No. 5 Georgia takes series against No. 17 Ole Miss – what’s next for Rebels?

Ole Miss Rebels infielder Will Furniss (36) bats against the Southern Miss Golden Eagles at Pete Taylor Park in Hattiesburg, Miss., on Mar. 10, 2026. | Matt Bush/Special to the Clarion Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

This past weekend had all the vibes of a Super Regional weekend in Oxford between two high level programs that pushed each other to the brink and back.

No. 5 Georgia (34-11, 15-6 SEC) pulled out the series over No. 17 Ole Miss (31-14, 11-10 SEC) ending a red hot streak of wins that put the Rebels back in the regional hosting conversation. Losing two of three at home is not a great look of course, but the manner in which it happened showed Ole Miss can play with anyone in the country.

In the first game Saturday, Ole Miss used 10 unanswered runs to come back from an eight run deficit to win 10-8 in the largest comeback for the program since 2021. Then came the marathon game two taking 14 innings and going much later into the evening than anyone wanted or expected with the Bulldogs pulling off a 9-7 victory.

The Sunday series finale was the only game where Ole Miss’ bats just went completely silent in a 5-1 loss. I think it showed both teams were a little gassed from a very long Saturday, however, the Bulldogs just had enough left in the tank to extend its lead late and put the series away.

So that’s all stuff you already know if you follow Ole Miss baseball closely. Tristan Bissetta seemingly disappeared for a good portion of this weekend, and it follows a concerning trend for the team’s number one offensive weapon. While he has a .329 batting average for the season, the slugger has struggled in SEC play with a .235 performance at the plate.

He’s not the only player facing the fact that SEC pitching is causing some slump to their season average. There are a few toting the load offensively at the plate with Will Furniss, Hayden Federico and Judd Utermark showing up most consistently as the team is now 21 games into conference play. Topher Jones and Owen Paino have helped to provide a spark in the lineup at times as well.