Gators Drop Second Game to Ole Miss in Brutal Ninth Inning

After taking the first game 4-1 Thursday, the Florida Gators attempted to make it a 2-0 series Friday. Their efforts were not enough as a high-scoring ninth inning gave the No. 3 Rebels the win. The series now sits dead even with the deciding game on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Rebels On The Board Early

Ole Miss wasted no time putting up points in Friday’s matchup. Kevin Graham with a two-out double followed by an RBI single from Tim Elko gave the Rebels the early lead. Christian Scott got the start for the Orange and Blue and went five innings giving up two runs with seven strikeouts.

The Rebels took the lead in the first and never lost it. They added another run in the second off an RBI single from Calvin Harris. The Gators put up a run of their own in the second. Kris Armstrong had a two-out single bringing Jordan Butler home. The scoring would halt there until the Gators tied the game up in the seventh inning with a solo shot from Jud Fabian.

https://twitter.com/GatorsBB/status/1378145027705118722

Dreaded Ninth Inning

While Ole Miss did add two more runs in the top of the eighth inning, the problems snowballed in the top of the ninth. The ninth inning has been a rocky zone for Florida since their opening series against Miami. Down 4-2, Florida had to shut down the sizzling Rebel bats, before taking their last three outs. But, Ole Miss did not go quietly. Jack Leftwich on the hill for Florida started with giving up a single and a walk to put two men on early in the ninth. Another walk followed by a two-RBI single from Ryan Chatagnier extended the Rebel lead to 6-2.

Carabacas relieved Leftwich in the ninth. With two runners on, a base-clearing single from Jacob Gonzalez put Florida down 8-2.

Mid 9 | The REBS are in the building. @jakegonzalez717 clears the bases and makes it a six-run lead!

Ole Miss 8, Florida 2 pic.twitter.com/23QYu1bspC

— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) April 3, 2021

Gators Look To Avoid Sweep

The deciding game starts Saturday at 1 pm. In order for the Gators to avoid a series loss at home, they have to come out with heavy bats first. Looking ahead, Florida has two mid-week matchups against Stetson and Florida A&M before packing up and heading to Knoxville to take on the Vols.