Ole Miss tops Oklahoma 10-3, makes history and is now one win away from first national title

OMAHA (NE.)- The Rebels made plenty of history in their 10-3 victory over Oklahoma in Game 1 of the championship series. Jack Dougherty threw a perfect five innings to start the game off and became the first pitcher to ever retire the first 15 batters faced in a game at the College World Series (at Charles Schwab Field). TJ McCants, Calvin Harris and Justin Bench made Ole Miss the first team to hit back-to-back-to-back home runs in a CWS game since LSU in 1998. Those dingers put the Sooners to bed.

Dougherty got run support thanks to timely hits by the Rebels’ bats, but the Sooners were sloppy early. In the first three innings, Oklahoma had three wild pitches that resulted in Ole Miss players advancing and ultimately scoring. A plethora of singles combined with Tim Elko’s 24th homer of the year gave the Rebels a 4-0 lead after three and that ended up being more than enough offense.

Ole Miss improves to 9-1 in the NCAA Tournament, 17-4 in its last 21, outscored opponents 78-23 and has a 2.30 team ERA (1.23 bullpen ERA) in the span. The Rebels will look to clinch its first national championship on Sunday at 2 PM on ESPN. The last three national champions have lost Game 1 of the championship series (Arkansas in 2018, Vanderbilt in 2019 and Mississippi State in 2021).

The Rebels will be looking to make history with left-handed pitcher (and Tupelo native) Hunter Elliott on the bump. The freshman has a .98 ERA in the NCAA Tournament and a 2.70 ERA on the season.