Rebels, one win away from CWS title series, turn to John Gaddis
OMAHA | After Hunter Elliott put together a quality start against Arkansas two days ago, Mike Bianco is going with another left-hander on Wednesday against the Razorbacks.
John Gaddis will start for the Rebels at 6 p.m. against Arkansas in the bracket final of the College World Series. With a win, Ole Miss would move to the championship series beginning Saturday against either Oklahoma or Texas A&M. With a loss, the two teams would meet back up in an elimination game on Thursday.
Ole Miss beat Arkansas, 13-5, on Monday to remain unbeaten in Omaha. The Razorbacks routed Auburn on Tuesday to meet back up with the Rebels.The two teams have split four games this season.
Elliott allowed one run in 6.1 innings to Arkansas. The Razorbacks entered the College World Series hitting .252 with an .811 OPS against left-handers and .289 and .887 versus right-handers.
Gaddis, on May 1, didn’t allow a run in 2.1 relief innings against Arkansas. He threw 32 pitches and one batter reached base. It’s the graduate transfer from Texas A&M Corpus Christi’s first appearance since two scoreless innings against Arizona in the regional final.
A weekend starter to begin the season, Gaddis has a 4.40 ERA in 43 innings in 2022, with 43 strikeouts and 16 walks. He’s gone more than four innings twice this year, a seven-inning shutout performance at UCF on March 5 and a five-inning, two-run effort against Oral Roberts a week later.
Gaddis was suspended an NCAA-mandated four games after throwing at a Texas A&M batter during the final regular season series.
Right-handers Derek Diamond, Drew McDaniel and Jack Washburn were other starter options for the Rebels. Gaddis has a 1.44 WHIP and .272 batting average against in 15 appearances, six starts.
Arkansas has yet to name a starter, but Dave Van Horn mentioned Connor Noland and Hagan Smith as options during his postgame press conference on Tuesday.
The right-handed Noland threw 79 pitches in a win over Stanford on Saturday. The Arkansas ace, Noland has 1-6 strikeouts and 34 walks in 108 innings. He allowed four runs in eighth inning against Ole Miss on April 29.
Smith has been a starter and a reliever this season and has yet to pitch in the College World Series. He appeared twice in the super regional, throwing an inning and 1.1 innings on back-to-back days. Smith, a left-hander, started against Ole Miss on April 30 and gave up two runs on seven hits in six innings.