No. 21 Gators Come Up Short in Opener vs. Rebels

Thursday, April 2

Gainesville, Fla.

6:30 PM

Florida Gators

23-8, 6-4

Ole Miss

21-10, 4-6

Ole Miss

Florida

Brendan Lawson turns a 4-6-3 double play during Thursday night's opener against the Rebels at Condron Family Ballpark in Gainesville, Fla. / UAA Communications photo by Madilyn Gemme

No. 21 Gators Come Up Short in Opener vs. Rebels

Thursday, April 2, 2026 | Baseball

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A trio of Gators logged three-hit games led by Ethan Surowiec who homered and drove in three.

By: Sullivan Bortner

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – No. 21 Florida matched Ole Miss with 10 hits but ultimately dropped the series opener by a 6-4 tally at Condron Family Ballpark on Thursday night.

The Gators (23-8, 6-4 SEC) led for the first two innings before the Rebels (21-10, 4-6 SEC) plated three runs in the third to take the advantage for good. Former Rebel Ethan Surowiec (3-for-4), leadoff man Kyle Jones (3-for-5) and second baseman Cade Kurland (3-for-4) produced three-hit efforts in the loss, with the former homering and driving in three runs against his former club. The trio accounted for all but one of Florida's 10 hits.

In the top of the first, Florida starting hurler Liam Peterson surrendered a leadoff walk and single off the bat of Tristan Bissetta but quickly recovered. The UF ace fanned the next three Rebels in order to strand two runners in scoring position.

Florida struck quickly in the home half to open a 1-0 lead after one frame. Starting off fast, Jones singled and swiped second base, later scoring on a one-out, RBI single to center by Surowiec.

Peterson struck out three more batters in the second inning to strand a pair of Rebels on base. Kurland proceeded to lead off with an infield single to shortstop in the bottom half, but was erased on a fielder's choice as the Gators left one on in the frame.

Ole Miss put its first two batters on via walks in the third, opening the door for Collin Reuter to tie the game with an RBI double down the left-field line. Dom Decker then plated Will Furniss on a groundout to second base to give the Rebels the edge while Cannon Goldin hit an RBI single up the middle to push the lead to 3-1.

Chasing two runs, the Gators put two in scoring position with one out in bottom-three, but the threat was erased on a fielder's choice at home and deep flyout to left-center by Blake Cyr. Peterson and southpaw Ernesto Lugo-Canchola teamed up to blank the Rebels in the fourth, but Ole Miss extended its lead to 5-1 in the fifth on a one-out, two-run homer to right by Brayden Randle.

Improving to 3-for-3 on the night, Jones singled to left with one out in the home half of the fifth. Two batters later, Surowiec bashed a two-out, two-run homer to left-center to draw the Gators within two at 5-3.

Florida's momentum quickly fizzled as Ole Miss got one run right back via sixth-inning doubles from Judd Utermark and Will Furniss to make it a 6-3 ballgame. The Gators rebounded to pitch a zero in the seventh, as right-hander Luke McNeillie fanned a pair and catcher Karson Bowen hosed his second would-be base stealer of the contest.

Surowiec barreled his third hit with two down in the bottom of the seventh to rise to 3-for-3, but was left stranded on second after a 10-pitch walk to Bowen as the matchup entered the eighth inning. Relievers Billy Barlow and Caden McDonald combined to chuck a scoreless inning in the top of the eighth.

The Gators got a boost to begin bottom-eight, as Kurland worked a 2-2 count and mashed a solo homer onto the left-field berm to lead off the inning. Florida appeared to be on the brink of a breakthrough after a four-pitch free pass to Cole Stanford, but a successful pickoff attempt and groundout to third base thwarted the rally. Ole Miss lefty Walker Hooks then struck out Kolt Myers for the third out.

