In the first Thursday-Saturday series of the year for the Ole Miss Rebels, the Florida Gators would enter Swayze Field looking for their first Southeastern Conference win. The Gators came to Oxford winless, bitten by the injury bug in Southeastern Conference play.

15th-ranked Ole Miss and the Florida Gators got things started with game one on Thursday night, with the Rebels taking game one of the series by a score of 7-5. Although there were no Swayze Beer Showers due to the lack of home runs, the Rebels scored seven on Thursday night, giving the Rebels a two-run lead over the Gators and securing the first game of three, setting the scene for a wild day of baseball with a doubleheader on Friday to decide the series.

As Friday afternoon rolled around at Swayze Field, the Ole Miss Rebels would go with Riley Maddox on the mound as the Rebels looked to end the series before the nightcap on Friday night. In game two of the series, Ole Miss would jump out to a 1-0 lead over Florida off the bat of Mitchell Sanford with a solo shot to give the Rebels an early lead. Florida would respond in an orderly fashion in the top half of the second inning, taking a 4-1 lead over the Rebels. Ole Miss would add a second run to the scoreboard at the bottom of the third with a base hit from Luke Hill that scored Mitchell Sanford, cutting the Florida lead to 4-2. From there, a two-run bottom half of the 4th inning and another one in the 5th inning would give the Rebels a 5-4 lead over the Gators. Ole Miss and Florida would go back and forth, leading to a Gators grand slam off the bat of Brendan Lawson in the top half of the 8th inning. Ole Miss would respond with a two-run 8th inning and a three-run bottom of the 9th to slam the door shut on the Gators as the Rebels walked Florida off to secure a game two series clincher.

As the sun gave way to the bright lights of Swayze Field, Ole Miss would go for the series sweep over the Gators on Friday night.

Florida would jump out on top of Ole Miss with an early 2-1 lead over the Rebels through two innings in Oxford. Ole Miss would take the lead over Florida in the bottom half of the third inning with a two-run inning before adding another in the fourth to make it 4-2 Rebels. Ole Miss and Florida would trade blows, with the Rebels taking a 7-6 lead over the Gators to the bottom half of the 8th inning. Florida would put together a five-run ninth inning to salvage the series with a game three 11-8 win over Ole Miss.

With the series win over Florida, the Rebels send the Gators back to Gainesville with another disappointing weekend, but not without a glimmer of hope as the Gators earn their first SEC win of the season, 11-8, over Ole Miss on Friday night.

Ole Miss will remain at Swayze Field on Tuesday night for a midweek tilt with Jackson State before heading to Lexington, Kentucky, for a three-game series with Kentucky.

Photo Credits – Ole Miss Baseball on X