Ole Miss rode Dylan DeLucia once again on the opening night of an SEC series.
The Rebels (24-17, 7-12) silenced Arkansas (32-10, 12-7) in Fayetteville, 4-2, on Friday and gets a shot to take the series at 7 p.m. on Saturday. The finale is at 12 p.m. on Sunday.
DeLucia was tremendous once again, throwing seven inning and striking out nine with a two-run home run in the eighth his only blemish. He gave up four singles in the first five at-bats of the game, but his infield defense kept the Razorbacks scoreless through that stretch. Then, using his fastball and slider, DeLucia dominated in his typical efficient manner. The right-hander was only at 66 pitches through five innings and finished with 105 pitches, 68 strikes. It’s only four starts, but DeLucia is doing everything necessary to be successful, throwing the fastball with confidence and not nibbling.
“He’s just shown up and been terrific,” Mike Bianco said. “Every start he’s been tremendous. The key to winning on Friday is a good offensive approach… and your guy has tot show up and be good or better than their guy.”
DeLucia’s emergence is the main thing allowing Ole Miss to not completely fall out of the conversation, and it’s also one of the biggest indictments on the coaching staff. I was talking to Neal during the game, and he said that it’s not that the Rebels didn’t have an ace this season, it’s that Ole Miss didn’t identify the right one. And that’s the truth. Carl Lafferty said on the podcast in the fall that DeLucia was a primary arm competing for a weekend role, and then it took weeks to get him in that spot.
And, even beyond that, when he was inserted on opening night against Kentucky and gave up no earned runs in 6.1 innings, Bianco pulled him back out of the rotation the next weekend against Alabama, choosing instead to play left-right matchups. DeLucia has intimated multiple times this season he prefers to start, and it’s up to the staff to find the best fit for each player and in the way that best benefits the team.
DeLucia also gives Ole Miss some fire and emotion that’s much needed. He pitched into the eighth inning but then slammed his glove in frustration after giving up a two-run home run that took him from the game. There’s no guarantee, but there’s an argument that Ole Miss would potentially have two more SEC wins had it started DeLucia the entire SEC season.
In four SEC starts, DeLucia has given up five earned runs in 30.2 innings.
Brandon Johnson was terrific on Friday, picking up Ole Miss’ first save of SEC play — which is quite the stat. Johnson retired all six he faced and threw 15 of 22 pitches for strikes with three strikeouts. He was in the high 90s throughout the two innings and touched 100 MPH on the TV radar gun.
Ole Miss had its best offensive approach in weeks, reaching base 15 times and getting 11 hits. With the wind blowing dead in, the Rebels hit three doubles — one each by Tim Elko, Kevin Graham and Hayden Leatherwood — and only struck out five times. The Rebels were a respectable 5-for-18 with runners on and 3-for-11 with runners in scoring position. Arkansas was 2-or-10 and 0-for-4, respectively, in those categories. Ole Miss didn’t run Connor Noland early or take many pitches to work at-bats, as he went eight innings on just 103 pitches, but the Rebels did a nice job up the middle and the other way with bat control. This is just speculation, but all parts of the team plays a touch better with DeLucia out there. There's an ace effect emerging that has been pretty common for Ole Miss in past years.
Ole Miss was really good defensively in the infield. A double play and a good relay to catch a runner overrunning first base got the Rebels out of the first inning, and a caught stealing and a batter’s interference on a steal attempt knocked Arkansas out of the second and third innings. The outfield was a bit of an adventure at moments, but the Rebels made some key early plays and then counted on DeLucia and Johnson.
John Gaddis is active and will pitch this weekend. He had an appendectomy 12 days ago. Bianco said Riley Maddox has a forearm flexor strain and isn’t on the trip. The freshman is doing rehab, and there doesn’t appear to be a timetable for return. A strain means it’s stretched or torn. Non-surgical strains typically heal in 1-2 weeks or as many as six weeks depending on the severity.
