The hits were going to catch up to Tommy Mace eventually.
Florida’s starting pitcher allowed a hit to Ole Miss’ Ryan Olenek on the first pitch of the game, the first of five through two innings on Friday night against Ole Miss.
He escaped both frames unscathed, though.
The Rebels’ hits began to translate into runs in the third and fourth innings leading to a deficit the Gators could not overcome.
No. 21 Florida’s struggles on the road persisted in a 12-4 loss to No. 18 Ole Miss.
The Gators (21-11, 4-6 SEC) took a 2-0 lead in the third inning on a two-out, two-RBI single from Brady McConnell, which scored Brady Smith and Jud Fabian.
Ole Miss (21-10, 6-4 SEC) promptly responded with seven consecutive runs in the third and fourth innings. Mace allowed four straight hits to begin the third, two of which were home runs. Tyler Keenan blasted a two-run homer to tie the game 2-2, and Cole Zabowski followed with a solo shot two batters later to take the lead.
Mace allowed three more runs on three more hits in the fourth inning before being replaced by Jordan Butler, Following the home runs in the third, Mace allowed an RBI single to Keenan in the fourth. The Rebels scored again on a passed ball and a two-RBI single by Cooper Johnson off Butler.
Just a week ago, Mace (5-3) had the best outing of his career, tossing a complete game against Alabama. Friday night may have been his worst appearance.
Mace allowed six runs on a career-high 12 hits in just 3.1 innings, a season-low. Heading into the game, Mace had not thrown for fewer than five innings in any start this season.
Will Ethridge, Ole Miss’ starting pitcher, exited the game early after sustaining two injuries in the fourth inning. While covering first base he appeared to roll his ankle and soon after he left the game due to a blister on his hand.
Ethridge allowed two runs on three hits in 3.2 innings and had three walks and just one strikeout in his seventh start of the season.
He was replaced by Tyler Myers (2-0), who went 5.1 innings and got the win. Myers allowed two runs on two hits with four strikeouts and no walks.
Florida narrowed the gap in the fifth inning on a pair of home runs. Smith went deep for the third time this the season to left-center field, and two batters later, McConnell hit his team-leading sixth homer to make the score 7-4.
McConnell had his 16th multi-hit game of the season against Ole Miss, going 3 for 4 with three RBIs and a run scored.
Other than McConnell, only two UF players had a hit: Smith’s home run and a Wil Dalton single.
Ole Miss had 17 hits (seven players had multi-hit games) and struck out just three times as a team.
The Rebels added insurance runs in the seventh and eighth innings.
Josh Hall crossed the plate on a wild pitch and Anthony Servideo scored on a Olenek sacrifice fly to center field in the seventh.
In the eighth, Johnson hit a three-run homer — the fifth home run of the game — to left field, scoring Zabowski and Thomas Dillard and putting the Rebels up eight runs.
Friday was the third time in 10 games the Gators allowed 10 or more runs to a conference opponent this season and the loss put an end to their season-high five-game win streak.
Florida falls to 1-5 outside of Gainesville with the loss to Ole Miss and is getting outscored 16-56 on the road.
Follow Kyle Wood on Twitter @Kkylewood and contact him at kwood@alligator.org.
Tommy Mace pitched 3.1 innings on Friday, allowing 12 hits, six earned runs and striking out one batter in the Gators' loss.
