Ole Miss Takes on Mississippi State in Annual Governor’s Cup

By Adam Brown
Sports Editor
adam.brown@hottytoddy.com

Ole Miss and Mississippi State will meet on the diamond for the fourth straight game on Tuesday night in Pearl in the annual Governor’s Cup. The first pitch is set for 6 p.m. and can be streamed on SEC Network+.

Ole Miss (22-17, 6-12 SEC) took the opening game of the series over the weekend prior to dropping the back end to the Bulldogs.

Ole Miss has tallied 70 home runs this season, ranking fourth in the conference and 11th in the nation. The Rebels have hit multiple home runs in 21 games this season.

Shortstop Jacob Gonzalez homered three times in the series, including a pair of big flies on Saturday. On Friday, his home run was bookended by one-run bombs from Justin Bench and Tim Elko. It was the second time this season that Ole Miss has hit back-to-back-to-back home runs and the fourth time the Rebels have gone at least back-to-back.

Elko is batting .366 in conference play, ranking sixth in the league. The slugger has driven in 24 runs in league games, the second most in the SEC. Elko has hammered nine home runs in SEC games, one behind the conference leader, teammate Gonzalez.

Mississippi State (24-17, 8-10 SEC) is led at the plate Brad Cumbest with a .340 batting average.

Fans will see right-hander Drew McDaniel take the hill for the Rebels and RHP Mikey Tepper for Mississippi State.

Ole Miss is seeking its first Governor’s Cup victory over MSU since 2015. The Rebels and Bulldogs have not played for the Governor’s cup since 2019. The Bulldogs hold a slim 20-18 advantage in the series.