OXFORD, Miss. – The ninth inning rally didn’t happen on Saturday as the Gators turned a critical double play to end a Rebel threat as No. 8 Ole Miss (15-7, 3-2 SEC) fell to Florida (16-4, 4-1 SEC) by a score of 6-4 on Saturday.

The Rebels had two men on and the go-ahead run at the plate, but a grounder to short from Cody Overbeck was scooped by Gator shortstop Cole Figueroa and Florida turned two to end the game.

Florida evened the series at a game each with the win.

Logan Power and Brett Basham led the Rebels with two hits a piece, while Matt Smith came up with a big two-run home run to get Ole Miss back into the game in the fifth-inning. Cody Overbeck also got a hit, extending his hit streak to 22 games and moving into sole possession of the second longest hitting streak in school history.

Cody Satterwhite (2-1) suffered his first loss of the season as he allowed five runs, four earned, on seven hits with two walks and three strikeouts in 5.2 innings of work.

Patrick Keating (3-0) picked up the win for the Gators as he worked 6.0 innings, allowing three runs on five hits with one walk and three strikeouts. Kyle Mullaney picked up his third save of the season as he worked the final 0.2 innings and closed out the game for the Gators.

“We got runners in scoring position but weren’t able to get them home,” said Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco. “Florida pitched a little bit better, hit a little better and was a little bit better in the field today than we were. We’re usually concerned that Satterwhite stays ahead in the count and he did that, you have to credit Florida for getting the base hits.”

Florida scored in the first inning as Townsend singled through the right-side with runners at the corners and two outs. The hit scored Barnes from third, who singled to open the game. Jason Pigott then doubled to left center to score two more runs as both Figueroa and Townsend came home on the play to give the Gators the early 3-0 lead. Dustin Bamberg then singled to left field to score Pigott from third before being thrown out at second as he tried to stetch the play. Florida led 4-0 after the top of the first.

Ole Miss got on the board in the third when Fuller Smith scored from third on a sac fly from Logan Power. Fuller reached on a single through the right side before moving to second on a balk. He then took third on a grounder to short from Cody Overbeck that saw the Rebel third baseman reach safely on a throwing error by Florida’s Figueroa.

Florida pushed the lead back to four when Buddy Munroe scored from third on a sac fly to left field from Matt den Dekker. Munroe reached on a throwing error after a bunt before moving to second on a wild pitch. He then took third on a sac bunt from Avery Barnes before scoring on the fly ball to give the Gators a 5-1 lead in the fifth.

Matt Smith hit a two-run home run in the bottom half of the frame to cut the lead to two as Cody Overbeck scored on the play, trimming the lead to 5-3 in favor of the Gators.

Florida pushed the lead back to three in the seventh inning when Barnes scored from second on a single through the left side from Figueroa as the Gators mounted another two-out rally. Barnes reached on a fielder’s choice before stealing second.

The Rebels cut things back to two in the bottom half of the frame when Michael Hubbard scored from third on a single to center field from Power. Hubbard pinch ran for Kyle Mills who singled to reach base and then moved to third on a single up the middle from Overbeck.

The Rebels couldn’t finish the rally this time, however, as Florida claimed the win to even the series at a game each.

The Rebels and Gators will take the field in the final game of the series at noon on Sunday at Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field.

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