Ole Miss Baseball Splits SEC Series with #21 Florida

Ole Miss baseball split the first two games of its Easter weekend SEC series at No. 21 Florida, setting up a Saturday night rubber match at Condron Family Ballpark in Gainesville with a series victory on the line.

The Rebels opened Thursday with a 6-4 win, getting contributions across an entire lineup that made contact all night. Every starter reached base at least once, eight of the nine collected a hit, and Brayden Randle launched his second home run of the season. Cannon Goldin went 2-for-2 with an RBI, while Tristan Bissetta worked three walks, reached base four times, and swiped two bags to key the offense.

On the mound, Taylor Rabe made his first SEC start and cleared that bar decisively, striking out six batters over a career-high 4.2 innings. Hudson Calhoun followed with two scoreless frames to earn the win, improving to 2-2 on the year, and Walker Hooks closed it out with one hit allowed over the final two innings to collect his first save of the season.

Friday night was a different story. Florida sophomore Aidan King worked through a two-hour lightning delay that pushed first pitch well past the scheduled 6:30 start, then proceeded to dismantle the Rebel lineup over seven scoreless innings. King threw 93 pitches, allowed just four hits, walked nobody, and struck out eight, a season high that gave Florida its nation-leading seventh shutout of 2026. The 2-0 final dropped Ole Miss to 21-11 overall and 4-7 in the SEC.

Hunter Elliott took the loss, falling to 3-1, in what amounted to a hard-luck outing. The Ole Miss lefty struck out nine and held Florida to four hits, but four walks kept the Gators in enough jams to squeeze across their two runs without needing a big inning.

The series finale tips off Saturday at 7:30 p.m. on the SEC Network. Ole Miss sends Cade Townsend to the mound, the sophomore right-hander who carries a 1.90 ERA and a fastball that sits at 96-97 mph into the game. Florida counters with junior Russell Sandefer, who is 2-1 with a 4.24 ERA. A win gives Ole Miss its second SEC road series victory of the season; a loss leaves the Rebels at 4-8 in conference play heading into a critical stretch.