Three Takeaways: Ole Miss Baseball Sweeps Eastern Kentucky

What did we learn from the Ole Miss Rebels' sweep of the Eastern Kentucky Colonels over the weekend?

Jun 20, 2022; Omaha, NE, USA; Ole Miss Rebels starting pitcher Hunter Elliott (26) throws against the Arkansas Razorbacks in the first inning at Charles Schwab Field. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images | Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images

The Ole Miss Rebels have successfully completed their first home weekend series of the 2025 baseball season, picking up a sweep of the Eastern Kentucky Colonels at Swayze Field.

The Rebels gained wins over the Colonels by final scores of 8-0, 9-4 and 9-3, and even though Eastern Kentucky is currently winless on the season, there are a few takeaways to glean from the action in Oxford over the weekend. Let's dive into three of those below.

1. Hayden Federico currently looks the part.

It's still early, and once the scouting report on Federico becomes more complete, his numbers will probably level out a bit. But, for now, he is making his presence felt in Ole Miss' batting order.

Over the weekend, Federico saw action in two games (Saturday and Sunday) for Ole Miss, and he went 4-for-7 at the plate with a walk, a double and two RBI. On the season, he is now 8-for-13 with four RBI and six runs scored.

Again, Federico is only a freshman, so these hot numbers will likely regress to the mean in the weeks ahead, but he is currently earning more opportunities on the field for Ole Miss in upcoming games.

2. Hunter Elliott looks like his former self.

Left-handed pitcher Hunter Elliott drew the start for Ole Miss on Friday afternoon, and he did not disappoint. The Rebels ace struck out 10 batters over the course of his six innings, allowing just three hits and no walks in the process.

Elliott has stated that he is still on somewhat of a pitch count in the early portions of this season as he returns to full-go after missing most of 2023 and all of 2024 with an elbow injury, but through 11 innings of action across two games, he has yet to allow a run and has scattered just five hits.

Starting Elliott off a little slowly in 2025 makes a ton of sense, but it's also good news for Ole Miss that he has looked as good as he has through two outings.

3. There's still more to learn about this team, but it appears to have potential after seven games.

Eastern Kentucky is not a great litmus test for how good or bad Ole Miss will be in 2025. The Colonels have yet to win a game, but the Rebels did gain a couple of key wins last weekend in Arlington that seem to indicate this team has some promise.

The run-rule loss to Texas is the lone blemish on Ole Miss' record thus far, and while that was certainly a disappointing result for the Rebels, the rest of the games have gone their way. We'll learn more about this baseball team as time progresses, but for now, there appears to be hope for this spring.