Oxford, MS- With a 6-4 lead heading into the ninth inning, it was never going to be easy for the Bulldogs to take down their Rivals on the road, and through some hiccups, they got the job done.

Freshman Pico Kohn had just gotten out of a jam in the eighth inning and came back out in the ninth set to face some of Ole Miss' best hitters. All-SEC catcher Hayden Dunhurst began the inning with a flyout, but the lefty got into some trouble after that, allowing a single to the leadoff man Justin Bench. All-American shortstop Jacob Gonzalez made him pay for bringing the up tying run to the plate, sending a blast over the right-field wall, the 3rd homer of the series for the Southern California native.

State brought in junior KC Hunt to maintain the tie. The New Jersey native had thrown 54 pitches in yesterday's win but was ready for battle again tonight.

"I knew I wanted to go back out there after last night," said Hunt. "I just wanted to put it on the line for the boys."

Hunt unleashed his inner Landon Sims and kept the Bulldogs in the ballgame, striking out Rebel slugger Tim Elko and forcing left fielder Kevin Graham to ground out to 2nd to force extra innings.

Ole Miss reliever Brandon Johnson pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the 10th, and Hunt came back out with some of his best stuff forcing a 1-2-3 inning of his own.

Johnson was in a similar situation as Hunt, as he had thrown 41 pitches in yesterday's ballgame and was entering his fourth inning of work in tonight's matchup. Brad Cumbest built off his already impressive weekend with a no-doubt homer into the left-field seats to give State a 7-6 lead in the top of the 11th. The solo blast was the former tight end's seventh hit and 2nd home run of the weekend.

"I told the guys right before the inning that we were going to win if we got one," said Hunt.

And the confident right-hander lived up to his word, forcing the Rebels into three consecutive flyouts to close out the ballgame.

It means a lot for this Mississippi State team to get a series win over their in-state rivals.

"I grew up hating these guys," said Cumbest. "This is awesome. This is the story of any Mississippi kid's life."

Mississippi State has now won 18 of the last 22 games against the Rebels and will look to continue their dominance on Tuesday in the Governor's Cup in Pearl.