With the rain parting ways in Oxford, the 23rd-ranked Ole Miss Rebels welcomed the 9th-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores to Swayze Field for game one of a three-game pivotal Southeastern Conference series. With just four weeks until the 2025 Southeastern Conference Tournament in Hoover, the Vanderbilt and Ole Miss series could determine seeding in Hoover and even who gets the final regional site come regional play.

Vanderbilt came to Oxford holding a one-game lead on the Rebels in the SEC standings with a conference record of 11-7. Ole Miss went into game one with a conference record of 10-8 while licking the wounds of a series of losses to Tennessee and South Carolina on back-to-back weekends mixed with a midweek loss to Little Rock last week.

The man, Hunter Elliott, started on Friday night for the Rebels on the mound. Elliott finished his night after five complete innings of solid pitching, giving up two hits and one run while striking out six Vanderbilt batters on Friday night. The relief legend, Mason Morris, would come in to pitch in the top half of the 6th inning with a four-run cushion to pitch with. Morris would finish the night in the top half of the 8th inning following a two-run shot from Braden Holcomb. Morris would finish with five strikeouts, giving up two hits and two runs. Will McCausland would come to pitch for the Rebels in the 8th and would be tasked with retiring the 8th to get the Rebels to the ninth inning with a lead.

Ole Miss jumped out early on Vanderbilt behind a solo shot from Hayden Federico to make it 1-0 in favor of the Rebels in the top half of the 1st inning. Vanderbilt responded with a run in the second to make it 1-1. From there, the bats for Coach Bianco and the Rebels came alive in the 5th inning as Ole Miss put together a four-run fifth inning to retake a 5-1 lead over Vanderbilt. To go with timely hitting in the 5th inning, Luke Hill gave the Rebels a solo shot to jumpstart the inning with the explosive offensive firepower that the Rebels have grown accustomed to this season. Braden Holcomb would make things interesting for the Commodores with a two-run shot to right field to cut the Ole Miss lead to 5-3 in the top half of the 8th inning. Ole Miss added three runs in the bottom of the 8th, led by Judd Utermark with a two-run shot to give the Rebels some much-needed insurance runs with an 8-3 lead heading to the 9th inning.

Ole Miss will go for the series on Saturday afternoon, with a first pitch slated for 5:00 on the SEC Network.

Photo Credits- Ole Miss Baseball on X