Ole Miss baseball doesn't do anything the easy way, and this regional run is shaping up to be peak Rebels chaos. StoolMintzy has basically embedded himself with the program through this trip, and the live-tweet thread from the must-win game alone is a roller coaster: Sweet Caroline, a Will Furniss game-tying double, a worker wielding a LAVA HOT MINTZY sign, and a Bisetta ball into low orbit, all in one 3rd inning.
The 3rd-inning sequence that flipped the elimination game on its head.
Insane sequence in 3rd. Sweet Caroline comes on. My closest friend on team Will Furniss rips game tying 2 run double. I go dance with a worker w/ LAVA HOT MINTZY sign then Bisetta hits ball to South America @OleMissBSB
From there it turned into a bullpen game and a survival exercise. Hunter Elliott battled, Walker Hooks ate 5+ innings out of the pen on guts alone, and the whole thing went deep into extras with the season hanging on every pitch. The kind of night where the 7th-inning stretch turning into a Garth Brooks singalong actually qualifies as anxiety medication.
Friends in Low Places as Rebel coping mechanism.
Then in the 14th, Hudson Calhoun walked through the top of the order and threw absolute nails to send everyone home. That's the kind of bullpen outing that earns its own statue in Oxford if this thing keeps going. Calhoun got the salute the next morning, and rightly so — without him there is no regional final to worry about.
Live reaction to Calhoun slamming the door in the 14th.
Calhoun absolute nails in 14th against top of order. Incredible
Which brings us to tonight, and the part that has Mintzy genuinely worried sick: Landon Hairston and his 28 home runs reportedly suspended for the regional final against Arizona State. Losing your biggest power bat in a winner-go-home spot against a Pac-12 lineup is the kind of break that swings a bracket. The Rebels won't say much publicly, but the lineup card is gonna tell on itself the moment it's posted.
The Hairston news that immediately reshaped the regional final.
Real shame Landon Hairston & his 28 homers gonna be suspended for Arizona State in Regional Final tonight. I am worried sick about him
And of course the umpiring is now part of the story too, because it always is when Ole Miss is involved. A guy out at 2nd that wasn't called out, a dropped fly ball that snowballed into a nightmare frame, and Mintzy openly calling for an investigation into two calls he says went against the Rebs. Whether that's hot-take rage-tweeting or a real grievance, the NCAA Tourney is, in his words, getting buck wild — and Ole Miss is right in the middle of it again.
The ump screed after the dropped fly nightmare inning.
Umps need to be investigated for the two bad calls against Rebs. Disgusting
Survive Arizona State without your 28-homer guy and this becomes one of the great Hotty Toddy postseason runs. Lose, and it's another year of what-ifs in Oxford. Either way, buckle up — these regionals owe nobody anything.