while the Cornhuskers fell to 43-16. The game had been slated to finish on May 30 but was paused before the ninth inning when lightning and rain moved through Lincoln. Officials picked up the game at noon on May 31, and because the Rebels held the three-run advantage from earlier innings, they were able to preserve that margin. The victory came in the winners bracket, meaning neither Ole Miss nor Nebraska faced elimination immediately following that contest.
Starting pitcher Taylor Rabe delivered a highly productive outing for Ole Miss, providing the club with a quality start that set the tone. The Rebels also produced runs late in the game to build the lead that ultimately proved decisive once play concluded. Those late-inning runs, coupled with Rabe’s work on the mound, gave Ole Miss the edge needed to close out Nebraska when play resumed. The team’s performance in both the suspended game and its earlier Lincoln Regional contest left the Rebels in a favorable position heading into the evening matchup.
Shows: Ole Miss hitters react at the plate during a game, the Rebels gearing up for their NCAA Tournament appearance in the Lincoln Regional.
Arizona State entered the regional with a 39-20 record and punched its own ticket to the May 31 elimination game by knocking off Nebraska 11-8. That victory set up a meeting between the Sun Devils and Ole Miss in the evening, scheduled for 7 p.m. CT. With Arizona State coming from the elimination side and Ole Miss coming out of the winners bracket, the winner of the night’s matchup would advance to the super regional round of the NCAA Tournament.
The regional schedule in Lincoln showed a compact slate of results leading into the final stages. On Friday, May 29, Nebraska opened with a 4-1 victory over South Dakota State while Ole Miss edged Arizona State 7-6 in its opening game. Saturday’s action featured Arizona State dispatching South Dakota State 17-0 and Ole Miss posting its 6-3 win against Nebraska in the suspended game that was completed the following day. Sunday’s elimination contest saw Arizona State eliminate Nebraska with an 11-8 score, setting the stage for the winners-bracket champion and the elimination-game victor to meet that night.
Should Ole Miss prevail in the regional final against Arizona State, the Rebels would move on to a super regional matchup against the winner of the Auburn Regional. If Ole Miss were to lose the scheduled May 31 meeting, the regional would require an if-necessary contest on June 1 to determine which team advances. That potential Game 7 would match the winner and loser of Game 6 and would only be played if the night’s result forced the deciding game in the double-elimination bracket.
The Lincoln Regional results through May 31 read as follows: Game 1 — Nebraska 4, South Dakota State 1; Game 2 — Ole Miss 7, Arizona State 6; Game 3 — Arizona State 17, South Dakota State 0; Game 4 — Ole Miss 6, Nebraska 3 (suspended May 30, completed May 31); Game 5 — Arizona State 11, Nebraska 8; Game 6 — scheduled May 31 at 7 p.m. CT between the winners of Games 4 and 5; Game 7 — if necessary, scheduled for June 1 between the Game 6 winner and loser. Those outcomes and the regional timetable determined the path forward for each team remaining at Haymarket Park.
With the bracket narrowing, Ole Miss’ immediate focus was the evening’s contest against Arizona State. The Rebels’ unbeaten start in Lincoln and the resume-building statistics from their starting pitching and late-offense in the Nebraska game left them positioned to compete for a regional title and a berth in the super regional round. The if-necessary scenarios and the linkage to the Auburn Regional winner for the super regional matchup remained set by the NCAA’s double-elimination format and the results produced at Haymarket Park through the end of May.