OXFORD | The postgame meeting in right field lasted no more than 90 seconds.

I left the press box as soon as Justin Bench flew out to end Mississippi State’s 7-6 win over Ole Miss in 11 innings to clinch the series. Before the crowd made its way down the steps toward the concourse so I could get down to the field, the prayer started and ended.

The players slowly shuffled toward the fans at the foul line, and Mike Bianco and Kevin Graham stood silently, waiting on media obligations. Graham moved to the media throng before we arrived, seemingly to get on with it so he could get off the field. Graham was visibly emotional and seemed shaken.

The turnaround didn’t occur. In fact, the opposite happened. Instead of a lack of energy or too many errors, the more troubling thing happened: Ole Miss got outplayed.

“There’s nothing you can say to the team (after the game),” Bianco said. “It hurts. They put it on the line today and we just came up a little short… We haven’t been good at times, but this wasn’t about effort. It wasn’t about energy. They played their hearts out this weekend and weren’t good enough.”

With its postseason life fraying in plain view, Ole Miss couldn’t overtake the Bulldogs who entered the weekend with an RPI in the 80s and a league record under .500. Instead MSU continued its series dominance and has the stronger pulse heading into the matchup between the teams in Pearl on Tuesday.

The Rebels (22-17, 6-12) have lost six straight series to MSU and are 4-18 against their rivals in that span. With 12 league games remaining, Ole Miss is 12th or 13th in the SEC standings, depending on Kentucky’s game against Vanderbilt on Sunday. The top 12 in the conference make the SEC Tournament. The Rebels haven’t missed Hoover since it expanded.

Jacob Gonzalez hit a two-run home run — his second of the day — with one out in the ninth to force extras, but Ole Miss didn’t have another batter reach base the rest of the way. In what has become who they are, Ole Miss scored four of its six runs off home runs — continuing the inability to move runners and drive them in with the ball in the park.

The Rebels were 2-for-11 with runners on base and 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position. In SEC play, 55 of Ole Miss’ 107 runs (51 percent) have come from home runs. A year ago, with virtually the same lineup, Nick Suss of the Clarion Ledger compiled that 65 of the Rebels’ 197 SEC runs were from home runs, only 33 percent.

Ole Miss’ dwindling postseason chances that now require a white-hot turnaround are because of issues in all three phases, but the offense was supposed to carry the Rebels. Instead, it can’t group together hits or quality at-bats. Meanwhile, Ole Miss has a 6.46 conference ERA and is struggling to define bullpen roles.

Derek Diamond was good enough on Saturday, giving up only one run in four innings. But instead of congratulating him for his effort and moving to the bullpen, Bianco left Diamond in to give up three more runs. Two runs in the sixth off Josh Mallitz, and State had a four-run advantage at the time.

Ole Miss has battled back from multi-run deficits three straight Saturdays before ultimately losing all three games. The Rebels trailed Alabama by three in the eighth, South Carolina by four in the ninth and State by two in the ninth and brought all of them back to equal. But they couldn’t finish the deal.

Ole Miss hasn’t quit. The pain and frustration were clear on Saturday. With Bianco’s job security swirling more with each loss and the rapid descent of a team ranked No. 1 nationally at one point this season having not yet hit bottom, the players care. They are trying.

"It hurts, but there's no moral victories in that," Graham said. "You've got to go win a ballgame. I'm proud of the way we fought all weekend. We just got beat.”

And that’s the point. It’s not about the one missed chance or the moment that was uncharacteristic. It’s who the Rebels are through 39 games. A 1.6 SEC pitching WHIP. A .317 on-base percentage and .466 SEC slugging percentage.

And a 33 percent conference winning percentage.

Ole Miss is playing hard, but it’s not playing well enough to win.And, unless things change, that'll be the epitaph.