Dom Decker delivers for Murray State and Racers upset Ole Miss 9-6 in Oxford Regional

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Dom Decker drove in Conner Cunningham with the go-ahead run in the eighth inning and Murray State went on to upset Oxford Regional No. 1 seed Mississippi 9-6 on Friday night.

No. 4 seed Murray State (40-13), in its fourth NCAA Tournament appearance, will play Georgia Tech on Saturday. The Yellow Jackets defeated West Virginia in the regional's first game. Ole Miss (40-20) and West Virginia will play a loser-out game Saturday.

Dustin Mercer had four doubles and drove in three runs for the Racers. Jonathan Hogart had three hits and scored three runs.

Hogart hit the first pitch of the game over the center-field fence. Mercer, the next batter, doubled and later scored on a fielder's choice for a 2-0 lead.

The Racers added two more runs in the second inning on another double by Mercer and a sacrifice fly by Carson Garner.

Judd Utermark's three-run home run in the third inning but the Ole Miss deficit to 4-3. The Rebels went ahead in the fourth for what would be the only time in the game on Campbell Smithwick's leadoff home run followed two outs later by an RBI-single from Luke Hill.

Utermark came to the plate with two on and one out in the bottom of the ninth but Graham Kelham struck him out swinging on the way to his fifth save. The game ended on a popup by Smithwick.

Jacob Hustedde (2-0) got the final two outs in the seventh for the win.

___

AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports