Three Takeaways From Ole Miss Baseball's Opening SEC Series Against Arkansas

Ole Miss dropped a weekend series against Arkansas, but not all hope is lost for the Rebels moving forward.

Ole Miss INF Judd Utermark hits a home run against the Murray State Racers at Swayze Field in Oxford, Miss., on March 5, 2025. / Ole Miss Athletics

The No. 18 Ole Miss Rebels took part in their first Southeastern Conference weekend series this weekend as they fell short losing two of three games to the No. 3 Arkansas Razorbacks at Swazye Field.

The Rebels captured Game 1 prior to sliding in the final two matchups of the weekend to a talented Razorbacks squad.

What are the takeaways from Mike Bianco's group over the weekend?

Three Observations: Arkansas Weekend

Bend, Don't Break Mentality

The effort was on full display over the weekend with Ole Miss keeping things interesting through three games.

Despite the series loss the Rebels kept their own in two of the three games including their opening Friday win where they took home a 10-6 victory.

The Razorbacks firmly controlled Game 2 on Saturday as they separated in the fifth driving in eight runs to a lead that never came close to veering away.

This led to a rubber match on Sunday, but after a full game of back and forth, the Razorbacks ninth inning heroics were to much for the Rebels to match as they were kept off 12-9 to close to series.

This kind of effort against a Top-3 could be a spur of hope in Oxford as the Rebels entered the season unranked, and projected second to last finish in the SEC.

But as they kept close with a top 3 team, this shows that they may not be as easy of an out than thought.

Reliable Pitching Could Plague the Rebels

Ole Miss ran behind Starter Hunter Elliott as well as Mason Morris and Connor Spencer on Friday to lead them to victory, however as the weekend went on, Ole Miss ran out eight more new pitchers as well with Spencer once again taking the mound on Sunday.

Despite several bodies taking the bump, all of these arms, both starters and relievers, none had the same "shutdown" feel that Elliott, Morris and Spencer had except for maybe Brayden Jones.

Outside of those four arms, the pitching staff allowed 15 runs over the course of two games.

Another issue with the unreliable and ran through depth from Saturday's blowout also forced Spencer to 38 pitches and go 2.2 innings pitched despite being a closer.

This over usage eventually led to Spencer allowing the game tying and go ahead runs in Sunday's ninth inning to help Arkansas clinch the series victory.

The Rebels pitching staff cannot ride behind the hot handed offense if they continue to allow this many runs in SEC play.

REBS LEAD!@Mitchell__4 scores from first on an RBI single for @WillFurniss! pic.twitter.com/kILLqWEzaz

— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) March 16, 2025

Offensive Firepower Can Lead the Rebels

This Rebels squad offensively had a very strong weekend after putting up 22 runs in the three games.

This hooks back to the first point of proving they can hang around with the best teams in America week in and week out. The SEC will be a gauntlet, but the Rebels can utilize offensive firepower to remain in the hunt.

Ole Miss' offense as well as showing their ability to score runs but to have timly hits as well is another motivating factor.

For example, in Sunday's crazy finish, Ole Miss was trailing by three runs after a rough inning, but when all hope felt lost, Will Furniss smacked a ball on the first pitch of the inning to reignite the crowd.

The following inning, Mitchell Sanford also recorded a first pitch home run once again down three, but this time ignited an offensive display that eventually gave the Rebels the advantage that was held until the top of the ninth.

This was shown before this series but the fact that they proved once again they will not go down without a fight and produce this kind of offense shows their that much closer to being a problem in SEC play.

While the Rebels may not have gotten all the results they longed for this weekend, there is still nine more weekends of conference play to build on as the Rebels look to return to the NCAA Tournament since 2022.

Follow Billy Kuhl on X for the latest news and updates on Ole Miss Rebels Baseball with SEC play set to begin on Friday night.

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