Ole Miss is 0-6 in the middle games of SEC series this season.
The Rebels (24-17, 7-12) silenced Arkansas (32-10, 12-7) in Fayetteville, 4-2, on Friday and gets a shot to take the series at 7 p.m. on Saturday. The finale is at 12 p.m. on Sunday.
DeLucia was tremendous once again, throwing seven inning and striking out nine with a two-run home run in the eighth his only blemish. He gave up four singles in the first five at-bats of the game, but his infield defense kept the Razorbacks scoreless through that stretch. Then, using his fastball and slider, DeLucia dominated in his typical efficient manner. The right-hander was only at 66 pitches through five innings and finished with 105 pitches, 68 strikes. It’s only four starts, but DeLucia is doing everything necessary to be successful, throwing the fastball with confidence and not nibbling.
“He’s just shown up and been terrific,” Mike Bianco said. “Every start he’s been tremendous. The key to winning on Friday is a good offensive approach… and your guy has tot show up and be good or better than their guy.”
DeLucia’s emergence is the main thing allowing Ole Miss to not completely fall out of the conversation, and it’s also one of the biggest indictments on the coaching staff. I was talking to Neal during the game, and he said that it’s not that the Rebels didn’t have an ace this season, it’s that Ole Miss didn’t identify the right one. And that’s the truth. Carl Lafferty said on the podcast in the fall that DeLucia was a primary arm competing for a weekend role, and then it took weeks to get him in that spot.
And, even beyond that, when he was inserted on opening night against Kentucky and gave up no earned runs in 6.1 innings, Bianco pulled him back out of the rotation the next weekend against Alabama, choosing instead to play left-right matchups. DeLucia has intimated multiple times this season he prefers to start, and it’s up to the staff to find the best fit for each player and in the way that best benefits the team.
DeLucia also gives Ole Miss some fire and emotion that’s much needed. He pitched into the eighth inning but then slammed his glove in frustration after giving up a two-run home run that took him from the game. There’s no guarantee, but there’s an argument that Ole Miss would potentially have two more SEC wins had it started DeLucia the entire SEC season.
In four SEC starts, DeLucia has given up five earned runs in 30.2 innings.
Brandon Johnson was terrific on Friday, picking up Ole Miss’ first save of SEC play — which is quite the stat. Johnson retired all six he faced and threw 15 of 22 pitches for strikes with three strikeouts. He was in the high 90s throughout the two innings and touched 100 MPH on the TV radar gun.
Ole Miss had its best offensive approach in weeks, reaching base 15 times and getting 11 hits. With the wind blowing dead in, the Rebels hit three doubles — one each by Tim Elko, Kevin Graham and Hayden Leatherwood — and only struck out five times. The Rebels were a respectable 5-for-18 with runners on and 3-for-11 with runners in scoring position. Arkansas was 2-or-10 and 0-for-4, respectively, in those categories. Ole Miss didn’t run Connor Noland early or take many pitches to work at-bats, as he went eight innings on just 103 pitches, but the Rebels did a nice job up the middle and the other way with bat control. This is just speculation, but all parts of the team plays a touch better with DeLucia out there. There's an ace effect emerging that has been pretty common for Ole Miss in past years.
Ole Miss was really good defensively in the infield. A double play and a good relay to catch a runner overrunning first base got the Rebels out of the first inning, and a caught stealing and a batter’s interference on a steal attempt knocked Arkansas out of the second and third innings. The outfield was a bit of an adventure at moments, but the Rebels made some key early plays and then counted on DeLucia and Johnson.
John Gaddis is active and will pitch this weekend. He had an appendectomy 12 days ago. Bianco said Riley Maddox has a forearm flexor strain and isn’t on the trip. The freshman is doing rehab, and there doesn’t appear to be a timetable for return. A strain means it’s stretched or torn. Non-surgical strains typically heal in 1-2 weeks or as many as six weeks depending on the severity.
Ole Miss is 0-6 in the middle games of SEC series this season.
Last edited:
