Ole Miss puts together its most complete weekend of the season since the opening sweep in Arlington, Texas, to take all three from South Carolina and run its SEC record to 13-8. The Rebels are 31-12 overall.
Ole Miss hosts Little Rock in the midweek and then travels to Texas A&M for a three-game set. The Aggies were swept by Mississippi State this weekend and 5-16 in the SEC.
The Rebels are firmly in hosting position and could sneak back in the national seed conversation with a strong finish. The Rebels’ RPI was No. 10 as of Saturday evening. Carolina falls to 11-10 in the SEC.
Here are some thoughts on the day.
That was vintage Doug Nikhazy. The junior has spent most of the year running up strikeout totals that have elevated his pitch count, but I was impressed with his work early in counts and the willingness to let Carolina use its aggressiveness to his advantage. Nikhazy ran out of gas during his final inning but was nails through six frames, getting 18 outs in only 69 pitches. He got ahead early and forced eight ground outs and some weak contact in the air. He struck out five and didn’t walk anyone. Doug can win a couple different ways, but he’s at his best when teams try to attack him early in counts. He gets into a rhythm. Nikhazy retired eight in a row after the second inning home run.
In game two, Drew McDaniel didn’t have his best stuff by any measure. The fastball lost command and the slider wasn’t its typical weapon. And Wes Clarke hit that three-run home run in the second inning that temporarily swung momentum. But McDaniel showed a lot of maturity and resolve, putting up two scoreless frames after that and leaving after a run scored in the fifth inning. Managing a game without a full arsenal is a tough assignment, but he pitched through it to keep Ole Miss in the game.
That brings us to Jack Dougherty. Just ta hell of a story. He was redshirting a few weeks ago, and now he may be the most important bullpen arm not named Taylor Broadway. Dougherty retired all 11 batters he faced, throwing 3.2 scoreless innings. He struck out three and threw 29 of 41 pitches for strikes. He got ahead in the count, worked off a fastball that got up to 93 MPH, and his secondary pitches are getting better.
There’s development happening in real time, as he learns to handle his adrenaline and this opportunity. He was the player of the game in the nightcap to keep Carolina at four runs until the ninth inning. Considering the bullpen questions, a redshirt may be what saves the Rebels season to some extent. He has a 1.69 ERA and .086 batting average against in 10.2 innings this season.
Taylor Broadway finished up all three games, including both ends of the doubleheader on Saturday. He was efficient, throwing 15 pitches in each game. Mike Bianco said afterward that he went to Broadway during the middle of the second game and asked him how he felt. He said he trusts Broadway and knew he could give an inning if he said he was fine. Broadway said he was ready to go. Three appearances in 24 hours, including twice in a day, isn’t ideal, but he knows his players and very little of that was high stress. I know it’s talked a lot about, but it wasn’t egregious mismanagement. Broadway showed zero fatigue signs. Give him Tuesday off and he’ll be fine over the weekend in College Station. High-leverage work three times would have been a different story.
Ole Miss scored six runs the first time through the order in the two games combined today, putting Carolina starters behind quickly and showing good plate discipline for most of the day, despite 14 strikeouts in the finale. Ole Miss was 5-for-10 with runners in scoring position and 7-for-13 with runners on base in game three.
Ole Miss didn’t commit an error on the weekend. It’s not a great defensive team by any means, but it caught the routine plays. That’s huge for the Rebels and the goal. TJ McCants ran down several balls in gaps, and John Rhys Plumlee made a good play out there as well. Justin Bench could have made the play that allowed Carolina to put up two runs on Nikhazy in the seventh today, but otherwise it looked like what it needs to look like defensively.
Jacob Gonzalez had five hits on the day including the home run in the first game Saturday that put Ole Miss up 7-1 at the time. Ole Miss hit four home runs on the day, including three in the first game.
Kevin Graham had four hits on the day including a home run and a double. He’s pretty locked in right now, but there aren’t people on base for him because of Peyton Chatagnier’s recent struggles. Graham is hitting .337 in league play but only has nine SEC RBIs — which is eighth on the team.
Tim Elko hitting a pop up was the coolest moment of the day. He received a standing ovation as he walked out toward the plate and was introduced. He likely just missed hitting it a long way. The swing looked fairly normal. He can definitely pinch hit, and if he improves at all running, it’s at least worth a conversation to see if he can DH. There’s also the emotional element to the captain working through that level of pain and adversity. He tore his ACL less than four weeks ago. It’s remarkable.
