Ole Miss gets a Top 25 win to open up the season in Hunter Elliott's return to the mound
The trip to Arlington, Texas was going to be a major measuring stick weekend for Ole Miss baseball to open up the 2025 season.
So far, so good as the Rebels pass their first test with flying colors in a 2-1 victory over No. 21 Arizona on Friday inside Globe Life Park.
With three games against Top 25 teams plenty was going to be learned about the Rebels (1-0), both good and bad. Through one game there is a lot of good.
Starting with Hunter Elliott.
The Ole Miss ace made his anticipated return to the mound in his usual Friday starter role and impressed. Nearly two years between competitive appearances and the left-hander looked as sharp as he did standing on the mound in Omaha two and a half years ago.
Elliott went five innings of shutout baseball, giving up a pair of hits while striking out three and walking three other batters. He got into a spot of trouble in the third inning after loading the bases with two outs with a walk.
A mound visit from first-year pitching coach Joel Mangrum settled the Ole Miss ace and he got out of it the next batter with a flyout to Judd Utermark in left field.
“It was a long road,” Elliott said immediately after the game. “So much excitement, so much adrenaline. It was a little tough to contain it at times but I’m just excited to be back and I love this team.”
Mason Morris worked 2.2 innings of relief giving up a run off three hits. He struck out a pair and walked to other Wildcat batters.
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Arizona (0-1) made things interesting in the top of the ninth getting the tying and go-ahead run in scoring position but Connor Spencer managed a flyout to right-fielder Mitchell Sanford. Spencer worked 1.1 innings to earn his first save of the season.
Luke Hill and a Ole Miss newcomer lead the offense
Picking up where he left off last season Hill had a hot start to the season at the plate. The Rebels third baseman finished 2-for-3 with a run batted in.
The only other player with multiple hits for the Rebels on Friday was center fielder Isaac Humphrey. The Louisville transfer went 2-for-3 with a RBI and a a run. Humphrey’s Ole Miss debut included what became the winning run off a solo home run in the bottom of the fifth.
“It was just a great AB by Luke Hill in front of me. He was the one that got the job done, really,” Humphrey said. “Got us on the board. Got us going, so it kind of took a lot of pressure off me. I was able to just kind of let one loose and not worry. I just kind of ambushed a fastball and put a good swing on it.”
Utermark and Moerman accounted for the other two of the Rebels six hits.
Ole Miss could have taken the stress off of Spencer in the ninth inning when it had bases loaded with one out in the bottom of the eighth. Unfortunately Moerman and Paino struck out to leave them loaded. The Rebels left nine runners on base and were 0-8 with runners in scoring position and 1-for-13 with runners on base (.077).
Next up is a game against a Southeastern Conference opponent that will not count toward SEC standings. The Rebels and Texas will meet on Saturday with a first pitch scheduled for 7 p.m. CT.
