In a weird short week due to Easter, the 11th-ranked Ole Miss Rebels would hit the road to Founders Park to take on the Gamecocks of South Carolina in a chance to get right after dropping two of three against Tennessee and a midweek debacle to Little Rock on Tuesday afternoon.

Despite the top-11 rankings, many around the Ole Miss Baseball program needed to see the team earn a road win on Thursday night to ease their minds after the prior week’s shortcomings. However, eager for an upset series-opening win, the South Carolina Gamecocks would offer up a different level of adversity for the Rebels to overcome on Friday night.

South Carolina would jump out to a 1-0 lead over Ole Miss before Austin Fawley would tie things up for the Rebels in the top of the third with a solo shot. South Carolina would add more two to the scoreboard in the bottom half of the 5th inning to give the Gamecocks a 3-1 advantage over the Rebels. A solo shot from Mitchell Sanford in the top half of the 6th would trim the South Carolina lead to 3-2.

Hunter Elliott would get the starting role on Thursday night for the Rebels as Coach Bianco and his staff would go with their trusted Friday night starter on Friday as the Rebels try to jumpstart the series with South Carolina. Elliott would finish his night by allowing six hits and three runs with five strikeouts on 5.1 innings of work on Thursday night. Mason Morris would come out of the bullpen midway through the 6th inning for a long relief stint for the Rebels. Morris finished his night with 2.2 innings of nearly perfect baseball, with zero hits, zero runs, and six strikeouts for the Rebels.

The Rebels’ loss to South Carolina on Thursday night left them uncomfortable. To take a pivotal series over South Carolina, the Rebels will have to find a way to win back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday on the road. It’s not ideal if you’re Ole Miss when you’re on the verge of hosting an Oxford Regional with a top-16 seed in next month’s NCAA Tournament. So goes it baseball, though: flush the loss on Thursday and use Friday night as a springboard to get back to the basics of the 2025 Ole Miss baseball team.

With the loss to South Carolina on Thursday night, the Rebels fall to 9-7 in SEC play and 27-11 on the season.

Game two between the Rebels and Gamecocks will be on Friday afternoon at 3:00 on the SEC Network Plus.

Photo Credits – Ole Miss/ South Carolina Baseball on X