Walks and Missed Opportunities Lead to Florida's 7-5 Loss to No. 15 Ole Miss

Florida's struggles with control continued on Thursday night as they fell to No. 15 Ole Miss by a 7-5 score at Swayze Field.

Despite outhitting the Rebels 10-8, the Gators (18-10, 0-7 SEC) were hurt by a season-high 13 walks, contributing to their defeat.

Florida started the game with a single from Colby Shelton in the first inning, but they were unable to push a run across.

Ole Miss (20-5, 5-2 SEC) capitalized in their half of the first, taking a 2-0 lead.

Luke Hill led off the inning with a walk, and Isaac Humphrey's single to right plated Hill.

A walk to Will Furniss loaded the bases, and another free pass to Hayden Federico allowed Ryan Moerman to score.

Aidan King struck out Austin Fawley to leave the bases loaded, limiting the damage.

King settled in during the second, recording a clean inning with his third strikeout of the game.

In the third, the Gators erupted for three runs to take a 3-2 lead.

Luke Heyman started the rally with a single, and Landon Stripling was hit by a pitch.

Ashton Wilson followed with a three-run homer to left-center, giving Florida the advantage.

However, Ole Miss responded in the bottom of the third to tie the game at 3-3.

Furniss hit a sacrifice fly to score Moerman.

The Rebels regained the lead in the fifth, with Furniss hitting a two-run double down the right-field line.

Brayden Randle's sacrifice fly brought in Furniss, pushing the Ole Miss lead to 6-3.

The Gators tried to rally in the sixth with a leadoff double by Shelton, but they were unable to capitalize and stranded him on second.

Ole Miss added another run in the bottom of the sixth as Sanford's leadoff double set up a sacrifice fly by Furniss to make it 7-3.

Florida mounted a comeback in the seventh.

Brody Donay and Stripling reached base with singles, and a walk to Wilson loaded the bases.

Bobby Boser then came through with a clutch two-run single to cut the lead to 7-5.

Carson Montsdeoca and Billy Barlow provided scoreless relief in the seventh and eighth innings, but the Gators were unable to produce any offense in the ninth, falling 7-5.

McNeillie (2-1) took the loss after allowing three earned runs in one inning of relief.

He gave up one hit, three walks, and struck out two.

On the other hand, Ole Miss starter Hunter Elliott (5-0) earned the win, allowing three runs on six hits over 5 2/3 innings, with no walks and seven strikeouts.

Reliever Brayden Jones picked up his first save by retiring the side in the ninth with two strikeouts.

Florida's King, who pitched 3 1/3 innings, did not factor into the decision.

He allowed three earned runs on four hits and four walks while striking out five.

Offensively, the Gators saw some strong individual performances.

Boser, Shelton, Donay, and Heyman each recorded two hits, while Wilson's three-run homer highlighted the Gators’ offensive effort.

Despite the defeat, Florida can take away some positives.

Wilson's first homer of the season gave the Gators a brief 3-2 lead.

Heyman continued his strong play, going 2-for-4 to improve to 4-for-7 with two home runs in his career against Ole Miss in Oxford.

Montsdeoca's scoreless inning and Barlow's 1 1/3 frames of no-hit relief were bright spots in the loss.

With the defeat, Florida is now 57-54 overall and 23-34 in Oxford against Ole Miss.

The Gators also snapped a four-game winning streak against the Rebels and are now off to their worst start in SEC play in program history at 0-7.

The Gators will look to bounce back in a Friday doubleheader, with the first game starting at 4 p.m. ET. Both games will be streamed on SEC Network+.