Ole Miss hosts Little Rock in the midweek and then travels to Texas A&M for a three-game set. The Aggies were swept by Mississippi State this weekend and 5-16 in the SEC.
The Rebels are firmly in hosting position and could sneak back in the national seed conversation with a strong finish. The Rebels’ RPI was No. 10 as of Saturday evening. Carolina falls to 11-10 in the SEC.
Here are some thoughts on the day.
That was vintage Doug Nikhazy. The junior has spent most of the year running up strikeout totals that have elevated his pitch count, but I was impressed with his work early in counts and the willingness to let Carolina use its aggressiveness to his advantage. Nikhazy ran out of gas during his final inning but was nails through six frames, getting 18 outs in only 69 pitches. He got ahead early and forced eight ground outs and some weak contact in the air. He struck out five and didn’t walk anyone. Doug can win a couple different ways, but he’s at his best when teams try to attack him early in counts. He gets into a rhythm. Nikhazy retired eight in a row after the second inning home run.
In game two, Drew McDaniel didn’t have his best stuff by any measure. The fastball lost command and the slider wasn’t its typical weapon. And Wes Clarke hit that three-run home run in the second inning that temporarily swung momentum. But McDaniel showed a lot of maturity and resolve, putting up two scoreless frames after that and leaving after a run scored in the fifth inning. Managing a game without a full arsenal is a tough assignment, but he pitched through it to keep Ole Miss in the game.
That brings us to Jack Dougherty. Just ta hell of a story. He was redshirting a few weeks ago, and now he may be the most important bullpen arm not named Taylor Broadway. Dougherty retired all 11 batters he faced, throwing 3.2 scoreless innings. He struck out three and threw 29 of 41 pitches for strikes. He got ahead in the count, worked off a fastball that got up to 93 MPH, and his secondary pitches are getting better.
There’s development happening in real time, as he learns to handle his adrenaline and this opportunity. He was the player of the game in the nightcap to keep Carolina at four runs until the ninth inning. Considering the bullpen questions, a redshirt may be what saves the Rebels season to some extent. He has a 1.69 ERA and .086 batting average against in 10.2 innings this season.
Taylor Broadway finished up all three games, including both ends of the doubleheader on Saturday. He was efficient, throwing 15 pitches in each game. Mike Bianco said afterward that he went to Broadway during the middle of the second game and asked him how he felt. He said he trusts Broadway and knew he could give an inning if he said he was fine. Broadway said he was ready to go. Three appearances in 24 hours, including twice in a day, isn’t ideal, but he knows his players and very little of that was high stress. I know it’s talked a lot about, but it wasn’t egregious mismanagement. Broadway showed zero fatigue signs. Give him Tuesday off and he’ll be fine over the weekend in College Station. High-leverage work three times would have been a different story.
Ole Miss scored six runs the first time through the order in the two games combined today, putting Carolina starters behind quickly and showing good plate discipline for most of the day, despite 14 strikeouts in the finale. Ole Miss was 5-for-10 with runners in scoring position and 7-for-13 with runners on base in game three.
Ole Miss didn’t commit an error on the weekend. It’s not a great defensive team by any means, but it caught the routine plays. That’s huge for the Rebels and the goal. TJ McCants ran down several balls in gaps, and John Rhys Plumlee made a good play out there as well. Justin Bench could have made the play that allowed Carolina to put up two runs on Nikhazy in the seventh today, but otherwise it looked like what it needs to look like defensively.
Jacob Gonzalez had five hits on the day including the home run in the first game Saturday that put Ole Miss up 7-1 at the time. Ole Miss hit four home runs on the day, including three in the first game.
Kevin Graham had four hits on the day including a home run and a double. He’s pretty locked in right now, but there aren’t people on base for him because of Peyton Chatagnier’s recent struggles. Graham is hitting .337 in league play but only has nine SEC RBIs — which is eighth on the team.
Tim Elko hitting a pop up was the coolest moment of the day. He received a standing ovation as he walked out toward the plate and was introduced. He likely just missed hitting it a long way. The swing looked fairly normal. He can definitely pinch hit, and if he improves at all running, it’s at least worth a conversation to see if he can DH. There’s also the emotional element to the captain working through that level of pain and adversity. He tore his ACL less than four weeks ago. It’s remarkable.
