Ole Miss got a terrific start from Dylan DeLucia and good bullpen work to outlast Kentucky, 2-1, on Friday in Lexington. The Rebels are 18-7 (3-4) and try to clinch the series at 1 p.m on Saturday.
Freshman left-hander Hunter Elliott will start for the Rebels on Saturday.
Here are observations from the Ole Miss win.
Man, oh, man, DeLucia was nails when the Rebels desperately needed it. The junior college transfer held the Wildcats to one unearned run in 6.1 innings — only the second Ole Miss start to go into the seventh and the first to go past 15 outs in SEC play. He scattered three hits and struck out five without a walk.
But beyond the numbers, DeLucia was in complete control for the majority of his start. He had command of three pitches including a newly-trusted changeup and did a great job managing his emotions in a tight game. He looked like a Friday starter with his demeanor and he did a fantastic job throwing his fastball to both sides of the plate. That was the best an Ole Miss starter has done that all season.
DeLucia tweaked his mechanics on the changeup during his bullpen Wednesday. He was flying open on the pitch which caused his arm to lag behind. That takes away any vertical movement with the changeup which is a death sentence at this level. To correct it, he’s lowering his glove shoulder and pulling it down. It caused the changeup to sink and have more fade. It’s a similar delivery to his fastball, so it also removes any telegraphing of the pitch. It made his mechanics much clearer. The changeup was great against lefties.
He wants the ball, and he’s not intimidated. Even when he’s been banged around a bit, he stays poised and if it escalates it’s just because the stuff isn’t good enough. Hand the ball against Alabama on Friday and see what happens. He also has the two longest SEC outings this season -- tonight and the 6.2 relief innings against Tennessee.
Brandon Johnson was just terrific on Friday. He threw 30 pitches, 19 strikes and struck out five of the six batters faced in two perfect innings. The fastball and slider were on target and mixed well. It was a basically perfect outing. Johnson should be available on Sunday, I assume. I asked Mike Bianco if there was any concern about bringing him in during a tie game.
“Not at that point, just stick to the plan and give ourselves the best shot to put zeroes up,” Bianco said. “Gaddis got up in the fourth and he could have gone longer obviously when we put him in, but with flipping the lineup over with the splits on the lefties at the top, they are very similar. Johnson is our best guy and when we turned the lineup over we wanted our best guy.”
Speaking of John Gaddis, he only threw five pitches, but it was for two very important outs to keep the game tied in the seventh inning. He entered with two on and stranded them with a three-pitch strikeout and a fly out. All five pitches were strikes. Bianco said he hasn’t had to do it, but they think Gaddis can be available tomorrow.
Considering DeLucia, Gaddis and Johnson all threw on Friday, it was a pretty hard sell out to get a win. Losing against UK going Johnny Wholestaff while using those three pitchers would have been pretty detrimental to the rest of the weekend. It felt like Ole Miss had to pull it out once Johnson entered the game. And they got it done.
Hayden Leatherwood got the big hit and bailed out Ole Miss in the ninth inning. After TJ McCants tripled off the wall to start the inning, pinch hitter Calvin Harris and Hayden Dunhurst struck out back to back before Leatherwood laced a single into right field for the game winning hit.
Harris may have struck out, but he’s earned more time in the lineup. Kentucky’s one run scored after reaching base on a fielding error. Then, Dunhurst had a passed ball slide under his glove, and the runner moved from second to third after Dunhurst retrieved it at the backstop. It’s at least worth the conversation of Harris getting some time behind the plate in meaningful innings. I don’t know that this is it at all, but I wonder if Dunhurst’s offense is affecting his defense mentally. He’s struggled relative to his ability the last couple weeks. And when Kevin Graham comes back, wherever it is on the field, Harris had done enough to deserve more opportunities.
Ole Miss had five hits, and McCants’ triple was the only extra base hit of the game. The Rebels have had four straight dud offensive performances in league play. Elko had a first-inning RBI single, but Ole Miss couldn’t get to the fastball — which is becoming a bit of a theme — and also really struggled with breaking balls on the inner half.
Elko, Kemp Alderman, Jacob Gonzalez and Dunhurst each reached base twice. No Rebel had multiple hits.
I didn’t think Kentucky’s arms were anything that good. They weren’t bad, but there wasn’t elite stuff from the Wildcats. The inability to get to the fastball made Ole Miss susceptible with some loopy breaking balls. Those handcuffed the Rebels.
“Obviously it wasn’t a good night for us, and I don’t want to take credit from them,” Bianco said. “They threw the ball well and into the strike zone and they didn’t give free runners, but we had trouble catching up to the fastball and swung through a lot of breaking balls. More breaking balls than we normally do. We just weren’t picking it up very well.”
Peyton Chatagnier and Reagan Burford both went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. Chatagnier has gone 0-for-4 in four straight SEC games and five out of six in league play. In all, he’s gone 0-for-4 in seven of the last 11 games.
“I don’t know; I’m going to leave that up to (hitting coach Mike Clement),” He had a good night on Tuesday. It’s a tough one. Sometimes one at-bat leads to a tough at-bat with the next one. He’s a great competitor and comes to the field every day ready to play. The thing I’m proud of him with tonight is even though hit was tough, he made some really nice plays in the field, and the one thing he’s been able to do is separate that and play really good defense.”
