Ole Miss sinks Florida in late-night pitcher's duel, sets matchup with Arkansas

Rebels beat Gators using top arms, rematch with Razorbacks on tap

Arkansas Razorbacks head coach Dave Van Horn and Ole Miss Rebels head coach Mike Bianco meet before the game at Charles Schwab Field. | Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — No. 2 Arkansas finally knows its opponent and will get its SEC Tournament campaign underway Friday.

No. 7 Ole Miss beat No. 10 Florida 3-1 in a Wednesday night showdown that ended a minute before the clock struck midnight in Hoover, Ala. to set up a quarterfinal matchup with the Razorbacks.

Ole Miss pitcher Hunter Elliott (26) readies himself as he pitches against Florida in the second round of the SEC Baseball Tournament at the Hoover Met. | Gary Cosby Jr. / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Neither team played clean baseball in as all the runs were aided by errors. The two teams combined for more errors (five) than runs (four) in a pitcher's duel that featured both team's aces, Liam Peterson for Florida and Hunter Elliott for Ole Miss.

Florida pitcher Liam Peterson (12) starts the game against Ole Miss in the second round of the SEC Baseball Tournament at the Hoover Met. | Gary Cosby Jr. / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Back-to-back errors from the Gators in the fourth inning, led to two of the three runs, which would prove to be the difference in the game.

A ball that caromed off the glove of third baseman Landon Stripling extended the inning a 1-0 game, before a wide throw from right fielder Ashton Wilson sailed wide of the third base bag allowing and extra Ole Miss run to score on an RBI single.

Soup extends the lead to three!@campbellrsoup x #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/4u8f9aqNyY

— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) May 22, 2025

Florida's offense was held in check by the trio of Elliott, Mason Morris and Cam Spencer with the Gators managing just four hits. Florida was 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position and 0-for-14 with runners on base.

Arkansas, by virtue of clinching the double bye should have an advantage over Ole Miss in the pitching department, having not used any arms. When the two teams met in the regular season, the same trio of pitchers that shut down Florida, Elliott, Morris and Spencer, were the pitchers that coach Mike Bianco used to beat the Razorbacks in game one of the series, 10-6.

The Hogs stormed back to win the final two games of the series, outscoring Ole Miss by a combined 24-12. Morris threw 36 pitches in 2 2/3 innings of work and is unlikely to be available even with a day's rest before the quarterfinal. Spencer threw just 14 pitches in a 1-2-3 ninth inning.

The starter will likely be either Riley Maddox or Mason Nichols. Maddox threw on Friday for the Rebels in its final series against Auburn, making him the more probable candidate on regular rest.

Either way, the Razorbacks had a good amount of success against both of them when the two teams met up during the first week of SEC play in mid-March.

Here are their respective lines against the Hogs in March. Those two games were the first of a school record 12 straight SEC wins that saw Arkansas shoot to the top of the conference standings midway through league play before Texas won the inaugural 16-team, division-less regular season title.

Maddox: 4 IP, 4 H, 3 R/3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K

Nichols:4 2/3 IP, 5 H, 3 R/1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K

First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. Friday. The winner will get the winner of No. 3 LSU vs. No. 6 Auburn/ No. 14 Texas A&M.

Inclement weather forced the final second round game to be pushed to Thursday morning. All games ahead of the championship will be broadcast on SEC Network.