Ole Miss beats Auburn, returns to College World Series after 2022 win

Ole Miss’s sweep of Auburn did more than extend a postseason run. It pushed Oxford and Lafayette County back into the center of a college baseball moment that drives watch parties, fills gathering spots and lifts the local mood around one of the county’s biggest institutions.

The Rebels earned the trip to the College World Series by winning the Auburn Super Regional 2-0, taking Game 1, 6-4, on Friday and clinching the berth with a 5-3 victory Saturday at Samford Stadium-Hitchcock Field at Plainsman Park in Auburn, Alabama. Auburn said 10,627 fans packed Plainsman Park for Game 1, the largest crowd in the ballpark’s history, and the Tigers saw Ole Miss hit two home runs Friday before the Rebels finished the sweep with back-to-back homers in the bottom of the eighth inning Saturday.

Ole Miss entered the series ranked No. 18 nationally and at 39-21, then moved to 40 wins after the opening game and finished the job one win from Omaha, Nebraska. The berth sent the Rebels back to the College World Series for the first time since 2022, when Ole Miss won its first national baseball championship by beating Oklahoma 4-2 in the final.

For Mike Bianco, the trip marked the latest milestone in a run that has defined Ole Miss baseball for more than two decades. Bianco has coached the Rebels since June 7, 2000, and the school says he is the winningest coach in program history with 949 victories. The Auburn sweep gave him his third College World Series appearance at Ole Miss and his eighth Super Regional berth.

The impact reaches well beyond the foul lines in Auburn. Visit Oxford describes Ole Miss, founded in 1848, as a hub for cultural, educational and social events in the region, and the baseball program’s postseason success has long been tied to local attention and spending. When the Rebels are on a national stage, Oxford benefits from the kind of visibility that keeps the town in the conversation far beyond north Mississippi. After a 2022 title and now another Omaha trip, Ole Miss baseball has again become a rallying point for fans across campus, town and Lafayette County.