It could have been an obstacle, but it wasn't. It could have been rained out, but it wasn't. It could have been a routine weekend for David Eckstein, but it wasn't.

UF's junior second baseman pounded eight hits, six on Sunday, as the No. 4 Gators swept Mississippi and extended their win streak to a season-high eight games.

With steady rain working as the only thing in the Rebels' favor, the Gators (26-7, 8-3 in the Southeastern Conference) improved their record at Perry Field to 22-3 this season. UF has won its last seven meetings with the Rebels by a combined score of 50-6.

Eckstein continued the hot hitting that made him last week's SEC player of the week, squeezing in six singles, two doubles, two sacrifice hits, a sacrifice fly and his team- leading 14th stolen base of the season. In the final game, his four hits were more than Ole Miss managed as a team.

"I slobber over myself when I talk about him," UF coach Andy Lopez said. "I don't know if there are enough adjectives to describe the young man. With the game on the line, I'd love to see David Eckstein at the plate."

With Eckstein leading the way, the Gators went 17-3 in March, including a 13-1 mark at home.

"It's feeling pretty good at the plate right now," said Eckstein, who is tied with Sean Walsh for the team lead with 33 RBI. "One day in batting practice, (UF assistant) coach (Steve) Kling came up to me and said, `Hey, relax, be patient, take it easy up there,' and ever since, it's felt real good at the plate."

With the series sweep, the Rebels (13-14, 1-11) have lost eight of their last 10.

On Friday, junior right-hander Thomas Brewer (6-0) scattered three hits over eight innings, holding Ole Miss to one run and striking out six for his third SEC victory.

The Gators, now 7-1 in one-run games this season, scored single runs in the sixth and seventh off starter Mickey Calloway (3-4) for a 2-1 win before a crowd of 1,986.

Rain postponed Saturday's game until Sunday morning, when junior lefty John Kaufman (5-3) went the distance in a seven-inning 7-0 UF victory. Kaufman struck out six while walking none.

The Gators are averaging 8.4 runs in Kaufman's starts, and Sunday's support was more than enough.

Eckstein and freshman Brad Wilkerson drove in two runs, and the bottom four hitters in the Gator lineup went a combined 6-for-10, scoring five of UF's seven runs.

The two teams played one inning of the third game before heavy rain cleared the field. After a 70-minute rain delay, the Gators picked up where they left off.

Senior right-hander Danny Wheeler (2-1) closed the series with a strong outing, retiring the last 10 batters he faced and striking out five in six innings of work.

Wheeler threw one bad pitch, which Ole Miss right fielder Joe Ignatius sent over the left-field wall to tie the game at 1-1 in the third. UF knocked out Ole Miss starter Jason Easterling in the bottom of the third, tagging him for three runs on three hits.

UF starting pitchers gave up one earned run in 21 innings this weekend, striking out 17 batters while walking two.

The Gators play host to Florida Atlantic on Wednesday at 6 p.m. before traveling to Auburn for a three-game series beginning Friday.