CHAMPS: Ole Miss Rebels Claim 2022 National Championship in Omaha

From last four in to national champions: the Ole Miss Rebels pulled it off on Sunday.

OMAHA, Neb. -- A month ago, the future of the Ole Miss Rebels' season and that of head coach Mike Bianco were in jeopardy. On Sunday, they claimed the first national championship in program history. 

The Rebels claimed a 4-2 win in a pitchers' duel mastered by Hunter Elliott and the Oklahoma Sooners' Cade Horton. It took a one-out baserunner while trailing 2-1 in the eighth inning to chase Horton from the game, and the Rebels were able to get to Sooner closer Trevin Michael, putting up three runs in the bottom half to take the final 4-2 lead.

Jacob Gonzalez, who had been slumping at the plate in Omaha, helped the Rebels draw first blood on Sunday with a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth inning. Oklahoma would claim a 2-1 lead in the top of the seventh, chasing Hunter Elliott and reliever Mason Nichols before John Gaddis was able to stop the bleeding with the bases loaded.

In the bottom of the eighth, T.J. McCants worked a one-out single to chase Horton from the game. McCants and Justin Bench worked a hit-and-run in the next at bat to put runners at the corners, and a Jacob Gonzalez single tied the game. Two more Rebel runs came across in the frame via wild pitches from Michael.

With the win, Ole Miss has its first national championship in program history, and it now has claim to five national championships in school history. 

The team that finished the regular season 14-16 in the SEC and was one of the last teams into the NCAA Tournament field has done the unthinkable: they are now national champions.

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