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Ole Miss

Swazye Swan Song: Hunter Elliott keeps Ole Miss alive in Oxford Regional in potential last home start

11by: Jake Thompson05/31/25JakeThompsonOn3
NCAA Baseball: NCAA Oxford Regional-First Round Mississippi at Western Kentucky
May 31, 2025; Oxford, MS, USA; Mississippi Rebels starting pitcher Hunter Elliott (26) reacts after a strike out to end the sixth inning against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

Hunter Elliott has been called up in a lot of clutch moments throughout his Ole Miss career but Saturday might have been his biggest.

The redshirt junior left-hander helped keep the Rebels alive, beating Western Kentucky 8-6 in the first elimination game of the Oxford Regional at Oxford-University Stadium.

There were big moments in Omaha three years ago but Elliott was going to have to top that to keep those hopes alive for Ole Miss (41-20) in 2025. He went six innings, allowing three runs – one earned – off eight hits and three walks. He also struck out seven Hilltopper batters.

“I grew up watching postseason games in Oxford, coming to postseason games in Oxford and getting to experience it was truly special,” Elliott said. “We knew that today was an elimination game and we weren’t letting it eliminate us. We really like this group of guys and we really want to play another day together and we earned that.”

As with all season Elliott battled through his outing. After back-to-back walks to load the bases with two outs. IF there is one pitcher that has probably earned the option to wave off head coach Mike Bianco from coming to get him it is Elliott. After the glove wave off he commenced to record his 101st strikeout of the season to get out of the jam.

“It was a tough one and a lot of things to through your mind, but the biggest is it’s hard to take (Elliott) out. It really is,” Bianco said. “And he put his hand up. …Part of it is not just getting off the field, I mean that’s the most-important thing, and that’s ultimately what kept him in the game.”

Elliott got to depart Swayze Field, potentially for the final time, on his terms. With nearly 12,000 fans celebrating not just Saturday’s effort but his entire career body of work.

The Ole Miss offense also helped Elliott out, answering every punch Western Kentucky threw.

With the help of six home runs hit by three different Rebels the offense counter-punched the Hilltoppers (46-14) and offered up support for their ace.

Judd Utermark, Mitchell Sandford and Austin Fawley all hit two home runs each, making it the first time since at least 1997 three Ole Miss have accomplished that in a game.

“We’ve scored in all types of ways this year,” Sanford said. “A lot of its come from the long ball, but that’s just how our offense is built. I thought we did a really good job today with not just our plan but the attack against the pitchers today. If it comes with a couple long balls today that’s fine but I thought we did a really nice job with the offense.”

Ole Miss set a new program record for home runs in a single season with 113. The previous record was 108 set in 2022 by the National Championship run.

The Rebels will now play the loser between Murray State and Georgia Tech at 2 p.m. CT on Sunday in the second elimination game of the Oxford Regional. The winner of that game will advance to the Oxford Regional Final at 6 p.m. CT.

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