For the third time in four NCAA Tournaments, Arkansas will end the 2022 season in Omaha. Standing between it and the College World Series finals are three teams — Stanford, Ole Miss and Auburn.
Before the Razorbacks’ side of the bracket gets underway Saturday, HawgBeat is taking a closer look at all three potential opponents. First up is SEC West foe Ole Miss…
Record: 37-22 (14-16 SEC)
Ole Miss opened the season hot, winning 13 of its first 14 games with its lone loss coming in extra innings. It shot up to No. 1 in some polls and was as high as No. 2 in the Rivals Composite Poll.
However, after winning their first SEC series at Auburn, things got a little tough for the Rebels. They bounced back from a sweep against Tennessee by winning two of three at Kentucky, but then they dropped four straight conference series.
Included in that stretch was a home series loss to arch rival Mississippi State, which many experts believed knocked Ole Miss out of the NCAA Tournament picture. Following a rubber match loss at Arkansas, it was just 7-14 in SEC play and 24-19 overall.
The Rebels came roaring back. A seven-game winning streak that included a midweek win at Southern Miss and sweep at LSU got them back on the bubble. They had to sweat it out on Selection Monday, though, after losing two of three to Texas A&M and losing their lone game at the SEC Tournament.
Sneaking into the NCAA Tournament as one of the last four teams in, Ole Miss hasn’t looked back. It won a tight 2-1 game against No. 6 Miami (Fla.) in the winner’s bracket game and then crushed Arizona 22-6 to win the Coral Gables Regional. A highly anticipated in-state showdown at Southern Miss in the Hattiesburg Super Regional proved to be anticlimactic, as the Rebels won a pair of shutout 10-0 and 5-0 to advance to the College World Series.
Head Coach: Mike Bianco (22nd season)
Hired at Ole Miss two years before Dave Van Horn at Arkansas and Tim Corbin at Vanderbilt, Bianco is the most tenured baseball coach in the SEC.
He has enjoyed tremendous success with the Rebels, posting an 849-484-1 record (.637), capturing four SEC West titles, winning a pair of SEC Tournaments, earning an NCAA Tournament bid 18 times in 21 tries, making it to the super regionals eight times and now reaching the College World Series twice.
However, that last number is less than what Ole Miss fans would like, especially considering it hosted three of the super regionals and won Game 1 each time.
During the Rebels’ midseason skid, there were rumblings about Bianco’s job being on the line, but those seem to have been silenced by their late-season surge and postseason run to Omaha.
College World Series History
Because of that recent lack of postseason success, or their failures to make it to the College World Series, the Rebels have been the subject of a joke that Omaha is simply an acronym for “Ole Miss At Home Again.”
That said, they did have a solid run back in 2014. After winning its home regional, Ole Miss knocked off No. 6 seed Louisiana-Lafayette to punch its ticket to the College World Series. In Omaha, the Rebels their first game before battling back through the loser’s bracket to reach the semifinals, where they lost to eventual runner-up Virginia.
Prior to that trip, Ole Miss hadn’t made it to the College World Series since 1972, when it made it that far for the fourth time in a span of 17 years.
Projected Starters
NOTE: This is the lineup Ole Miss used during the Hattiesburg Super Regional. It’s worth noting that TJ McCants (.236/.330/.406) started 51 games this year, but was limited by a thumb injury. If he plays, he’d start in center and Bench would replace Wood at third. Also, Hayden Leatherwood (.252/.319/.435) has started 38 games, but hasn’t played as much because he’s struggled the last couple of months. In pinch-hit situations, Ben Van Cleve (.310/.423/.429) appears to be the go-to option recently.
Projected Starting Rotation
Assuming it sticks with what it’s done so far this postseason, Dylan DeLucia will get the nod for Ole Miss against Auburn in Saturday’s nightcap in Omaha.
The right-hander’s numbers don’t jump off the page, but he turned in a solid start in the Rebels’ regional opener against Arizona and was very good against Southern Miss in the super regional.
That first postseason outing resulted in a no decision, as he gave up four earned runs in six innings, but he notched 12 strikeouts. DeLucia followed that up with 5 2/3 scoreless innings in his most recent outing. With nine more in that game, he has 21 strikeouts in 11 2/3 innings in the NCAA Tournament.
If he pitches that game, Ole Miss would turn to its freshman phenom for the second game. Hunter Elliott, a heralded left-hander from Tupelo, Miss., has been the arguably the best pitcher on the staff.
