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The Recap: Ole Miss Baseball Defeats Florida Gators to Advance in SEC Tournament

Originally posted on Ole Miss Rebels on SI
By Billy Kuhl  |  Last updated May 22, 2025 7:45 AM ET

The Ole Miss Rebels took down the Florida Gators 3-1 in the second round of the SEC Tournament in a midnight battle at the Hoover Metropolitan Complex in Hoover (Ala.) on Wednesday night.

The Rebels and Gators starters got into an early pitching duel through the opening third of the game with Hunter Elliott of the Rebels not allowing a hit and Liam Peterson allowing just a base hit.

However, come the fourth inning, the Rebels put together a pairr of doubles from Judd Utermark, giving himself an early two hit night, before Isaac Humphrey traded places with him to open the scoring with the Rebels ahead 1-0.

Ole Miss quickly extented that lead after a fielding error from Florida to keep the inning alive before Campbell Smithwick drove a single through the right side of the infield to drive in Humphrey.

From there, a throwing error to third base allowed Ryan Moreman to round; capping off the fourth with the Rebels ahead 3-0.

The Gators then opened the fifth with a double from Ashton Wilson past a diving Mitchell Sanford before Landon Stripling bounced a ball to shortstop.

Wilson broke immediately from third to force a throw from Brayden Randle where it was thrown away to allow WIlson to advance home; making it 3-1 ballgame.

However, Elliott did not let the error affect him as he shutdown the next three batters in order including a 10-pitch at-bat ending in a strikeout to close out the inning.

In the bottom half of the inning, a walk issued to Randle to leadoff the inning saw the end of Peterson's day on the mound, exiting after 4.0+ innings pitched, 5 hits, 3 runs (1 earned), 1 walk and 6 strikeouts.

Gators reliever Luke McNeillie settled in nicely after retiring the Rebels' next two batters before the Gators caught Randle in an attempt to steal second for the final out of the inning.

Elliott's night expired just an inning later after recording one out in the fifth.

His exit line in the SEC Tournament clash was 5.1 innings pitched, 2 hits, 1 run (unearned), 1 walk, 2 hit batters, and 8 strikeouts while tossing 98 pitches before Mike Bianco turned to Mason Morris out of the bullpen.

Morris needed just one pitch to get out of the inning as a first pitch fastball produced an inning ending 6-4-3 double play.

Both relievers seemingly shutdown offenses for a bit, however in the bottom of the seventh, Ole Miss looked surefire to add on with a pair of singles to lead off the inning.

However, after the Gators turned to Jake Clemente out of the pen, the inning was cut short as he recorded a strikeout and an inning ending double play to keep the game in-hand for the Gators.

The Rebels could not find any insurance in the eighth after going down 1-2-3 before turning to Connor Spencer to close out the game.

Spencer wasted no time sitting down the Gators in order with just 14 pitches while producing two fly outs and a strikeout to secure the victory for Ole Miss.

With the win, Ole Miss will return to action on Friday after a day off before taking on the Arkansas Razorbacks who are coming off of double-bye. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. CT.

This article first appeared on Ole Miss Rebels on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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