Ole Miss baseball beats No. 21 Florida 6-4 in Gainesville

Gainesville, Fla. — Ole Miss baseball defeated No. 21 Florida 6-4 Thursday evening in the opening game of their SEC series.

The Rebels improved to 21-10 overall and 4-6 in conference play, while Florida dropped to 23-8 and 6-4 in SEC action. Every starter for Ole Miss reached base at least once, and eight of nine recorded at least one hit, according to the team.

Cannon Goldin went 2-for-2 with an RBI, and Brayden Randle hit his second home run of the season. Tristan Bissetta drew three walks, reached base four times, and stole two bases. Freshman Taylor Rabe made his first SEC start, striking out six batters over 4.2 innings. Hudson Calhoun earned the win with two scoreless relief innings. Walker Hooks recorded his first save of the season, allowing just one hit in the final two frames.

Florida scored first in the game, with the leadoff hitter singling on the first pitch, stealing second, and scoring on a single to center field in the first inning. Ole Miss responded with three runs in the third, fueled by walks to Bissetta and Furniss, a double from Reuter, and an RBI groundout from Decker. Goldin added an RBI single to make it 3-1.

Randle’s solo home run in the fifth extended the Rebels lead to 5-1. The Gators answered with a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning, trimming the deficit. Ole Miss pushed another run across in the sixth on doubles from Utermark and Furniss, making it 6-3. Florida added a solo shot in the eighth, but Hooks shut the door down the stretch.

The two teams are set to play game two of the series Friday at 5:30 p.m. CT. The game will be streamed on SEC Network+.

Source: Original Article