Southern Miss and Ole Miss remained in D1Baseball’s top 25 rankings for the 11th straight week as the postseason looms.
A 4-0 week for the Golden Eagles (35-13, 18-6 Sun Belt) was rewarded by a one-spot improvement to No. 21. The Rebels took a step in the other direction, dropping to No. 24 after losing two out of three on the road against now-No. 17 Oklahoma.
It was the second straight perfect week for Christian Ostrander’s club, stretching the team’s winning streak to nine – tied for America’s second-longest streak with Jackson State. JB Middleton recorded his fourth straight start of 7+ innings allowing one or fewer runs against Arkansas State Friday, a walk-off win finished by way of a Matthew Russo solo home run. In games two and three, Southern Miss pounded the Red Wolves by a combined score of 22-2.
A collection of bad losses has likely put a regional host bid out of reach, but an RPI of 30 and a strong league record have the black and gold in strong position to nab an at-large ticket to the NCAA Tournament.
Southern Miss now moves on to square off with league foe Louisiana for the final home series of 2025. The series gets underway at 6 p.m. on Friday. USM sits two games out of first place behind No. 14 Coastal Carolina with two remaining in the regular season.
Ole Miss (33-15, 13-11 SEC) dropped their fourth straight SEC series loss in Norman, Okla. over the weekend. While veteran ace Hunter Elliot supplied a quality outing in the opener, going 6.2 innings and allowing just two runs, but the Sooners held the Rebel offense silent to win 2-0. The bats were quiet again on Saturday in a 5-3 Oklahoma win to seal the series loss.
In the finale, the Rebels repeated history from a week ago by salvaging a win and preventing a sweep through a 7-3 victory. Mason Morris held the door open for his offense in 3.2 innings of one-run relief work, complemented by multi-hit days from Austin Fawley and Isaac Humphrey.
While Ole Miss’ hosting chances took a hit with the unsuccessful trip, a No. 17 RPI and winning record against Q1 competition means the door is still cracked open for postseason baseball in Oxford.
A rivalry series awaits the Rebels this weekend with three contests in Starkville against Mississippi State, beginning Friday at 7:30 p.m.
The full top 25 poll can be found below:
- Texas
- Florida State
- LSU
- North Carolina
- Oregon
- Georgia
- Arkansas
- Auburn
- Clemson
- Oregon State
- Vanderbilt
- West Virginia
- UC Irvine
- Coastal Carolina
- Tennessee
- NC State
- Oklahoma
- UCLA
- Troy
- Louisville
- Southern Miss
- Arizona
- Alabama
- Ole Miss
- Southern California
