Around the Diamond: Florida comes to town for surging No. 15 Ole Miss baseball

by:Ben Garrett•03/27/25•

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GlnU5TMWUAAHfBO copy — Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco (Photo credit: Ole Miss Baseball/X)

No. 15 Ole Miss baseball will look to add to a four-game winning streak and continue to roll in SEC play this weekend against Florida.

The Rebels (19-5, 4-2 SEC) are coming off a series sweep at Missouri — their first in the league in nearly three years — and mid-week win over Memphis. They’re off to their best SEC start since 2021.

“We’ve swung it well, especially on the weekends, really of late. Maybe the last few weeks and when you’re doing that it’s not just from one piece or just a spot in the lineup,” Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco said. “If you’re putting up runs like we have over the last couple of weeks usually it’s throughout the lineup and certainly that’s been evident.”

Ole Miss was ranked in four of the five Top 25 polls this week. The Rebels were No. 15 in three, including Baseball America. First pitch of Game 1 is Thursday at 7 p.m. CT on ESPNU.

HOW TO WATCH

Television/Online: ESPNU (Thursday) | SEC Network+ (Friday and Saturday)
Play-by-Play: Victor Rojas (Thursday) | Richard Cross (Friday and Saturday)
Color: Chris Burke (Thursday) | Keith Kessinger (Friday and Saturday)

HOW TO LISTEN

Radio: Ole Miss Radio Network
Play-by-Play: David Kellum
Color: Brad Henderson

SCOUTING FLORIDA

The Gators (18-9, 0-6) last season reached the College World Series for the 14th time in school history and second in as many seasons.

However, they’re scuffling in 2025, including a loss to No. 4 Florida State on Tuesday. Florida blew a ninth-inning lead against the rival Seminoles.

Florida’s retooled lineup features three hitters with an OPS above 1.000: C/DH Brody Donay (1.251), 1B/2B Brendan Lawson (1.042) and SS Colby Shelton (1.013). Two other Gators are above .900: INF Bobby Boser (.986) and OF Blake Cyr (.936). Shelton, Donay, Lawson and Cyr are each hitting at least .320 with OBPs north of .415. They all have at least five steals.

Twelve Gators have posted multi-hit games, while nine have tallied three-hit games.

Shelton has an SEC-leading 13 doubles. He had a 26-game on-base streak snapped against Florida State. He’s started all 27 games at short and is slashing .368/.438/.575 with 25 runs scored and 23 RBI.

Lawson (330/.474/.568) has six home runs and a Florida-best 28 RBI. Gator starting pitching over 106 innings has produced a collective 3.65 ERA, .214 batting average against and 145-to-42 strikeout-to-walk ratio. The Gators have combined for a 3.89 ERA, .203 batting average against and 115-to-29 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 18 weekend starts (78 2/3 innings).

Florida starting pitcher Liam Peterson. (Photo by @GatorsBB)

SERIES HISTORY

Kevin O’Sullivan is in his 18th season as Florida head coach. He holds an all-time record of 717-349, featuring 16 NCAA berths, nine CWS trips, six SEC titles and an NCAA title.

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Thursday will mark the 109th meeting between Ole Miss and Florida. The Gators lead the all-time series, 56-52. Florida swept the Rebels last they played in March of 2023.

PITCHING MATCHUPS

Ole Miss, as it’s done all year, will roll with a weekend rotation of Hunter Elliott, Riley Maddox and Mason Nichols.

Florida, meanwhile, has been down Friday starter Liam Peterson and Saturday starter Pierce Coppola due to injury. However, Peterson, the team’s ace, is hoping to return to the mound this weekend.

“I haven’t really looked at it much but from a distance you’ve heard they had some injuries on the mound and in the field,” Bianco said. “That makes a huge difference. We know it as well as anybody, but they are also Florida. They’re really good and really talented. I know we’re not going to read too much into that. Team that was ranked in the Top 5 at the beginning of the year, so we gotta be ready to play.”

Peterson, a sophomore, is 4-1 with a 2.16 ERA, .198 batting average against, 1.08 WHIP, 15.1 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9. He’s already fanned a career-high 11 batters in two separate starts. True freshman RHP Aidan King will make his fourth career start. He’s 3-1 with a 2.39 ERA, .200 batting average against and 27-to-5 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 26 1/3 innings.

King recorded quality starts in each of his first two career starts against Harvard (6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K) and Tennessee (6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 6 K).

Thursday: LHP Hunter Elliott (4-0, 2.79 ERA) vs. RHP Aidan King (3-1, 2.39 ERA)
Friday: RHP Riley Maddox (3-2, 6.20 ERA) vs. TBA
Saturday: RHP Mason Nichols (2-0, 4.74 ERA) vs. TBA