Since cracking the starting rotation in SEC play, the 6-foot-3, 205-pound southpaw has steadily improved and is coming off the best start of his career, allowing just three hits and striking out 10 in 7 1/3 scoreless innings in the win over Southern Miss that punched the Rebels’ ticket to Omaha.
Similar to what Arkansas is experiencing, it’s unclear who Ole Miss would start if it plays a third game. Junior right-hander Derek Diamond has been the No. 3 guy, but has a 6.89 ERA and opponents are hitting .292 against him.
After lasting just 3 2/3 innings in the Coral Gables Regional, a start in which he allowed five earned runs on six hits, Diamond was likely going to lose his starting job if there was a Game 3 in the Hattiesburg Super Regional.
Bullpen Arms
The Rebels have used six different relievers this postseason, with the three key arms being right-handers Josh Mallitz, Jack Doughery and Brandon Johnson.
Since the SEC Tournament, Mallitz has thrown a team-high 7 1/3 innings across three appearances — once each in Hoover, Coral Gables and Hattiesburg. He’s capable of being a long reliever and has pitched in some big moments, all while posting a team-best 1.30 ERA and 0.98 WHIP. He averages a whopping 13.3 strikeouts per nine innings and limits opponents to a .170 batting average.
Dougherty is another guy who can last a few innings, pitching 2 1/3 innings against Arizona in the regional and 3 1/3 innings against Southern Miss in the super regional while not allowing a run. His ERA (5.35) isn’t great, but he has thrown 10 straight scoreless innings.
Johnson is the Rebels’ closer. He typically goes only an inning or two, but is capable of pitching twice on a weekend. He did that three times in SEC play and then did it in the regional, closing out a pair of tight wins to put Ole Miss in the driver’s seat. That gave him 11 saves, which ranks second in the SEC.
The only lefty of significance out of the bullpen is John Gaddis, a graduate transfer from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. He — along with Oregon State transfer Jack Washburn, a righty — would seemingly be candidates to fill the No. 3 starter role, as they’ve started six and nine games, respectively.
The Stud
From a scout’s perspective, catcher Hayden Dunhurst (2022) and shortstop Jacob Gonzalez (2023) are undoubtedly the best MLB Draft prospects on the team, with the latter being a projected high first-round pick, but both of them regressed offensively this year.
Even if they were still producing at a high level, and Gonzalez has been solid with 17 home runs and 49 RBIs, the heart and soul of this Ole Miss squad is super senior Tim Elko.
The slugging first baseman is hitting .302, plus leads the team with 22 home runs and 71 RBIs — figures that rank third in the SEC. He also has an impressive 1.068 OPS, but was even better in SEC play, posting a 1.187 OPS with 15 home runs in 30 games.
Beyond those statistics, Elko is a veteran leader for the Rebels, as he’s one of three players to start all 59 games this season. He’s also well known for tearing his ACL last season, only to return to the field and continue to play at a high level while leading them to the super regionals.
Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn spoke highly of him before the two teams met at Baum-Walker Stadium during the regular season.
“He’s a big, strong guy, man, and he’s a great human being, good person,” Van Horn said. “Personally, I’m happy for him. I just hope he doesn’t take it out on us. I hope we can get him out some this weekend and then he finishes the year strong. But you’ve got to cheer for a guy like that, at least when you’re not playing him.”
It’s also worth noting that outfielder Kevin Graham has been a very dangerous hitter since returning from a wrist injury that caused him to miss a month. He’s hit safely in 21 of his last 23 games — a stretch in which he’s hit .392.
Regular-Season Meeting
A lot has chanced in the six weeks since they met in Fayetteville, but Arkansas did take two of three games against Ole Miss in a series that started April 29.
The Rebels actually won the opening game 4-2 behind a great start by DeLucia. He threw seven scoreless innings before Braydon Webb hit a two-run home run in the eighth cut the Razorbacks’ deficit in half. The called on Johnson at that point and he slammed the door with two perfect innings.
The next two games were very tight and went in favor of Arkansas. Kendall Diggs hit a walk-off three-run home run to even the series and then Brady Tygart closed out a 4-3 win in the rubber match with three scoreless innings to earn a save.
Tygart also earned the victory with two scoreless innings in Game 2. Over those two appearances, the freshman retired Elko three times — including twice with a strikeout — with the tying and/or go-ahead run on base in the seventh inning or later.
Here are our key takeaways from each of those games…
