The Recap: No. 15 Ole Miss Baseball Hangs on Late to Secure Win Over Florida Gators

The Ole Miss Rebels capture Game 1 in Oxford, take down the Florida Gators to take series lead.

Ole Mississippi Rebels' Will Furniss IV (36) misses the ball in the outfield during the game against the Southern Miss Golden Eagles at Trustmark Park in Pearl, Miss., on Tuesday, March 18, 2025. | Lauren Witte/Clarion Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The No. 15 Ole Miss Rebels opened their series against the Florida Gators with a 7-5 win on Thursday night at Swayze Field behind an impressive early start at the plate.

The Rebels jumped on the Gators starting pitcher, Aidan King, early after scraping across two runs and going through eight batters in the first.

Florida did not take long to respond as they threw the only blemish of Rebels starter early Hunter Elliott’s day when Ashton Wilson launched a three-run homer to give Florida a 3-2 lead. 

Ole Miss rallied in the bottom half of the inning after tying the game at three following a Will Furniss sac fly. 

The Rebels regained the lead just a few inning later when Furniss handled business at the plate once again after roping a two RBI double down the right field line. 

Furniss was quickly driven in by Brayden Randle; giving Ole Miss a 6-3 lead in the fifth inning.

Furniss continued his hot streak with his second sac fly of the day after driving in his fourth run of the Game 1 contest; extending the Ole Miss lead to 7-3 to close out the middle third of the game. 

The Gators cut the deficit in the seventh inning after getting on Ole Miss reliever, Mason Morris, as Bobby Boser slapped a base knock through the 5-6 hole to drive in two cutting the deficit to 7-5. 

With just a two-run lead, Ole Miss turned to Brayden Jones to slam the door in the ninth.

Jones put the nail in the coffin after retiring the Gators in order; striking out the final two batters of the game as the Rebels hold onto the win.

The Rebels' win gives them their 20th victory on the year and moving their record to 20-5 (5-2 SEC) while keeping the Gators winless in SEC play at 0-7 to knock their overall record to 18-10.

The Rebels and Gators will conclude their series tomorrow in a doubleheader due to impending inclenent weather on Saturday.

Game 2 will begin at 3 p.m. CT with Game 3 set begin roughly 45 minutes after last pitch.

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