HOOVER, Ala.  – No. 15 Florida was defeated by No. 17 Ole Miss by a score of 3-1 in the second round of the SEC Tournament at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium on Wednesday night.
 
Exiting the SEC Tournament, the Gators (38-20, 15-15 SEC) remain winners of 18 of their last 24 games including 15 of 20 against SEC opponents heading into NCAA Tournament play.
 
Florida ace hurler Liam Peterson blanked the Rebels (38-18, 16-14 SEC) by striking out the side in the first, then stranded a man on third in the second with his fourth strikeout of the night. Peterson continued to duel with Rebels ace Hunter Elliott through three, logging a third-straight zero in the third while fanning his sixth batter to Elliott's four.
 
In the fourth, the Gators broke through for their first hit via a Ty Evans single to left, but left runners at the corners and came up empty in the inning. Ole Miss then opened the scoring in the home half, beginning with back-to-back, two-out doubles by Judd Utermark and Isaac Humphrey after a 6-4-3 double play erased a previous Rebels baserunner. With runners at the corners, Campbell Smithwick singled home Humphrey while a throwing error in right allowed Ryan Moerman to score all the way from first for a 3-0 Ole Miss lead through four.
 
Trailing in Hoover for the second time in as many days, Florida got onto the board to cut its deficit to 3-1 in the top half of the fifth. Ashton Wilson led off with a double to left, then scored on a fielder's choice off the bat of Landon Stripling as shortstop Brayden Randle's errant throw to third base allowed him to scamper home.
 
A leadoff walk in bottom-five marked the end of Peterson's outing, as the Gators brought in right-hander Luke McNeillie. The sophomore right-hander quickly fanned the first two batters he faced and Brody Donay hosed Randle attempting to steal second for the final out of the frame. McNeillie fired a clean sixth inning with two strikeouts to keep Florida within two.
 
Following a leadoff single in the bottom of the seventh, Florida turned to closer Jake Clemente. The right-hander struck out Austin Fawley and induced an inning-ending, 4-6-3 twin killing to navigate away from damage. He tossed another zero in the eighth, but the Gators were unable to rally late as the matchup ended at 3-1 in favor of the Rebels.
 
Ole Miss starting pitcher Hunter Elliott (9-3) picked up the win. The southpaw was charged with one unearned run on two hits and one walk while striking out eight over 5 1/3 frames.
 
Peterson dropped to 8-3 with the loss. He worked four-plus innings and allowed three runs (one earned) on five hits, one walk and six strikeouts.
 
Rebels reliever Connor Spencer secured his fifth save, pitching a scoreless ninth inning with one strikeout.
 
NOTABLES

• The Gators have won 18 of their last 24 games including 15 of 20 vs. SEC teams.
• Peterson struck out six batters against one walk to improve his strikeout-to-walk ratio to 95-to-32 on the season.
• Florida's bullpen duo of McNeillie and Clemente teamed up for four shutout, two-hit innings of relief with five strikeouts against zero walks.
• The Gators are 78-70 (.527) across 44 SEC Tournament appearances.
• Florida is now 58-56 all-time against Ole Miss including 2-4 at neutral sites.
  • Florida is 1-3 against the Rebels this season.
  • The Gators are 21-17 overall and 1-1 at neutral sites in the series under Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan.
  • Florida's last two games against Ole Miss in Hoover were separated by 16 years (2009, 2025).

FROM HEAD COACH KEVIN O'SULLIVAN
On the outcome of the game…
"We're in a Super Regional atmosphere that every mistake you make, it could end up costing a ballgame, so a very valuable lesson to learn. I thought both bullpens threw the ball great. It's nothing to hang our heads about, but the couple of mistakes we made cost us a couple of runs, and that was
the difference in the game, simple as that."
 
On the strength of the competition in the SEC Tournament…
"Well, every year I say the same thing, is it seems like how could the league get any better? But I
think the biggest difference is the elite pitching. It's been just in his tournament alone. You're watching Missouri run out Sam Horn. You don't want to run into him. Everybody's got somebody or a staff, and you saw as-good-a-two bullpens that you're going to see all year long today. When you add teams like Texas and Oklahoma to an extremely talented league, of course, it's going to get better."

UP NEXT
The Gators return home to await their fate in the 2025 NCAA Baseball Tournament. Regional hosts will be announced Sunday night with the entire postseason field unveiled on Monday, May 26.