OXFORD, Miss. – Sophomore right-hander Bobby Wahl worked a career-long eight innings and held the top-ranked Gators scoreless as No. 16 Ole Miss (19-7, 4-3 SEC) shut out No. 1 Florida (23-3, 5-2 SEC) with a 3-0 victory on Friday night.
Wahl (5-0) limited the Gator offense to two hits on the way to the series opening win, walking three batters and striking out six while keeping Florida off the board. Only one Gator advanced past first base in Wahl’s time on the mound.
Junior right-hander Brett Huber then picked up his sixth save of the season and 22nd of his career, working the ninth inning. After a lead-off triple from Daniel Pigott, Huber retired the next three Gator batters on a strikeout, fly out and a groundout to preserve the shutout for the Rebels.
Hudson Randall (5-1) suffered his first loss of the season, allowing three runs on eight hits with a walk and four strikeouts in 6.0 innings of work.
It was the second straight shutout for the Rebels who blanked Jackson State on Tuesday night and was the fifth shutout of the season for the Rebels.
“I thought we played really well,” said Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco. “Bobby (Wahl) was tremendous. He continued to make pitches even when it seemed like he fell behind. He was able to battle back and get into the strike zone. He just pitched a terrific game. We’re proud of the way Brett (Huber) came in, and he knew it wouldn’t be easy after the last two weeks. He did what he was supposed to do. He threw the ball in the strike zone and he got ahead of all of the hitters.
“We played a very clean game defensively and of course we were able to put the first inning together,” Bianco said. “Thankfully we were able to put the first inning together and we pitched really well.”
The Rebels scored three runs in the first inning and it proved to be all Ole Miss would need as Wahl kept the Florida hitters in check and held Florida off the board through eighth before turning things over to Huber in the ninth.
Tanner Mathis opened the Rebel first with a single and moved to second on a sac bunt from Austin Anderson. He then stole third before scoring on a single to right from Alex Yarbrough to get Ole Miss on the board. Matt Snyder then took an 0-2 pitch over the fence in right field to give the Rebels the 3-0 lead.
It was the fourth home run of the season for Snyder and proved to be all of the runs Ole Miss needed in the Friday night pitcher’s duel.
Ole Miss and Florida will take the field again for game two of the series at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday at Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field.
#16 Ole Miss 3, #1 Florida 0 (Mar 30, 2012 at Oxford, Miss.)
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Florida…………. 000 000 000 – 0 3 0 (23-3, 5-2 SEC)
Ole Miss………… 300 000 00X – 3 9 0 (19-7, 4-3 SEC)
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Pitchers: Florida – Hudson Randall; Bobby Poyner(7); Ryan Harris(8) and Mike Zunino. Ole Miss – Bobby Wahl; Brett Huber(9) and Will Allen.
Win-Bobby Wahl(5-0) Save-Brett Huber(6) Loss-Hudson Randall(3-1) T-2:16 A-9311
HR OM – Matt Snyder (4).