Mississippi’s baseball team topped Oklahoma 4-2 Sunday to deny the Sooners a chance for a third national championship.

OU was undefeated in College World Series play in Omaha, Nebraska, until they fell to Mississippi 10-3 on Saturday and then on Sunday.

Horton, from Norman, also set an MCWS Championship series mark with his 13 punch outs.

“Obviously that was our goal coming into it,” Horton said of winning the national title. “We made it here, and we accomplished a lot this year. But we’ll be back. I know that because this team laid the foundation for the future of Oklahoma baseball.”

In two starts at the Men’s College World Series, Horton struck out 24 batters over 13.1 innings and became the fourth pitcher since the NCAA Tournament expanded in 1999 with multiple 10-strikeout outings in the MCWS, joining Florida’s Alex Faedo (2017), UCLA’s Trevor Bauer (2010) and Cal State Fullerton’s Jason Windsor (2004).

“We fought our butts off all day long, and Cade was outstanding,” said OU coach Skip Johnson. “Take the momentum of the game in that one inning, kind of got taken away from us.

“Just want to thank the coaches and the players more so than anything, and congratulate Ole Miss. They did a great job. Outstanding team.”

It was a tight game until the top of the sixth when OU seemed to take the lead on a safety squeeze play but the runner, who was initially called safe, was called out because it was ruled he interfered with the throw from the catcher to first base. A runner on third base scored but that was taken back and OU failed to score that inning.

“I think that us losing the momentum in the game really cost us, and I wouldn’t want anybody behind the plate other than Jimmy Crooks or Trevin to close the game,” said Johnson.  “Cade was at the end of his rope, and he wanted to keep going, and I’ve got to look out for him and his future. So I’m really proud of what he did and all the players all year long, overcome a lot of adversity and sticking to a common goal, which was to win the national championship.

“That’ll always be our goal.”

In the top of the seventh, OU managed to take a 2-1 lead.

“Well, I mean, they’re going to fight,” Johnson said of his team. “That’s one thing that they’ve done all year long. They’ve fought and they’ve fought, and they’ve fought and they’ve battled and battled.

“That’s a part of their DNA, and that’s a part of what the University of Oklahoma has taught them to do, and our culture has taught them how to do. I’m really proud of those guys.”

After OU had taken the lead, Horton took over on the mound with four straight strikeouts before leaving after T.J. McCants singled up the middle with one out in the eighth.

Oklahoma ended 45-24 record, including a 27-12 mark since April 12.

OU won the Big 12 Championship, went 12-4 after the end of the regular season (8-4 in the NCAA Tournament) and won 14 of their last 19 games to end the year.

Sophomore first baseman Blake Robertson drew a walk in the eighth inning. He has a total of 69 walks on the season, breaking the school record of 68 previously set by Terry Bogener in 1976.

The Oklahoma pitching staff had 59 strikeouts over five games in Omaha and finished the 2022 with a single-season school record 644 strikeouts.

The total surpassed the previous program-best of 608 strikeouts set in 2018.

Horton said, “I think looking back at the beginning of the year, we didn’t know how to win yet, and that’s something our team figured out. We went through struggles with that … We kind of learned and got through that, learned how to win, started believing in each other, and it kind of just took off from there and set a good clear path for us.”