Ole Miss outfielder Cannon Goldin reacts after a base hit in a SEC baseball game against No. 21 Florida. | Ole Miss Athletics/X
Ole Miss outfielder Cannon Goldin reacts after a base hit in a SEC baseball game against No. 21 Florida. | Ole Miss Athletics/X

Ole Miss vs. Florida Preview: How to Watch, Pitching Matchup, What to Know After Shutout Loss

BY Taylor Hodges

Ole Miss came awfully close to securing the series win against No. 21 Florida on Thursday night, but as has been the case often this year the Rebels couldn’t come through in the big moments.

The Gators held on to a 2-0 win and limited Ole Miss six hits and nine total base runners on Friday night. Ole Miss will need more offense than that Saturday night if it wants the series win. Luckily, the Rebels are sending a guy to the mound who has pitched like an ace at times this season while the Gators will be giving a pitcher his second weekend start.

Here’s everything to know before the series finale in Gainesville, Fla.

Game Two Recap

Ole Miss was shut out by No. 21 Florida on Friday night as the Gators evened the series. The game started just over two hours late due to lightning in the Gainesville area.

Judd Utermark went 2-for-4 and Hayden Federico finished 2-for-3 as they combined for four of Ole Miss’ five hits on the night. Hunter Elliott struck out nine Gators over four innings, his second-highest total on the season. He would end up taking the loss however, getting tagged with the only two runs of the game.

Florida scored both of their runs in the third inning, each coming with two outs. With runners on the corners, Cade Kurland knocked in a run with a single to right. 

The Rebels had the leadoff batter reach base in five of the nine innings but were not able to capitalize. Down to their final out of the game, Ole Miss had runners on the corners, but a strikeout by Austin Fawley ended the game.

Weather Forecast

Friday night’s game was delayed for two hours because of lightning and while anything’s possible with Florida’s weather, that shouldn’t be an issue Saturday night. The National Weather Service’s forecast for Saturday is a good one, “sunny, with a high near 90. East wind around 10 mph, with gusts as high as 16 mph,” during the day. At night, it’ll be “mostly clear, with a low around 61. East wind 5 to 10 mph becoming light southeast after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 16 mph.”

How to Watch: Ole Miss at No. 21 Florida

Pitching Matchup

RHP Cade Townsend vs. RHP Russell Sandefer

  • Townsend: 2-1, 1.90 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 23.2 IP, 17 H, 8 R, 5 ER, 7 BB, 40 SO, .191 Opp. BA
  • Sandefer: 2-1, 4.24 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 17 IP, 15 H, 8 R, 8 ER, 7 BB, 23 SO, .238 Opp. BA

Ole Miss Batting Lineup

  1. TBA

Florida Batting Lineup

  1. TBA

Student-Athlete Availability Report

Ole Miss

Out

  • P #17 Marko Sipila

Game Time Decision

  • P #21 Owen Kelly

Florida

Out

  • OF #26 Cash Strayer
  • P #31 Ricky Reeth
  • IF #49 Colton Schwarz

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