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Ole Miss Announces Who Will Start Against Tomas Valincius on Saturday

Ole Miss announced its starting pitchers for Games 2 and 3 against Mississippi State. Here’s the full rotation update.
Taylor Hodges|
Mississippi State pitcher Charlie Foster against Ole Miss.
Mississippi State pitcher Charlie Foster against Ole Miss. | Dylan Cohron-DawgsonSI Images

No. 6 Mississippi State didn’t have its greatest night at the plate against No. 18 Ole Miss, but had enough good moments to escape with a 5-4 win.

Rebels’ starter Hunter Elliott pitched like an ace, shutting down the Bulldogs for most of five innings.

“Elliott is one of the best starters in this league for a reason,” Mississippi State coach Brian O’Connor said after the game. “He is cagey veteran who knows what he's doing out there. For five innings, he had us tied in knots. Fortunately, we were able to figure it out a little bit in the sixth inning and get those three runs and take the lead.”

Of course, the lead didn’t last for long and the Bulldogs had mount a ninth-inning rally to get the win. But they did and now they have a chance to clinch the series on Saturday with their very own ace, Tomas Valincius.

We’ve known that Valincius was going to start on Saturday, but who Ole Miss was sending was a mystery until last night.

“(Hudson) Calhoun will go tomorrow, and (Cade) Townsend will start on Sunday,” Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco said.

Townsend had started every game two before missing last weekend against Kentucky with an minor injury. Calhoun filled in and pitched well enough to earn another start. Townsend is back this weekend, just in a different spot.

“He’s looking good. He threw a bullpen that turned into more of a live bullpen and faced a couple hitters,” Bianco said. “The biggest thing for us was making sure he felt good the next day after throwing. He hasn’t felt anything for about a week now. After missing a start, we just wanted to make sure he got some work in and didn’t feel any rust from having the weekend off.”

Bianco also confirmed that Wil Libbert has moved to the bullpen. Libbert had been the Sunday starter all season, but he gave up nine runs over his last two outings and nearly got pulled in the first inning against Kentucky.

Here’s an updated look at the starting pitchers for both Ole Miss and Mississippi State in the final two games of the weekend series.

Ole Miss Starting Pitchers

Saturday: Hudson Calhoun, RHP

Season Stats: 1-1, 3.60 ERA, .96 WHIP, 2 SV, 20 IP, 16 H, 10 R, 8 ER, 9 BB, 33 K, 3 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, .225 Opp. BA

Sunday: Cade Townsend, RHP

Season Stats: 2-0, 0.92 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 19.2 IP, 12 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 7 BB, 32 SO, 3 2B, 1 HR, .169 Opp. BA, 1 HBP

Mississippi State Starting Pitchers

Saturday: Tomas Valincius, LHP

Season Stats: 5-0, 1.04 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, 34.2 IP, 21 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 9 BB, 47 SO, 1 3B, 1 HR, .174 Opp. BA, 1 WP, 3 HBP

Sunday: Duke Stone, RHP

Season Stats: 4-0, 4.10 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 26.1 IP, 21 H, 15 R, 12 ER, 5 BB, 37 SO, 3 2B, 1 3B, 5 HR, .216 Opp. BA, 1 WP, 6 HBP

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Taylor Hodges
TAYLOR HODGES

Award-winning sports editor, writer, columnist, and photographer with 15 years’ experience offering his opinion and insight about the sports world in Mississippi and Texas, but he was taken to Razorback pep rallies at Billy Bob's Texas in Fort Worth before he could walk. Taylor has covered all levels of sports, from small high schools in the Mississippi Delta to NFL games. Follow Taylor on Twitter and Facebook.

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