Ole Miss Baseball cruises past Eastern Kentucky, 8-0, behind Elliott’s 10-strikeout day
OXFORD, Miss. – A cold day at Swayze Field saw Friday starter Hunter Elliott deliver a masterclass on the mound, striking out 10 batters over six shutout innings to propel Ole Miss to an 8-0 victory over Eastern Kentucky to open the first home weekend series of the season for the Rebels.
The Rebels backed their ace with timely hitting, including multi-hit performances from three different Rebels. After the win, head coach Mike Bianco talked about the dominance of Elliott on the mound.
“On a day like today, you kind of need that. You need him (Elliott) to be good because runs are at a premium. They (EKU) made some errors and walked some people, but they were still mostly intact…We needed that. I said it to the team…I have been in a lot of games here, I don’t know if I have ever been in a game where we only faced two over the minimum (batters), 29 hitters we faced, and you have to face 27.”
~ Bianco after the 8-0 win over EKU
Game Recap
Redshirt junior Hunter Elliott got his second consecutive Friday start of the season against the Colonels. After a solid first outing in Texas, the lefty picked up right where he left off, notching a pair of strikeouts in the top of the first on his way to a one-two-three frame.
However, the Ole Miss bats did the same in the bottom half of the inning. Eastern Kentucky starter Ryker Walton got a couple of ground balls and a punch out for the Colonels to begin the day with a scoreless frame. Elliott trotted back out for the top of the second for Ole Miss, again sitting Eastern Kentucky down in order and picking up his third and fourth punchouts of the day.
Judd Utermark led off the bottom of the second for Ole Miss with a hard liner into left field for a single. After Walton picked up his second punch out, Campbell Smithwick then drew a walk and put runners on first and second for the Rebels with just one out. However, Walton got a roll over ground ball and caught another Rebel swinging to end the inning.
In the top of the third, Elliott gave up his first base knock of the game to Julius Scearce. The Ole Miss lefty then erased the Colonel runner immediately with a beautiful pickoff move to first that fooled Scearce and sent him back to the dugout. Elliott would work his strike out total to six as he shut the door on the frame with back-to-back swing and miss outs.
Walton came back out to the bump for Eastern Kentucky in the bottom of the third, getting a ground ball for the first out of the frame. Outfielder Mitchell Sanford reached on a fielding error in the next at bat, sneaking into second on the play as well. Shortly after, Luke Hill singled through the right side of the infield to score Sanford and give Ole Miss a 1-0 lead. Although getting out of the frame after that, the walks became an issue for Walton as another pair of free bases gave him four issued through three played.
Luke Hill drives in Mitchell Sanford for his 7th RBI of the season!@Luke_Hill22 x @Mitchell__4 pic.twitter.com/buoBxCdH2r
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) February 21, 2025
Elliott began the top of the fourth in the same fashion as the last, giving up a single and then erasing the Eastern Kentucky runner with another great pickoff move over to first base. The Rebel lefty made quick work of the Colonels in the fourth, sitting them down in order once again.
FIFTH pickoff executed already this season for a Rebel pitcher… Third of the year for @elliotthunter10 and the SECOND one today! 💪 pic.twitter.com/ObdQ5qCuDd
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) February 21, 2025
The bottom half of the fourth was another quick frame for the Ole Miss bats as well. Despite drawing another walk off the Eastern Kentucky starter to begin the inning, the Rebels stranded the sixth runner of the evening as they went down in order afterwards. Once again, Elliott came back to the mound for Ole Miss to begin the fifth inning, recording two more strikeouts on his way to another scoreless frame.
Eastern Kentucky turned to righty Nathan Lawson in the bottom half of the sixth to replace Walton. The Colonel reliever walked Hill and Isaac Humphrey to begin the frame before picking two pivotal strikeouts. However, the first base knock of the season for Smithwick scored both the Ole Miss baserunners to make it a 3-0 Rebel lead.
Soup Delivers! Campbell’s first hit of the season brings home a pair of Rebs!@campbellrsoup x #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/2zSBk18UbN
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) February 21, 2025
“It did feel good, he (Brad Henderson) was just telling me it is the hardest one to get…Nobody knows more than him around here…it was a good feeling.”