Freshman left-hander Hunter Elliott will start for the Rebels on Saturday.
Here are observations from the Ole Miss win.
Man, oh, man, DeLucia was nails when the Rebels desperately needed it. The junior college transfer held the Wildcats to one unearned run in 6.1 innings — only the second Ole Miss start to go into the seventh and the first to go past 15 outs in SEC play. He scattered three hits and struck out five without a walk.
But beyond the numbers, DeLucia was in complete control for the majority of his start. He had command of three pitches including a newly-trusted changeup and did a great job managing his emotions in a tight game. He looked like a Friday starter with his demeanor and he did a fantastic job throwing his fastball to both sides of the plate. That was the best an Ole Miss starter has done that all season.
DeLucia tweaked his mechanics on the changeup during his bullpen Wednesday. He was flying open on the pitch which caused his arm to lag behind. That takes away any vertical movement with the changeup which is a death sentence at this level. To correct it, he’s lowering his glove shoulder and pulling it down. It caused the changeup to sink and have more fade. It’s a similar delivery to his fastball, so it also removes any telegraphing of the pitch. It made his mechanics much clearer. The changeup was great against lefties.
He wants the ball, and he’s not intimidated. Even when he’s been banged around a bit, he stays poised and if it escalates it’s just because the stuff isn’t good enough. Hand the ball against Alabama on Friday and see what happens. He also has the two longest SEC outings this season -- tonight and the 6.2 relief innings against Tennessee.
Brandon Johnson was just terrific on Friday. He threw 30 pitches, 19 strikes and struck out five of the six batters faced in two perfect innings. The fastball and slider were on target and mixed well. It was a basically perfect outing. Johnson should be available on Sunday, I assume. I asked Mike Bianco if there was any concern about bringing him in during a tie game.
“Not at that point, just stick to the plan and give ourselves the best shot to put zeroes up,” Bianco said. “Gaddis got up in the fourth and he could have gone longer obviously when we put him in, but with flipping the lineup over with the splits on the lefties at the top, they are very similar. Johnson is our best guy and when we turned the lineup over we wanted our best guy.”
Speaking of John Gaddis, he only threw five pitches, but it was for two very important outs to keep the game tied in the seventh inning. He entered with two on and stranded them with a three-pitch strikeout and a fly out. All five pitches were strikes. Bianco said he hasn’t had to do it, but they think Gaddis can be available tomorrow.
Considering DeLucia, Gaddis and Johnson all threw on Friday, it was a pretty hard sell out to get a win. Losing against UK going Johnny Wholestaff while using those three pitchers would have been pretty detrimental to the rest of the weekend. It felt like Ole Miss had to pull it out once Johnson entered the game. And they got it done.
Hayden Leatherwood got the big hit and bailed out Ole Miss in the ninth inning. After TJ McCants tripled off the wall to start the inning, pinch hitter Calvin Harris and Hayden Dunhurst struck out back to back before Leatherwood laced a single into right field for the game winning hit.
Harris may have struck out, but he’s earned more time in the lineup. Kentucky’s one run scored after reaching base on a fielding error. Then, Dunhurst had a passed ball slide under his glove, and the runner moved from second to third after Dunhurst retrieved it at the backstop. It’s at least worth the conversation of Harris getting some time behind the plate in meaningful innings. I don’t know that this is it at all, but I wonder if Dunhurst’s offense is affecting his defense mentally. He’s struggled relative to his ability the last couple weeks. And when Kevin Graham comes back, wherever it is on the field, Harris had done enough to deserve more opportunities.
Ole Miss had five hits, and McCants’ triple was the only extra base hit of the game. The Rebels have had four straight dud offensive performances in league play. Elko had a first-inning RBI single, but Ole Miss couldn’t get to the fastball — which is becoming a bit of a theme — and also really struggled with breaking balls on the inner half.
Elko, Kemp Alderman, Jacob Gonzalez and Dunhurst each reached base twice. No Rebel had multiple hits.
I didn’t think Kentucky’s arms were anything that good. They weren’t bad, but there wasn’t elite stuff from the Wildcats. The inability to get to the fastball made Ole Miss susceptible with some loopy breaking balls. Those handcuffed the Rebels.
“Obviously it wasn’t a good night for us, and I don’t want to take credit from them,” Bianco said. “They threw the ball well and into the strike zone and they didn’t give free runners, but we had trouble catching up to the fastball and swung through a lot of breaking balls. More breaking balls than we normally do. We just weren’t picking it up very well.”
Peyton Chatagnier and Reagan Burford both went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. Chatagnier has gone 0-for-4 in four straight SEC games and five out of six in league play. In all, he’s gone 0-for-4 in seven of the last 11 games.
“I don’t know; I’m going to leave that up to (hitting coach Mike Clement),” He had a good night on Tuesday. It’s a tough one. Sometimes one at-bat leads to a tough at-bat with the next one. He’s a great competitor and comes to the field every day ready to play. The thing I’m proud of him with tonight is even though hit was tough, he made some really nice plays in the field, and the one thing he’s been able to do is separate that and play really good defense.”
