OXFORD, Miss. – Florida outhit No. 15 Ole Miss by a 10-8 margin but was plagued by a season-high 13 walks in a 7-5 loss at Swayze Field on Thursday night.
 
The Gators (18-10, 0-7 SEC) received a single from Colby Shelton in the first, but were held scoreless as the Rebels (20-5, 5-2 SEC) took a 2-0 lead in the home half of the frame. With one out and runners at the corners, Isaac Humphrey singled through the right side to plate Luke Hill, who reached via a leadoff walk. A free pass of Will Furniss loaded the bases, allowing Hayden Federico to draw yet another walk to force home Ryan Moerman. UF starter Aidan King fanned Austin Fawley to strand the bases loaded and limit the damage.
 
King bounced back for a clean inning in the second while striking out his third batter for the last out. Faced with a 2-0 deficit, the Florida offense roared to life to take a 3-2 advantage in the third. Luke Heyman led off with a single to left while Landon Stripling was plunked. Ashton Wilson then stepped to the dish and deposited a 2-0 offering into the left-center field seats for a three-run, go-ahead homer.
 
Ole Miss answered in the bottom of the third to knot the ballgame at three runs apiece. Furniss produced a sacrifice fly to left field to score Moerman. In the home half of the fourth, King was relieved by right-hander Luke McNeillie following a one-out double by Brayden Randle. McNeillie fanned Luke Hill then induced a foul-out of Mitchell Sanford to third base to strand a Rebel in scoring position.
 
Heyman led off the top of the fifth with a double to left-center, but was ultimately stranded on third base as Bobby Boser flied out to the warning track in center field to end the threat.
 
In the bottom of the fifth, Ole Miss regained the lead on a two-run double down the right-field line by Furniss. Brayden Randle later added a sacrifice fly to left to drive home Furniss for a 6-3 Ole Miss advantage.
 
Shelton doubled down the right-field line to lead off the top of the sixth, but the Gators went down in order to follow to strand him on second base. The Rebels increased their lead to 7-3 in the home half of the sixth, as Sanford hit a leadoff double and scored on a sacrifice fly to right off the bat of Furniss.
 
The Gators clawed within two runs at 7-5 thanks to a two-run seventh. Brody Donay and Stripling set the table with singles while a Wilson walk juiced the bags. Boser came through in the clutch for the Orange & Blue, singling home a pair with a knock through the left side.
 
Freshman Carson Montsdeoca and senior Billy Barlow combined for a zero in the seventh, with the latter striking out Judd Utermark to strand the bases loaded. Barlow fired another zero in the eighth, but the UF offense was unable to muster a comeback as the opener ended at 7-5 in favor of Ole Miss.
 
McNeillie dropped to 2-1, surrendering three earned runs over one inning of work. The right-handed pitcher gave up one hit and three walks while fanning two Rebels.
 
Rebels starter Hunter Elliott (5-0) earned the win, throwing 5 2/3 frames of three-run ball. He finished with six hits allowed, zero walks and seven strikeouts.
 
Ole Miss reliever Brayden Jones picked up his first save. He tossed a clean ninth inning highlighted by two strikeouts.
 
King did not factor into the decision after pitching 3 1/3 innings with three earned runs allowed on four hits and four walks. The freshman struck out five.
 
Boser (2-for-4), Shelton (2-for-4), Donay (2-for-4) and Heyman (2-for-4) all registered multi-hit games.
 
NOTABLES

• Wilson’s first homer of the season gave UF a 3-2 lead in the top of the third.

  • The three-run blast gave Wilson three RBI, tying his career high.

• Shelton hit his SEC-leading 14th double to lead off the sixth inning.
• Florida walked a season-high 13 batters.

  • The Gators’ 13 walks marked the team’s most since issuing 18 free passes to Tennessee on April 8, 2023.

• After going 2-for-4 today with one double and one run scored, Heyman is now 4-for-7 with two home runs, one two-bagger and three runs in two career games against Ole Miss in Oxford.
• Montsdeoca pitched one scoreless inning on two hits and two strikeouts.
• Barlow also provided 1 1/3 no-hit, shutout relief frames.
• Boser tied Lawson for the team lead with 28 RBI after hitting a two-run single in the seventh.
• Florida is now 57-54 overall and 23-34 in Oxford in the all-time series against Ole Miss.

  • The Gators are 20-15 overall and 8-11 on the road vs. the Rebels under Head Coach Kevin O’Sullivan.
  • Florida had its four-game winning streak against Ole Miss snapped.

• The Gators’ 0-7 start in SEC play is the worst in program history.
• Thursday night’s official attendance was 9,867.

FROM HEAD COACH KEVIN O’SULLIVAN
On getting behind the eight ball early again tonight…
“We got 27 innings in 24 hours. We talked about it before the game. Like you said, we walked the leadoff man to start the game. Threw 42 pitches in the first. We gave up two runs, walked in a run. We did try to do everything we can pitching-wise tonight to keep this thing within striking distance. We walked 12 guys, and that’s not even including the intentional walk. It’s just really, really disappointing. Obviously, we’re off to a tough start here in SEC play and just the effort tonight was not there.”
 
On not capitalizing with runners on and losing momentum…
“We scored three runs and then we gave up another rebound run. Leadoff walk again. It’s been the same old story the entire year. We had two doubles to lead off innings. We didn’t move ’em. We had two runners in scoring position with a middle-of-the-order hitter up, and he took three pitches and didn’t swing the bat. Obviously, very disappointing. We got picked off at first twice with nothing on. Should be a one-way lead. So, we can go on and on about tonight. But the bottom line is, we’re going to have to figure this thing out, and we have to figure it out in a hurry. And they’re going to have to pick each other up and they’re going to have to hold each other accountable…”

UP NEXT

The Gators and Rebels conclude their series with a Friday doubleheader beginning at 4 p.m. ET. The series finale begins approximately 45 minutes after the conclusion of game two. Both ends of the twin bill will stream on SEC Network+.