OMAHA, Neb. — Ole Miss rode the right arm of Dylan DeLucia to an easy win over Auburn in the final opening-round game of the College World Series.
The Rebels’ ace took a no-hitter into the fifth and pitched into the eighth inning of their 5-1 win over the Tigers at Charles Schwab Field.
That sets up an Arkansas-Ole Miss rematch in the winner’s bracket game at 6 p.m. CT Monday. During the regular season, the Razorbacks won two of three games at Baum-Walker Stadium.
Much like Arkansas, who got a great start from Connor Noland in the earlier game against Stanford, Ole Miss will have a fresh bullpen because of DeLucia’s outing. He gave up just one run on four hits and no walks while striking out 10 in 7 2/3 innings.
The only real trouble he encountered came in the seventh, when Auburn opened the inning with three of those hits. The last of those was an RBI single by Bobby Peirce, snapping a stretch of 26 consecutive scoreless innings by Ole Miss pitching.
DeLucia bounced back to retire the next three batters, though, stranding a pair of runners. He would have gotten through the eighth inning, but Jacob Gonzalez let Blake Rambusch’s ground ball — which should have been the third out — go between his legs for an error.
Right-hander Josh Mallitz closed it out with 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
Offensively, the Rebels did most of their damage with two outs, starting with a two-out, two-run single by Kemp Alderman in the first inning. Kevin Graham tacked on a two-out home run in the third and then TJ McCants capped a two-run sixth inning with an RBI single.
The lone run that came before two outs were recorded actually scored on a double play before McCants’ hit.
Graham was the star for Ole Miss, finishing 3 for 4 and a triple shy of the cycle, but Alderman and Calvin Harris also collected a pair of hits.
Freshman left-hander Hunter Elliott (2.82 ERA, 67 IP) is expected to start the Rebels’ second game of the College World Series. He’s actually been better than DeLucia in recent weeks, allowing just one earned run on six hits and five walks while striking out 18 in 12 1/3 innings during the postseason.
Back in April, Elliott earned a no decision in the Rebels’ 6-3 loss that ended with a Kendall Diggs walk-off home run. He gave up three earned runs on four hits and one walk with eight strikeouts in six innings.
Ole Miss enters Monday’s matchup as arguably the hottest team in the country. Since going one-and-done in the SEC Tournament and sneaking to the field as one of the last four teams in, the Rebels have won all six of their NCAA Tournament games.
