Valentine’s Day brought the return of Ole Miss Baseball to the schedule. The Rebels traveled to Arlington, Texas, to compete in the prestigious 2025 Shriners Children’s College Showdown, a highly anticipated event in the college baseball calendar. The first game of the weekend was against the Wildcats of Arizona.

Friday marked the start of the 2025 Ole Miss Baseball and heralded the triumphant return of Hunter Elliott, who had not played since the 2022 season due to injury. His comeback was spectacular; he went five innings with zero earned runs, two hits, and three strikeouts.

Coach Bianco went to the bullpen in the top half of the 6th inning, calling Mason Morris in to pitch for the Rebels. Morris would give the Rebels 2.2 innings of solid pitching, giving up one earned run off a home run from Mason White in the top of the 8th, striking out two Wildcat batters. Connor Spencer would take the mound in the top half of the 8th inning with a runner on first and two outs for the Rebels. With three outs separating the Rebels from victory over #21 Arizona, Coach Bianco and his staff decided to stick with Connor Spencer to see if he could navigate three outs in the top half of the 9th inning. Spencer would open the 9th inning, walking Tommy Splaine, giving Arizona a base runner with no outs. Walking the second batter would provide the Wildcats with runners on first and second with no outs. Despite having the bases loaded, Connor Spencer found a way to deliver Ole Miss a 2-1 win over #21 Arizona to open the season.

A sac fly in the bottom half of the 5th inning from Luke Hill to score Brayden Randle gave the Rebels a promising 1-0 lead over the Arizona Wildcats. Isaac Humphrey then added to the excitement with a solo shot of his own, making it 2-0 in favor of the Ole Miss Rebels in the same inning. A solo shot from Mason White for Arizona would cut into the Rebels lead in the top of the 8th inning, making it 2-1. Ole Miss would leave the bases loaded in the bottom of the 8th inning, failing to add insurance runs.

Ole Miss will face the Texas Longhorns, a current Southeastern Conference foe, in an odd non-conference tilt on Saturday night in game two of the 2025 Shriners College Classic. Saturday night’s matchup between the Rebels and Longhorns will not count in the Southeastern Conference standings, much like the midweek matchup with Mississippi State that happens every season in Pearl, Mississippi.

Photo Credits- Ole Miss Baseball on X