On a late Wednesday night, the No. 15 Florida Gators had their SEC tournament run stifled by the No. 17 Ole Miss Rebels.
10-seeded Florida (38-20) couldn’t find consistency at the plate, as 7-seeded Ole Miss (38-18) took home a 3-1 victory to advance to the tournament quarterfinals.
It was a duel in Hoover, Alabama between the two starting pitchers. Florida’s sophomore righty Liam Peterson and Ole Miss’ junior lefty Hunter Elliott showed off their arm talent early, combining for 10 strikeouts in the first three innings.
Elliott earned the win, finishing with eight strikeouts. Peterson, on the other hand, earned the loss with six strikeouts while surrendering three runs.
Neither team got on the scoreboard until the fourth frame when Ole Miss rounded the basepaths three times in the inning.
Senior outfielder Isaac Humphrey ignited the Rebels’ offense with a double to right center, scoring junior infielder Judd Utermark. Then, with runners on second and third, sophomore catcher Campbell Smithwick singled to right field, scoring Humphrey and senior outfielder Ryan Moerman to make it a 3-0 advantage for Ole Miss.
But, the Gators responded in the fifth inning. A throwing error from Ole Miss sophomore shortstop Brayden Randle allowed junior outfielder Ashton Wilson to find home plate and cut the Rebel lead to 3-1.
That was the last run either team scored.
A walk in the fifth inning for the Rebels led Peterson to be relieved in favor of sophomore right-hander Luke McNeillie.
McNeillie started off hot and punched out two Ole Miss batters to end the fifth frame. He finished with four strikeouts in two innings.
Sophomore righty Jake Clemente took McNeillie’s spot on the mound in the seventh. He ended with a strikeout and three groundouts in his two innings, but it was not enough to pull the Gators back in the matchup.
Elliott was relieved by junior right-hander Mason Morris in the sixth inning. Morris logged two strikeouts before being relieved by senior righty Connor Spencer.
Spencer closed the game in the ninth frame. He retired three straight Florida batters to secure the victory for the Rebels.
The Gators will wait to see where they will play for Regionals May 30-June 2. Matchups in the 64-team tournament will be announced at noon Monday.
Contact Adrian Carmona at acarmona@alligator.org. Follow him on Twitter @abcarmona04.
Adrian Carmona is a third-year journalism major and the Summer 2025 baseball reporter. In his spare time, he enjoys completing Sporcle quizzes and ranting about Miami sports.
