OXFORD — Defending College World Series champion Ole Miss took care of business against Delaware over the weekend in its season-opening series, sweeping the Blue Hens and outscoring them 35-6 over three games. Everything was working for the most part for the Rebels, who stayed at No. 4 in the D1Baseball rankings this week — they hit .392 with eight home runs, didn’t commit a single error in the field and boast a 2.25 ERA.
Ole Miss hosts Arkansas State at 4 p.m. Tuesday before taking on No. 13 Maryland over the weekend at Swayze Field.
Here are a few takeaways from the Rebels’ weekend.
The starting pitching is in good hands
Sophomore Hunter Elliott was a known commodity, as he served as one of the key cogs that led Ole Miss to a national title. Elliott is now the man on Friday nights, and he shined in his season debut — he gave up two runs in five innings, struck out nine and walked just one. Other than a fourth inning where Delaware did damage, Elliott retired the side in order in every other inning.
Freshman Grayson Saunier made his highly anticipated debut Saturday and blew fastballs by Delaware over four shutout innings of work. Saunier struck out five batters with four walks. Junior Xavier Rivas got the start Sunday and was solid as well, giving up one run in 4.1 innings with eight strikeouts and four walks.
While we will know a lot more about the state of the pitching staff after this weekend’s matchup with the Terrapins, opening weekend was a good start, even if the walk numbers were a little high on Saunier and Rivas.
The bullpen will be something to watch as the season progresses and roles are more clearly defined. Sophomore Mason Nichols figures to be a key piece but did not appear over the weekend, though he did warm up on a few occasions. Junior Jack Dougherty was stellar in his appearance Saturday, striking out five over a perfect 2.1 innings in relief after inheriting a bases loaded jam in the sixth.
Junior Josh Mallitz is out for the season with an elbow injury, and sophomore Riley Maddox is still recovering from his elbow injury last year. Bianco said there is a “possibility” he could appear at some point this season, although it’s too early to make any guarantees.
“Especially with pitchers, who are going to be the guys coming out of the bullpen? Not just the rotation,” Bianco said. “Everybody, and I get it, (wants to know) what’s the starting three? (Who is the) closer? But it’s so important. Who’s the guy that comes in first? Who’s the guy that, when you have a lead, will come in there and throw the ball into the strike zone that will help the rest of the bullpen? Those things obviously take time.”
The kids are alright
Again, it was against an overmatched Delaware squad. But Ole Miss’ freshmen — Will Furniss, Judd Utermark, Quinn, Saunier, etc. all shined. Furniss and Utermark hit home runs in their first career at-bats — both pinch hits — and each got a start in the designated hitter spot.
It wasn’t just freshmen who made a good first impression, though. Ole Miss’ transfers made an impact as well. Senior first baseman Anthony Calarco, formerly of Northwestern, had three hits and a pair of RBIs over the weekend. Senior center fielder Ethan Groff (Tulane) had three hits — including a home run — drove in five and was a menace on the basepaths with three steals in three tries.
Old reliable remains reliable
In addition to Elliott’s solid debut, Ole Miss was reminded of just how important veteran stars can be. Junior shortstop Jacob Gonzalez exploded Sunday with a career-high seven RBIs, including a grand slam in the second inning. Juniors T.J. McCants and Calvin Harris each had four hits in three games, and junior left fielder Kemp Alderman had five hits and a home run. The expected contributors did just that — they contributed.
Senior second baseman Peyton Chatagnier had five hits over three games, including a pair of home runs. He also walked three times after walking 18 times all of 2022.
Chatagnier has traditionally finished seasons strong, Bianco said, but the starts have sometimes been puzzling. The first weekend was a good sight.
“He’s one of those guys that, I think for the last few years, he’s gotten off to cold starts, and it’s unfortunate. And he’s played great at the end of the year, played great postseason, and he did again last year — one of the reasons we got through that Miami Regional is because of him,” Bianco said. “So, it’s nice to watch him get off to a good start, in fact him and McCants. McCants, after (being) freshman All-American, got off to a slow start last year. So, it’s nice to see him get off to a really good start as well.
Quotable
“So, I was always going to dye my hair. I was just kind of hoping people would agree with me to stop it. But they didn’t. I mean, it was 50/50. And so I was just (always going to do it), unless everyone agreed with me, which no one did.” — Junior shortstop Jacob Gonzalez, on the Twitter poll he released preseason about whether to once again dye his hair this season.
Rebel rumblings
Freshman JT Quinn will get the start for Ole Miss against Arkansas State. Quinn pitched one scoreless inning in relief Friday with a strikeout and a walk. … The Rebels are eighth nationally with a .392 team batting average and tied for ninth at 2.67 home runs per game.
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