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‘Our dugout vs. everybody’: Elliott shuts down Auburn as Ole Miss clings to hosting hopes

Ben Garrettby: Ben Garrett05/16/25SpiritBen
Hunter Elliott
Hunter Elliott (Photo by Petre Thomas/Ole Miss Athletics)

Ole Miss baseball’s hosting prospects are on life support but haven’t flatlined. The Rebels just need wins. 

They got a big one Friday night. 

Ole Miss is closing out the regular season with a three-game series against No. 6 Auburn. A sweep is the most realistic path to getting back into the hosting picture. 

Ace left-handed pitcher Hunter Elliott stepped up with seven complete innings. He allowed no runs on four hits with eight strikeouts and two walks. Ole Miss scored all its runs without a home run for a 9-2 win.

The Rebels entered play No. 7 in the nation in home runs (97). They hit four in an 11-5 midweek win over UT Martin on Tuesday. 

“I’m super proud of this team,” Elliot said afterwards. “A lot of critics coming into the year, a lot of people didn’t think we were going to be very good. We’ve gone about this motto of our dugout vs. everybody else. Don’t care what anybody else thinks; care about what you, your teammates, the coaches think and that’s about it. I think we’ve really stuck to that, and I’m super proud of everybody.”

The Rebels improved to 36-17 (15-13 SEC) on the season, while Auburn fell to 37-16 (16-12).

First pitch of Game 2 on Saturday has been moved to 6 p.m. CT on SEC Network+ due to expected weather. 

A series win would be the fifth in the conference for Ole Miss on the year and surpass the combined total of the last two seasons. The Rebels need just three more round-trippers to reach the 100-homer mark for just the second time in program history.

“I like pitching in May, but I like pitching in June even more,” Elliott said.

Ole Miss will throw senior RHP Riley Maddox (5-5, 5.46 ERA) against Auburn RHP Samuel Dutton (6-2, 2.89 ERA). The Rebels were ranked in just two Top 25 polls this week, including a high-water mark of No. 22 in Baseball America.

“One number I think’s really important that doesn’t get talked about enough is that No. 10 strength of schedule,” BA’s Jacob Radner said of Ole Miss’ hosting resume. “Do I think (the series loss at Mississippi State) pushed Ole Miss out of the hosting picture? Plainly, yes I do. But I think they’re not too far from the line. A strong close to the season, a good showing in Hoover, maybe Ole Miss can push its way back in.

“If I was on the selection committee, (an Auburn sweep) would be enough for me. That would be really convincing and probably add some cushion.”

The included highlights from Thursday were provided by Ole Miss Athletics.

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