Florida baseball shuts out Ole Miss: recap, score, highlights

Kevin O’Sullivan opted to leave Barberi in and not go to his closer, Joshua Whritenour. He struck out Reuter swinging on a nasty breaking ball. Decker singled through the left side, just out of reach of Myers, to the backhand side. Barberi grimaced and reached for his oblique area after throwing a first-pitch ball to Randle, bringing Whritenour in.

Kurland struck out swinging to open the bottom of the eighth. Florida has 14 strikeouts so far, but the pitching staff has been good enough for it not to matter. Stanford walked to give Florida its first baserunner since the sixth. Kendall went down looking for his third strikeout of the night. It was a borderline pitch, but it was in the zone. That’s 15 Ks for Florida. Miller fanned at a very low ball. That’s 16 and five of the last six batters. Not great. (E8: Florida 2, Ole Miss 0)

Jackson Barberi relieved King in the eighth. He gave up a leadoff single to Federico and walked Bissetta on four pitches after striking out Utermark. Furniss grounded one up the middle, but Myers was there to turn two. Florida plays a slight shift with runners on, and Myers stumbled a bit before tagging second. He fired the ball over to first to get the out with plenty of time, though. (M8: Florida 2, Ole Miss 0)

Wil Libbert took over for Koenig in the seventh and picked up right where he left off. He retired Cyr, Surowiec and Bowen in order, striking out the latter two Gators. Florida hasn’t hit the bullpen well at all. (E7: Florida 2, Ole Miss 0)

King got a pair of quick outs to open the seventh. Decker flied out to left, and Randle flied out to right. Randle’s ball was hit very deep, but Cyr tracked it down for a ridiculous catch.

Goldin singled into left, which brought out Kevin O’Sullivan. Sully thought about taking King out, but he gave him the chance to get through it. King struck out Fawley and erupted off the mound. Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco was upset about King’s celebration and tore into the umpiring crew, but he wasn’t tossed. (M7: Florida 2, Ole Miss 0)

Koenig gave up a pair of singles in the sixth, but neither baserunner scored for Florida. Kendall struck out to open the frame. Miller singled to right field, but he was caught stealing second. Myers singled up the middle on a ball that just got out of the dirt. He stole second, but the official scorer ruled it a wild pitch since it caught some dirt. Jones flied out to right field to end the inning. (E6: Florida 2, Ole Miss 0)

Utermark broke King’s streak of nine batters retired in a row by singling through the left side. King bounced back to strike out King on three pitches. He attacked Furniss, too, getting ahead 0-2. Furniss got hold of one and sent it to the warning track in left field, but Kendall came down with the grab. Phew. Reuter also went to left field but much shallower. Kendall came in and got it for out No. 3. (M6: Florida 2, Ole Miss 0)

Landon Koenig took over for Elliott in the bottom of the fifth. He retired the side in order, getting Bowen to ground out to second, Kurland to foul out to right field and Stanford to strike out swinging. Florida knocked out Elliott early, but the bullpen looks ready to back him up. (E5: Florida 2, Ole Miss 0)

King is cruising now, retiring batters as quickly as he can. Goldin flied out to left, Fawley struck out on three pitches and Federico grounded out to second. It was a 10-pitch inning, giving him six outs in 17 pitches. King has retired nine straight batters since giving up a leadoff single in the third. He’s only at 61 pitches through five innings. (M5: Florida 2, Ole Miss 0)

Myers, Cyr and Surowiec struck out to give Elliott nine on the day, but he’s probably done with over 100 pitches to his name. It’s similar to how Liam Peterson usually does, with the high strikeout total but bad efficiency. Jones walked in the inning to prevent Elliott from facing the minimum. That’s four free passes for Florida on the day. (E4: Florida 2, Ole Miss 0)

King retired the leadoff man for the first time, striking out Reuter on three pitches. He only needed four more to get out of the inning, inducing flyouts from Decker and Randle — both to left field. (M4: Florida 2, Ole Miss 0)

Jones notched his second hit of the night, and fifth of the weekend, a leadoff single to left field. Cyr struck out, but Surowiec went opposite field on the first pitch he saw to beat the shift. Eventually, teams are going to stop playing Surowiec that way, but he’s happy to take advantage of it until then.

Bowen went up the middle again, finding Decker at second. Ole Miss got the out at second, but there was no chance for a double play. Kurland slapped one to the right side to bring in Jones and give Florida the lead.

Stanford worked a nine-pitch walk to put Elliott over 70 pitches and load the bases. Kendall also walked, bringing another run in. Miller struck out, stranding the bases loaded for a second time through three innings. (E3: Florida 2, Ole Miss 0)

King keeps letting the leadoff man reach base — Hayden Federico took a ball through the left side for a single this time — but he locks in after that. Utermark struck out swinging, and Jones tracked down a pair of fly balls from Bissetta and Furniss to strand Federico. (M3: Florida 0, Ole Miss 0)

Jacob Kendall worked an eight-pitch at-bat against Elliott, but he swung over a slider/sweeper for the first out. Elliott found his groove after that, striking out Sam Miller and Kolt Myers for a 1-2-3 frame. That’s four strikeouts in a row for the Ole Miss starter. (E2: Florida 0, Ole Miss 0)

King skipped one into the dirt and off Dom Decker’s leg to give a free base, but he bounced back to get Brayden Randle on a flyout to center field. Control has been an issue for Florida’s pitchers all week long. It’s bizarre at this point.

King got a double-play ball to shortstop, but Kolt Myers couldn’t make the running throw after tagging second. Myers gunned it by Surowiec at first, but Cannon Goldin had no chance to turn and run to second. Austin Fawley flied out to center field to end the inning. (M2: Florida 0, Ole Miss 0)

Hunter Elliott was a bit wild for Ole Miss to start. He got behind Kyle Jones 3-0 before throwing his first strike. Jones grounded the ball to third, but Utermark couldn’t handle the hop. It’s a base hit on paper, but a better defensive play keeps Jones off the bag. Elliott skied one over his catcher, and Jones moved over to second. Blake Cyr grounded out to shortstop, keeping Jones at second.

Ethan Surowiec worked the count full and drew the walk. Karson Bowen fought off a couple of foul balls before sending one back to the mound. Jones stole third, setting up the RBI opportunity, but Elliott caught him inching off third. Jones had to go for home, and Elliott made the throw in time. Unfortunate baserunning, but it looked like Bowen was going to sneak one through.

Cade Kurland grounded it to first base, but Furniss couldn’t get a good grip on it to toss the ball to Elliott covering the bag. It was going to be a close play either way, but the error made it easy for Kurland to load the bases. Cole Stanford couldn’t deliver, though. He swung over a backfoot slider to strand all three runners. The silver lining is that Elliott threw 32 pitches. (E1: Florida 0, Ole Miss 0)

Aidan King slipped on the second pitch he threw, but he didn’t seem to be hurt. Judd Utermark singled off him immediately after. King put a ball in the dirt that got by Karson Bowen, and Utermark moved over to second. He dotted a fastball low and outside, punching out Tristan Bissetta for the first out. Will Furniss also got caught looking at a low heater; this one was inside to the lefty. Collin Reuter swung at a heater above the zone.

That’s three straight for King, who figured things out after giving up the leadoff hit. (M1: Florida 0, Ole Miss 0)

Lawson was originally supposed to play, but he’s been removed from the lineup.