~ Smithwick on his first hit of the 2025 season
Will Furniss then singled down the left field line, forcing Eastern Kentucky to make another change on the mound and bring out lefty Gavin Faulkner. Furniss was then caught in a run down between first and second while Smithwick tried to steal home, but a good throw burned the Rebel catcher and ended the frame.
Burn, baby, burn! @WillFurniss‘ first homer of 2025!
#HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/4QDrzJhcO9
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) February 21, 2025
Elliott came back out for the top of the sixth for his final appearance of the day. The Ole Miss lefty did give up his third base hit in the frame, but once again posted a zero in the box score as he ended his start with 10 punchouts. The redshirt junior went six innings, did not issue a walk and allowed zero runs to cross for the Colonels.
Following his second win of the season, Elliott spoke about how he was able to find success on during a game with 30-degree weather.
“I take a good approach to it. I know the hitter are not taking good swings, they are not super comfortable up there. They don’t want to take big hacks and catch a ball off the end or off the hands where they’re feeling it for a couple innings. I think it’s a great day to pitch.”
~ Elliott on his performance on a cold day
Faulkner came back to the bump to face the Ole Miss bats in the bottom of the sixth, picking up a quick first out to begin the frame. However, singles off the bats of Sanford and Brayden Randle put two on for Hill. The Rebel infielder made it three-straight singles with a high-bouncing ground ball to shortstop that scored Randle.
A double steal as Humphrey was being walked forced an errant throw down to third, scoring another run for Ole Miss as Sanford crossed the plate on the error to make it a 5-0 Rebel lead after six played.
Junior right-hander Mason Morris took over for Elliott to begin the top of the seventh. Although giving up a single and throwing a wild pitch to advance the runner into scoring position, Morris picked up a strikeout on his way to posting another scoreless frame for the Eastern Kentucky bats.
Cade Schneider came out to the bump in the bottom half of the inning for the Colonels after picking up the final out of the previous frame. Furniss led off for Ole Miss, though, launching a solo home run into the left field bullpen to make it 6-o in a hurry. Schneider was ultimately able to get out of the inning with just the one run allowed after giving up the lead off blast.
Once again Morris made quick work of the Colonel lineup, punching out a pair of hitters as he posted the fourth ‘three up, three down’ frame of the day for the Ole Miss staff. Hill led off the bottom of the eighth for the Rebels, reaching on an error by the Eastern Kentucky shortstop and eventually cruising into second due to another error on a pickoff attempt.
Senior Connor Chisolm pinch hit for the Rebels shortly after, drawing a walk that put a couple runners on for Smithwick with two down in the inning. The Ole Miss backstop then picked up his third RBI of the day with a single through the right side that scored Hill from second. Chisolm advanced to third on the hit, eventually scoring to make it 8-0 Ole Miss after a wild pitch.
With an 8-0 lead, Morris came back out to finish things off for the Rebels. The Ole Miss bullpen star sat down the Colonels in order once again to secure the win in the opening game of the series.
The Rebel bats collected nine hits in the win as Smithwick, Hill and Furniss were the trio that were able to notch multiple on the day. Morris finished the next three innings after Elliott’s six, picking up the save and punching out three Eastern Kentucky batters along the way.
After the win, Smithwick praised Morris for his outing on the mound.
“Mason Morris is terrific. He’s kind of had to take over that piggyback role, but his stuff is wipeout. Joel (Mangrum) calls him the most talented pitcher on our staff, and I believe that to be true as well. When he is on, he is just about unhittable.”
~ Catcher Campbell Smithwick on Morris’ performance out of the pen
Up next
The Rebels will be back in action for game two of the series tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 22, against the Eastern Kentucky Colonels. First pitch is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. CT and will be televised on the SEC Network+.
Kameron Wicker
Kam is a senior at Ole Miss, currently pursuing a degree in Journalism. Even though he's from Delhi, Louisiana, that didn't stop Kam from growing up a diehard Ole Miss fan. He's a sports guru who watches and follows all sports at all times. He lettered four years in football and baseball in high school and is an avid Saints, Pelicans, and Astros fan. In his free time, you can find him watching sports or at the rec participating in them.