The relief duo of McDonald and Jackson Barberi kept the Gators within striking distance with a scoreless top of the ninth, as Bowen hosed his third runner attempting to steal to aid in the zero. That brought the top of the UF order to the plate in the bottom of the ninth with the Orange & Blue trailing by two, but Hooks retired the top of the Florida lineup in order to secure his first save of the season.

Rebels reliever Hudson Calhoun (2-2) picked up the win behind two shutout innings. The junior righty surrendered two hits and one walk while fanning one batter.

Peterson dropped to 1-2 with the loss. Peterson finished with three earned runs allowed on six hits and three walks in 3 2/3 frames while striking out seven.

Ole Miss starter Taylor Rabe was lifted after 4 2/3 innings and did not qualify for the decision. The sophomore right-hander was charged with three earned runs allowed on seven hits, one walk and six strikeouts.

NOTABLES

The Gators have won eight of their last nine SEC series, going 20-8 across their last 28 SEC games dating back to last season.
Peterson struck out six Rebels in the first two innings prior to finishing with seven in 3 2/3 frames.
Jones led off with a base hit for the 12th time this season and is now batting .414 in his first at bat.
- Jones later led off the third inning with a hit and has now reached 26 times in 62 leadoff plate appearances this season (.419).
Jones swiped two bags and now has a team-high 15 stolen bases.
Surowiec finished 3-for-4 with one homer, three RBI and one walk.
Surowiec hit an RBI single, walked, smacked a two-run homer and drew a second walk in his first four plate appearances against his former school.
Surowiec's two-run shot in the fifth marked his sixth homer of the season.
Kurland connected for his second homer of the campaign in the eighth inning.
Bowen threw out three of five would-be base stealers.
The Gators have recorded double-digit strikeouts in 22 of the last 27 games.
The Gators have won 40 of their last 53 regular-season games dating back to 2025.
Florida is now 58-57 all-time and 33-18 in Gainesville against Ole Miss.
The Gators are 21-18 overall and 11-5 at home vs. the Rebels under Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan.
Florida has won 10 of the last 13 meetings against Ole Miss in Gainesville.
Thursday night's official attendance was 5,948.

FROM HEAD COACH KEVIN O'SULLIVAN
On what led to the game one loss…
"We preach we got to at least get five out of our starter and obviously he didn't have his great command tonight. Neither did many of the guys that threw tonight, to be honest with you. Ten free passes again, eight walks, two hit by batters. The third inning we had hitters down in 0-2 and 1-2 counts and ended up walking them and they just grinded out their at bats. The home run hurt us because it's just too many pitches left on left. Ernie's got too good of stuff and you get in those counts and you have to throw fastball after fastball, after fastball, and then he ran into one. He only had three doubles and a home run all year long, it shouldn't take that many pitches. It was that third inning with the two back-to-back walks. I thought we battled at the plate. Obviously, didn't want to bring Jackson in, he only threw seven pitches, but trying to keep it a two-run game. We get somebody on and all of a sudden somebody runs into a ball with the wind blowing to left. And the pickoff is just inexcusable. We're not going anywhere, we got the tying run at the plate, we go to the bench, bring Sam (Miller) in, maybe he gets the ball up in the zone, maybe he runs into one. Those mistakes at that point of the game obviously it hurts."

On the pitching battle…
"I want to certainly credit their starter. He had a good arm. They mixed and matched good. Once again, they won the free pass game, they only walked three guys. We just got to do a better job of commanding the baseball, simple as that."

On Bowen's strong night and other contributions…
"He played great. He played great. Had a really good extended at bat and obviously Ethan had a great night at the plate. Kyle Jones had three hits. Cade had three hits. But we got to face an All-American tomorrow. It's gonna be very similar to the guy we saw at the end of the game, so we're gonna have to make some adjustments."

ON DECK
The Gators and Rebels meet again in game two on Friday night, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on SEC Network+. Sophomore righty Aidan King (3-2, 1.97 ERA) draws the start on the rubber against southpaw Hunter Elliott (3-0, 3.72 ERA) of Ole Miss.