Ole Miss knocks off No. 2 Texas in extra innings, handing Longhorns first loss of 2026
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“March Madness” usually applies to what’s transpiring on the hardwood. But on Friday night in Austin, it had everything to do with what went down on the diamond.
Ole Miss and No. 2 Texas, in their first SEC game of the collegiate baseball season, played an absolute banger. The Rebels triumphed, 9-8 in 11 innings, to give the Longhorns their first loss of the year.
Ole Miss scratched out 3 runs in the top of the third to start the scoring. Texas immediately answered with 3 of its own in the bottom half of the inning on an Ethan Mendoza home run. A solo shot by Casey Borba in the fourth and 3-run homer from Anthony Pack Jr. in the eighth gave the Longhorns a 7-3 lead heading into the ninth. But that’s when things got wild.
Thomas Burns, who finished the eighth inning for Texas, loaded the bases to start the ninth, sandwiching a walk with two hit by pitches. The Rebels got one run in on a groundout, then loaded the bases again with two outs. That’s when Tristan Bissetta uncorked a deep drive to right-center field and put Ole Miss ahead with a grand slam.
The Longhorns, desperate to maintain their unbeaten start, didn’t fold after blowing the lead. Down to their final strike, they tied the game and forced extra innings on Temo Becerra’s RBI single.
Owen Paino’s bases-loaded walk in the 11th inning provided the Rebels’ winning run in the thrilling contest. Baseball fans can only hope this, and many other exciting finishes across the conference on Friday, are a sign of what’s to come this spring and summer. Ole Miss and Texas play the second game of their series this afternoon at 3:30 p.m. E.T.
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