HOOVER | If this was it, Ole Miss’ DNA that made this a must-win also served as the final death knell.

Vanderbilt eliminated Ole Miss, 3-1, from the SEC Tournament on Tuesday and past midnight into Wednesday, as the two teams waited 5.5 hours after the scheduled start time because of storms in the Birmingham area.

The Commodores (36-19) meet No. 1 Tennessee Wednesday in the fourth and final game of the day, while the Rebels head home and see if they will stay there or if an NCAA Tournament berth comes their way on Monday.

“They just did a little more than we did,” Mike Bianco said. “We weren’t as fortunate or as good as they were.”

If there’s more baseball, the offense has to consistently take advantage of situations for it to matter. And if that’s it for the 2022 season, even beyond the inconsistent pitching or defensive issues, the offense failing to be the powerful cog is the cause of death.

The Rebels (32-22) were 1-for-17 with runners on base and 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position on Tuesday, allowing Vanderbilt starter Carter Holton to get ahead with heavy fastballs and then bury them with his talented, varied mix of options when ahead in the count.

“I knew he was good, but that was special tonight,” Bianco said. “We couldn’t get to the fastball which usually we can do that. We had some good at-bats early, and then he found it.”

Ole Miss was 0-for-15 with runners on before Justin Bench’s two-out single in the seventh inning cut the deficit to two runs. UM didn’t score a run in 12 consecutive innings from the fourth inning Saturday to the seventh on Tuesday.

The left-handed freshman Holton limited the Rebels to three hits and two walks in six innings. He hasn’t allowed in earned run in his last 24 innings. Ole Miss entered the game hitting .230 against left-handed pitching in SEC games.

Dylan DeLucia fought through some early issues with his slider and kept Ole Miss in it for four-plus innings. He threw 57 strikes in 92 pitches and allowed six hits and two runs with three strikeouts and three walks.

Dominic Keegan’s two-out RBI single in the third gave the ‘Dores the lead.

Vanderbilt, leading 2-0, got two on with no outs in the sixth and was in line to strand them thanks to an excellent effort from Josh Mallitz before Jacob Gonzalez booted a ground ball with two outs. Mallitz was brilliant in 3.2 relief innings, giving up just one hit.

The specifics are the symptoms of Ole Miss simply not being good enough — against Vanderbilt and throughout the season as the Rebels’ resume is squarely in danger of end their season.

Ole Miss went 14-16 in SEC play and is two games under .500 in the league when counting the Hoover loss and the Governor’s Cup win. There have been 13 SEC teams with Ole Miss’ win-loss situation since 2002, and six of those have gotten into the NCAA Tournament. The selection show is worth watching Monday, but Ole Miss’ inclusion is far from a certainly.

The Rebels, who are 39 in the RPI, are 7-8 against the RPI top 25 and 8-13 against the RPI top 50. Ole Miss is also at the mercy of bid-stealers around the country as the bubble could shrink by Sunday.

There are key conferences to watch, as available spots will disappear if East Carolina doesn’t win the American, Dallas Baptist doesn’t win the Missouri Valley, Wofford doesn’t win the Southern Conference or if Coastal Carolina, Texas State or Georgia Southern doesn’t win the Sun Belt. Anyone but UConn could also take a spot in the Big East Tournament.

Ole Miss won seven of eight league games to get back into the NCAA conversation, sweeping Missouri and LSU on back-to-back weekends, but losses in three of their last four keep the Rebels from any solidification.

In addition to the season hanging in the balance, Mike Bianco’s tenure is also uncertain. The eventual postseason has loomed large in that decision all year, but now it’s a waiting game to find out if all the evidence is in prior to Keith Carter’s deliberations on Bianco’s contract — one that has three years remaining, a salary that’s one of the top five nationally and a buyout that is close to $3 million.

Vanderbilt outplayed Ole Miss on Tuesday. That happens. It’s baseball. The ‘Dores having a young prospect on the mound in Hoover is an annual occurrence.

But it’s that this game carried the level of weight it did is the Rebels’ problem. Missed chances throughout the year caused the season’s uncertainly. Missed chances Tuesday caused the uncertainly to be all that’s left.

“You can’t hide from it,” Bianco said. “Tonight we had control of it, and now we don’t.”