It took the crucial mistake a while to show up, but it did in fact arrive to help decide the outcome on Wednesday in Pearl.

Ole Miss has suffered many self-inflicted wounds this season during losses, as errors, poor plate appearances and subpar situational pitching have all contributed to the hole the Rebels are in with three SEC weekends remaining.

The eighth inning decided this one, an eventual 5-1 Mississippi State (30-15) win in the Governor's Cup win that dropped Ole Miss to 23-21 overall with a series at Auburn up next.

The Rebels are 2-7 on the road in the SEC this season and have lost three of their last four overall.

"I've always said losing sucks the life out of you," Mike Bianco said. "But it is what it is. We've dug ourselves into this hole; You've gotta fight your way out of it."

Grayson Saunier gave the Rebels four strong innings of shutout baseball, scattering four hits with a pitch-to-contact approach. Gunnar Dennis allowed a run, but JT Quinn and Josh Mallitz threw shutout frames.

"(Saunier) was good," Bianco said. "It was an odd night because he didn't have his slider but located his curve and fastball and a few changeups. He leaned on the curve more and battled. I'm proud of him."

Saunier has allowed one run in the last eight innings.

It was 1-1 in the eighth when hell broke loose. Mason Morris struck out the first batter before hitting Connor Hujsak. A wild pitch allowed Hujsak to take two bases and advance to third, and after a walk and a pitching change to Ryne Rodriguez, Ole Miss failed to turn a double play which let Hujsak cross with the go-ahead run.

A single, a couple more walks and a David Mershon double off Kyler Carmack followed, and State's four runs in the inning more than held up. Sam Tookoian allowed the two walks and the single.

On the other side, Ole Miss' only run came via Judd Utermark's solo home run in the second inning. Utermark also singled in the ninth, for two of the Rebels' five total hits. Ole Miss didn't have a hit in the fifth through eighth innings.

The 3-through-6 spots in the Ole Miss order were 0-for-10 combined.

Ole Miss was 0-for-11 with runners on, 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position and got the leadoff aboard just once. The State bullpen walked five and hit a batter over five innings but didn't allow a run.

The Rebels are waiting word on Ethan Lege, who was hit by a pitch in the thumb. He got an X-ray following the game. Bianco said the thumb was swollen, and Lege was struggling to move it. He's been arguably Ole Miss' most productive batter this season.

The Rebels are 7-14 in the SEC, one game ahead of Missouri for the final spot in the SEC Tournament. Auburn is 3-18 in the league.

"They are all big and a huge opportunity," Bianco said. "Another team searching a little bit. Have to put it behind us and play better baseball."