The Recap: Ole Miss Baseball Battles Back to Claim 10-9 Win Over Florida Gators

The No. 15 Ole Miss Rebels rally late as they clinch their second straight series victory in SEC play after defeating the Florida Gators 10-9 at Swayze Field on Friday afternoon.

It did not take long for action to commence as Rebels starter Riley Maddox quickly worked his way out of a jam in the top half of the inning to set the tone to get the Game 2 matchup going.

Maddox then got some immediate run support as lead off batter Mitchell Sanford launched the first pitch he saw into the stands giving the Rebels an early 1-0 advantage. 

That lead did not last long as the Gators got to Maddox in the second starting with a Luke Heyman home run to follow it up.

The Gators kept their foot on the gas as Bobby Boser roped a double into the left center gap to score two more runs while giving Florida their first lead of the game and cutting Maddox’s day to just 1.1 innings pitched. 

Florida tacked on one more in the second against the Rebels' first man out of the pen, Ryne Rodriquez, via a sacrifice fly, extending the lead to 4-1. 

Ole Miss cut the deficit down scraping across a run in the third on a Luke Hill single to bring in Sanford. The quick run cut the Gators' lead to 4-2 to close out the opening third of the game. 

The Rebels weren’t done there as in the following inning catcher Austin Fawley delivered a two run double to knot the game at four. 

The Rebels then regained the lead for the first time since the first inning as Sanford sent his second bomb of the game into the stands, giving Ole Miss a 5-4 lead. 

The Rebels' early struggles on the mound were put on hold as Walker Hooks took the bump in the third inning and proceeded to throw the next 3.1 innings recording 7 strike outs and just 4 base runners without giving up a run. 

The Gators looked threatening as they juiced the bases with just one man down.

However, Boser was called for an interference in an attempt to break up a double play causing the runner to be out at first ending the inning keeping the Rebels in front. 

Florida stayed resilient and in the seventh they set the game level once again at 5-5 as Heyman sent a liner past the glove of a diving Isaac Humphrey in the right center gap allowing the runner to score from first. 

The Gators then pounced in the eight when Brendan Lawson launched a no doubt grand slam reinstating Florida's lead making a 9-5 ball game late.

Following his home run, Lawson was quickly ejected after he bat flipped and exchanged a few words with the Ole Miss dugout, causing skipper Mike Bianco to talk to the umpiring crew, then leading to Lawson's ejection.

The Rebels cut into the Gators lead in the eighth behind Fawley's second two RBI knock of the day making it 9-7 heading into the final inning of play.

The Rebels juiced the bases with no men down and Will Furniss roped a two RBI double down the line to set the game even once again in the bottom of the ninth.