HOOVER, Alabama — Some things never change.

Such as Hunter Elliott in big games. When the stakes are high, Ole Miss’ veteran left-hander delivers.

That was the case again late Wednesday at the Hoover Met as Elliott overcame some defensive miscues by his teammates and slammed the door on Florida, leading Ole Miss to a 3-1 win in the Southeastern Conference Tournament.

"The juices were definitely flowing," said Elliott, who was a huge part of Ole Miss' run to a national championship as a freshman in 2022. "It was a great crowd tonight and it's always good to pitch when games really matter. ...I do love pitching in big games. I don't know what it is, just the competitor in me. I'm super, ultra competitive and when the lights are the brightest and the stages are the biggest, I really want it. I really want to win."

Ole Miss (38-18) advanced to Friday’s quarterfinals. The Rebels will meet Arkansas at 3 p.m. Far more importantly, at least in the opinion of most who follow college baseball closely, Wednesday’s win over the Gators strongly enhanced Ole Miss’ chances to host an NCAA Tournament regional. The victory over the Gators gave Ole Miss 18 SEC wins (16 in the regular season, one over Mississippi State in Jackson and Wednesday’s win over Florida). Of the last 65 SEC teams to accumulate 18 league wins, 64 have hosted NCAA Regionals.

With the win, Ole Miss moved up to No. 17 in RPI. Obviously, a win Friday over Arkansas (RPI: 5) would be a huge resume enhancer. A loss to the Razorbacks on a neutral site almost certainly wouldn’t hurt the Rebels’ RPI, either.

"I'm not sure about all the RPI stuff," Ole Miss second baseman Judd Utermark said. "I don't even know how to calculate it or what Quad 1 wins are or whatever. We're here to play baseball games and win baseball games."

Utermark said he would "love" to host in Oxford next weekend, given he's never gotten to taste postseason baseball in his career.

"I'm super excited about this squad and our future but we need to be where our feet are and we're going to win this thing in Hoover," Utermark said.

Elliott (9-3) had to work his way out of trouble not of his own doing in the early innings. Ty Evans grounded into what looked like a tailor-made double play with one out in the first inning, but Luke Hill threw it away, putting Gators on the corners. Elliott induced a pop up and then picked Evans off first, ending the threat.

In the fourth, Evans singled and advanced to second base on an error by left fielder Mitchell Sanford. An out later, Elliott hit Blake Cyr with a pitch, again putting Gators on the corners. However, he struck out Hayden Yost to return to the dugout unscathed.

"I'm glad Hunter Elliott's on our team," Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco said.

"They call him Big Game Hunter for a reason," Ole Miss reliever Mason Morris said. "When the lights come on, he flips a switch."

Ole Miss scored three runs with two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Utermark and Isaac Humphrey had back-to-back doubles. After Ryan Moerman reached on an error, Campbell Smithwick singled, driving in one run. Florida right fielder Ashton Wilson’s throwing error allowed another Rebel to score, extending Ole Miss’ lead to 3-0.

Wilson doubled to lead off the fifth inning for Florida and scored on Brayden Randle’s throwing error a hitter later. Elliott was clutch once again, getting a pop up, a fly out and a strikeout to keep the Gators at bay.

"My fastball had really good life today," Elliott said. "I got a lot of swing and misses on it. My change-up was good. I think I really executed some sliders today. It all was working."

Elliot hit Brody Donay with one out in the sixth inning, ending his outing with one walk and eight strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings. Morris relieved him, got a double pitch with one pitch to escape the sixth and then worked a scoreless seventh and eighth innings before handing the ball over to Connor Spencer in the ninth.

"I could've gone back out," Morris said. "But they're trying to save me for the next few games, get our closer a save in a 3-1 game, get him in there."

Spencer worked a perfect ninth, striking out one, for his fifth save of the season.

Liam Peterson (8-3) took the loss for Florida, allowing one earned run in four innings. Three Florida pitchers combined to walk just one Ole Miss hitter while striking out 11.