Ole Miss Rebels sweep Oklahoma Sooners to win first Men's College World Series title

OMAHA, Neb. — Ole Miss scored twice on wild pitches in a three-run eighth inning and the Rebels won their first national baseball title, sweeping Oklahoma in the College World Series finals with a 4-2 victory Sunday.

The Rebels (42-23) became the eighth national champion since 2009 to come out of the Southeastern Conference, and the trophy will stay in the Magnolia State for a second straight year. Mississippi State won last year.

Ole Miss benefited from a runner-interference call that took a run away from Oklahoma (45-24) in the sixth inning. The Rebels also overcame a spectacular pitching performance by Cade Horton, who set a MCWS finals record with 13 strikeouts.

Brandon Johnson struck out the side in a 1-2-3 ninth inning, with catcher Hayden Dunhurst running to the mound to embrace and then tackle Johnson after Sebastian Orduno swung and missed on the final pitch.

The Rebels, one of the «Last 4 In» on tournament selection day, went into the eighth inning down 2-1. Trevin Michael relieved Horton with one out, and Jacob Gonzalez singled through the right side to drive in the tying run.

After that, Michael (4-2) uncorked wild pitches that brought in Justin Bench for the go-ahead run and another to bring in Gonzalez.

Ole Miss became the first team to win a championship game when trailing after seven innings since LSU in 2000 against Stanford. Sunday's contest was also the first game in this year's Men's College World Series to feature multiple lead changes.

Hunter Elliott scattered three hits while allowing two runs in 6⅓ innings. Mason Nichols and John Gaddis (4-2) got the game to Johnson in the ninth.

Horton allowed four hits and walked none during a sterling 107-pitch performance.

Oklahoma appeared to have taken a 1-0