COLUMN: Ole Miss Pitching Staff Responsible For Miraculous Turnaround?

The Ole Miss Rebels are one of the hottest teams in college baseball right now, thanks largely to the offense coming alive at the beginning of May. Add in some late-season heroics from first baseman Tim Elko or shortstop Jacob Gonzalez and it is easy to assume the Rebels’ miraculous turnaround is due to the bats.

Since May 1, Ole Miss has only lost four games, and while it certainly helps that the offense has gotten hot at the right time, the group that has really sparked this turnaround is the Rebels’ pitching staff.

At the start of the season, Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco’s starting pitcher rotation included Junior Derek Diamond, senior John Gaddis, and sophomore Drew McDaniel. In April, however, Bianco decided to make a change. The new Ole Miss starting rotation would consist of junior Dylan DeLucia, freshman Hunter Elliott, and Diamond rounding out the rotation.

DeLucia, who spent the last two years throwing in junior college, began the season as a bullpen arm for the Rebels. After Ole Miss lost its home series versus the Tennessee Volunteers though, Bianco decided to make a change and moved DeLucia to the starting rotation.

Since then, DeLucia has taken this opportunity and not looked back. The right-hander has been lights out in the NCAA Tournament for Ole Miss, recording a career-high 12 strikeouts in a 7-4 victory against the Arizona Wildcats in the first round of the Coral Gables Regional.

Like DeLucia, Elliott also started the season in the Ole Miss bullpen, and the freshman out of Tupelo, Miss., has been stellar in his first trip to the postseason. In his 10th collegiate start and the biggest game of the Rebels’ season, the southpaw went 7.1 innings recording 10 strikeouts, three hits and surrendered zero runs to the Southern Miss Golden Eagles.

DeLucia and Elliott have both looked unhittable at times during this immaculate run, but let’s not forget about the Ole Miss bullpen.

The biggest story out of the bullpen this season has been the emergence of sophomore righty Josh Mallitz. So far this postseason, Mallitz has only given up one hit while striking out nine batters. Mallitz has become the go-to guy in the Ole Miss bullpen with an ERA of 1.24, the lowest on the team.

Yes, the awakening of the bats is a big reason why the Rebels are in the College World Series for the first time since 2014. But the work this Ole Miss pitching staff has put in since the start of May cannot be overlooked. The combined effort of DeLucia, Elliott and the Rebel bullpen held No. 15 Southern Miss scoreless during the Super Regional in Hattiesburg, Miss., and then proceeded to give up one run to the Auburn Tigers in the first round of the College World Series.

The Ole Miss pitching staff now has the task of shutting down the red-hot Arkansas Razorbacks in the next round of the College World Series.

Bianco has not made an announcement yet on who will be starting for Ole Miss, but it is safe to assume Elliott will once again get the opportunity to start in the most important game of his young career.

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