No. 15 Baseball Splits Doubleheader, Wins Series Against Florida

OXFORD, Miss. – (Release) No. 15 Ole Miss and Florida split a doubleheader Friday at Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field with the Rebels winning the first game 10-9 and the Gators winning the second game 11-8.

Ole Miss is now 21-6 on the season and 6-3 in the Southeastern Conference. Florida is 19-11 and 1-8.

In the first game of the day, the Rebels and Gators battled back and forth throughout. Ole Miss scored five runs in the final two innings to claim the one-run victory.

Florida broke a 5-5 tie in the top of the eighth inning on a grand slam homer to right field by Brendan Lawson. In the bottom of the eighth, the Rebels trimmed the Gators’ four-run lead in half with a two-RBI single by Austin Fawley.

After Hudson Calhoun got the Gators three up, three down in the top of the ninth, Ole Miss won it in the bottom of the ninth. Luke Hill, Isaac Humphrey and Ryan Moerman all walked to start the frame. Will Furniss doubled to the right field corner, scoring two runs. Two hitters later, Fawley drove in Furniss from third for the winning run.

Earlier, after Riley Maddox didn’t give up a run in the top of the first, Mitchell Sanford led off the scoring in the bottom of the first with a first-pitch homer to right. Ole Miss led 1-0.

Florida put up a four-spot in the second and the Rebels were down 4-1. In the third, Ole Miss scored one on a Hill single to score Sanford who had also reached on a single.

A Fawley two-RBI double in the fourth, and Sanford with another solo lead off homer in the fifth gave the Rebels a 5-4 lead through five.

Florida scored a run in the seventh and four more in the eighth to give the Gators the four-run lead through the top of the eighth. Things didn’t look too promising for the Rebels. But that’s when they came through with two runs in the bottom of the eighth and three in the bottom of the ninth to claim victory.

Calhoun (2-0) got the win, the seventh and final pitcher for Ole Miss in game one. Jackson Barberi (1-1), the third and last pitcher for Florida, got the loss.

Austin Fawley was 2-for-4 with five RBI, in the opener, while Sanford was 3-for-5 with two RBI and two homers. Luke Heyman led Florida going 3-for-5 with two RBI and a home run. Ole Miss had 11 hits to the Gators’ nine.

In game two, Heyman homered with one aboard to give the Gators an early 2-0 lead in the top of the second.

Ole Miss came back with a run in the second, two in the third, and one in the fourth. Furniss doubled and Judd Utermark got him home on a single in the second to cut the Gator lead to 2-1.

Fawley led off the Rebel third with a solo shot to left field. After Hill reached on a single and moved to second after Humphrey was hit by a pitch, Moerman singled to score Hill. Ole Miss led 4-2.

After Florida added a run in the fifth and two more in the sixth for a 5-4 lead, Ole Miss scored three runs in the seventh. Hill doubled and moved to third on a wild pitch. Moerman flew out to score Hill. Furniss then homered, also scoring Humphrey who had walked. It was 7-5 Rebels.

Both teams scored a run in the eighth. Heyman homered to left for the Gators. Hill singled to score Brayden Randle who had reached on a single. The score was 8-6 heading to the ninth.

Florida scored five runs in the top of the ninth, and it was too much for the Rebels to overcome in the bottom of the ninth.

Reliever Luke McNeillie (3-1) got the win for Florida, while reliever Brayden Jones (1-1) got the loss. Billy Barlow got his first save of the season.

Hill and Utermark were both 3-for-5 with an RBI in the finale. Ole Miss had 14 hits to Florida’s 13.

The Rebels host Jackson State Tuesday at 4 p.m.

Photo courtesy of Ole Miss Athletics

-Courtesy of Jeff Roberson, Ole Miss Athletics