After a game between Florida and Ole Miss that ended in the early hours of Thursday morning, just after midnight, the Arkansas Razorbacks now know their opponent for their first game of the Southeastern Conference Tournament in Hoover, Alabama.
The 7-seed Ole Miss Rebels took down the 10-seed Florida Gators 3-1 on Wednesday, and now have their sights on upsetting Arkansas, which is the 2-seed in the SEC tournament.
This will be the fourth meeting between the Razorbacks and Rebels this season, as the two met in Oxford, Mississippi, in March.
The Rebels were the first team to hand the Diamond Hogs a loss in conference play, but Arkansas got the better of Ole Miss in Game 3 as a go-ahead grand slam by now-SEC Player of the Year Wehiwa Aloy powered the Hogs to a series win.
During Wednesday's game, Ole Miss relied heavily upon its ace, Hunter Elliott, who gave the Rebs 5.1 innings of work. He allowed no earned runs (the only run Florida scored was unearned) and two hits while he punched out eight Florida batters with one walk and two hit batters.
After Elliott left the game, Ole Miss turned to right-handed reliever Mason Morris, who kept the Gators' offense down and allowed two hits and no runs in 2.2 innings of work. Right-hander Connot Spencer entered the game in the ninth inning and shut the door to give the Rebels the win.
Offensively, it was a quiet night for Ole Miss, which tallied three runs on seven hits throughout the game. 11 Rebels hitters struck out and only one drew a walk in 29 plate appearances. All three of their runs were scored in the fourth inning on two swings, and both of those came with two outs.
It remains to be seen who Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn will turn to to start on the mound for the Razorbacks on Friday, but it's a good bet it will be junior lefty Zach Root, who was named First Team All-SEC on Monday.
The Arkansas ace owns a 4.16 ERA with 102 strikeouts to 26 walks in 75.2 innings pitched. Late in the season against then-No. 1 Texas, Root threw eight scoreless innings and struck out 11 batters — both career-highs.
The Razorbacks and Rebels will face off at the Hoover Met on Friday. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. and will air on the SEC Network.
