Next Game: UT Martin 4/5/2016 | 6:30 PM

Late home runs by Nathaniel Lowe and Gavin Collins were not enough as No. 12 Mississippi State dropped the final game of a Southeastern Conference baseball series, falling 8-5 to No. 11 Ole Miss on a sun-drenched Sunday afternoon at Dudy Noble Field.

MSU did take a 3-1 victory Friday and a 6-2 win Saturday to clinch the weekend series. It was MSU's first series win against Ole Miss since 2012 and its third straight series win to start conference play (fourth overall).

MSU fell to 20-8-1 overall and 6-3 in league play, while Ole Miss improved to 21-7 and 3-6. The Bulldogs finished the third weekend of league play in sole possession of first place in the Western Division standings and one game off the pace in the overall standings.

A crowd of 10,164 watched the contest. For the three-game series, the in-state rivals drew a crowd of 31,831. It was the largest non-Super Bulldog Weekend series crowd in MSU history.

Ole Miss built a 2-0 lead with singles scores in the first and second innings. The Bulldogs then tied things in the home half of the second inning on a two-run double by Elih Marrrero.

Ole Miss then built a 6-2 lead with two runs in fifth inning as well as single scores in the sixth and eighth innings. In the home half of the eighth inning, Lowe hit a solo shot for his second of the season, while Collins hit his fifth of the season – a two-run shot.

David Parkinson relieved Wyatt Short and got Ole Miss out of the eighth inning. Will Stokes worked out around one hit in the ninth inning to earn his third save. Short (2-1) threw four innings of middle relief to garner the win.

For MSU, Daniel Brown drew the start but was lifted in the second inning. Ryan Rigby (3-1) had four innings of three-hit relief, before giving way to Ethan Small, Blake Smith, Vance Tatum and Reid Humphreys. Humphreys was touched for two runs in the ninth inning.

MSU collected 11 hits. Mangum, Lowe and Collins each had two hits apiece.

Ole Miss finished with 10 hits. Henri Lartigue had three hits and three RBIs, while Colby Bortles had two hits and three RBIs. Errol Robinson also had two hits.

MSU remains at home Tuesday for a 3 p.m. doubleheader against Tennessee-Martin. Both games will be available nationally on SEC Network +.