Ole Miss Defeats Auburn on Will Furniss Eighth-Inning Home Run to Reach 2026 Men's College World Series
Senior first baseman Will Furniss hit the go-ahead homer against Auburn that sent the Rebels to Omaha. His father, Eddy Furniss, won two national titles with LSU in 1996 and 1997.
ESPNOle Miss advanced to the 2026 Men's College World Series when first baseman Will Furniss hit a go-ahead home run in the eighth inning against Auburn that broke a 2-2 tie. The senior arrived at Ole Miss one year after the Rebels won the national championship in 2022. He played on teams that missed the NCAA tournament in each of the next two seasons and fell short in regionals last year.
The home run against Auburn gave Ole Miss its first trip to Omaha during Furniss's college career. m. on June 14, 2026. Eddy Furniss, Will's father, won national championships with LSU at the Men's College World Series in both 1996 and 1997.
He took his son to Omaha in 2017 when Will was 13 years old. During that visit, father and son went to the zoo and stood on the grounds of the former Rosenblatt Stadium. They also sat in the seats of the new ballpark, then under construction two miles north.
"It seemed a lot bigger then," Will Furniss said. " Eddy Furniss returned to Charles Schwab Field Omaha this week during Mississippi's batting practice. Dressed in a lightweight hoodie and an Ole Miss cap, he walked the first-base line, moved through the center-field seats, and continued to the left-field stands while taking photographs and videos.
"I don't have any pictures of me in the College World Series," Eddy Furniss said. "If you try to find film of me, I mean ... " Will Furniss said his father appears happier to be back in Omaha now than during his own playing days.
"Oh, I'm sure he's more happy to be here [now] than he was as a player," he said. "At least that's what it seems like to me. " Will Furniss has watched VHS tapes of his father's appearances in Omaha.
