Almost Time: Mike Bianco, Justin Bench, Hunter Elliott Meet with Media Ahead of CWS Finals
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OMAHA –Â Ahead of Saturday’s first game of the College World Series Finals against Oklahoma, Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco, along with Justin Bench and Hunter Elliott, met with the media.
The Rebels are in the series after a 2-0 victory over Arkansas behind a masterful outing from Dylan DeLucia on Thursday afternoon.
AN EARLY EXTINGUISHER
The first thing Mike Bianco did in his opening statement was to address the inevitable questions about who the Rebels’ starting pitcher for Saturday would be. The answer came as a bit of a surprise given the prevailing thought around Hunter Elliott.
“Probably the number one question most asked is who we’ll start on Saturday and I’m sorry to inform you, and Hunter is sitting here, we’re not sure who we’ll go with. Obviously a little short rest. I don’t think it’s not manageable, but we weren’t sure how we were going to use the pictures. We’re just trying to get through last night’s game… But I don’t think it’s fair to Hunter or any of the other pitchers we could possibly pitch tomorrow. Certainly Hunter is going to pitch either Saturday or Sunday. We’ll just get to practice today, let him stretch, let him throw a little bit, and we certainly want to make sure he’s ready and capable and on normal rest. That’s not going to be the case this weekend, so we need to know when is his best shot to give us the best chance to win a baseball game, so we’ll wait.“
Coach Bianco on Hunter Elliott
Hunter has already put up one phenomenal outing in Omaha, pitching Ole Miss to a 13-5 win over Arkansas on Monday.
Did it himself that inning.@elliotthunter10 | #OleMaha pic.twitter.com/3kb9cz6Wa0
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) June 21, 2022
Last night was fun.
Let's do it again? pic.twitter.com/ffY7vnku8x— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) June 21, 2022
The young phenom has yet to show any fear on the big stage and treats each game as if it’s just another day at the office. In his three starts in the postseason, Elliott has allowed just 12 hits, two earned runs and seven walks while striking out 22 over 18.2 innings of work.
SATURDAY STARTERS: Dougherty vs. Bennett
The Rebels and Sooners will face off for game one on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. CT on ESPN. The series is a best two out of three, so the format changes from what it’s been up to this point.
A few hours after the conclusion of the press conference, Ole Miss baseball announced JackDougherty as the starter for Saturday, with Hunter Elliott being held until Sunday.
Dougherty is 3-3 with an ERA of 5.08 in 39 innings. He’s struck out 55 while walking 15. It’ll be the biggest moment of the season for Jack, but he’s no stranger to delivering some electric outings.
Use. This. pic.twitter.com/YvnZLy0DdH
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) June 23, 2022
As for the Sooners, they will be starting Jake Bennett on Saturday. Bennett has been sensational for the Sooners, posting a 10-3 record with an ERA of just 3.66 in 110.2 innings. He’s racked up 123 strikeouts while walking just 22.
JUST GOTTA BELIEVE
The reoccurring theme with this Ole Miss team has been like the song from Journey: Don’t Stop Believin.’ The continued to believe despite being just 7-14 in league play after the regular season series with Arkansas, despite losing to Vanderbilt in their first game of the SEC Tournament, despite being the last team in the NCAA Tournament field.
Despite all of the adversity and criticism, they just never gave up.
“Just a ton of belief in the guys. We’ve always thought we were this good. I think at one point we were ranked No. 1 or whatever. But like in baseball, sometimes you scuffle, and we were scuffling there for a while, but we just continued to believe and knew we were good enough, and we ended up here.“
Ole Miss pitcher Hunter Elliott
THE SCOOP ON THE SOONERS
It’s been an incredible journey for Ole Miss just to get to this point, but the Rebels know the job isn’t done. Like Kobe Bryant once said, “job’s not finished. Job finished? I don’t think so.”
(2009) Kobe Bryant after he's asked why he's not smiling being up 2-0 in the NBA Finals:
Kobe: "What's there to be happy about?"
Reporter: "You're up 2-0."
Kobe: "Job's not finished." pic.twitter.com/zNu7D6Ikdi
— Timeless Sports (@timelesssports_) June 3, 2018
And these guys know that the opponent they’re about to face has just as big a chip on its shoulders as the Rebels do. Oklahoma is red hot, having gotten to Omaha after winning the Gainesville regional and Blacksburg super regional.
The Sooners hit .298 as a team with an OPS of .881. They have 73 home runs and 451 RBI’s, striking out 599 times while taking 370 walks.
But perhaps the most impressive stat about the Sooners? They’ve racked up 145 stolen bases in 188 attempts. Three different Sooners (Tanner Tredaway, Peyton Graham, and Kendall Pettis) have more than 20 stolen bases, with Graham racking up an incredible 34-36 number.
Jimmy Crooks, Blake Robertson and John Spikerman have each added more than ten stolen bags of their own. This team will run, and they will run a lot.
Fortunately for the Rebels, they’ve got Hayden Gunhurst, er, I mean, Dunhurst, behind the plate.
Running out of ways to describe how crazy good @Hayden_Dunhurst is. pic.twitter.com/asMdljzjoy
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) March 13, 2022
Running on Dun is still a really bad idea.@Hayden_Dunhurst | #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/dxnxWqhjL3
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) March 27, 2022
There’s no doubt the Sooners will test Dunhurst’s arm this weekend, and he’ll be ready for the challenge.
BE LOUD, BE PROUD
The Ole Miss fans have shown up in Omaha in a big way. Rebels have made the journey to Omaha in droves, and more are on the way. The support does not go unnoticed, particularly from the players, but the coaches notice too. Bianco talked about what that support means from his perspective as a coach.
“It’s unbelievable. You saw it in 2014 when we got here. I don’t look up in the stands a lot, but I heard what a tremendous crowd we had and what a neat atmosphere on Thursday. I don’t know how many people were here, but I would think one of the most attended mid-week events here in the College World Series, two great fanbases. But when you look up and see all that red and blue, and you can see how passionate they are, so excited. I get a kick out of some of the pictures that I’ve seen afterwards, the fans and just the emotions and some of the short videos after a big pitch or play. Man they’re invested and it’s really cool. It helps. It’s helped us at Swayze Field and certainly it’s helped us here.“
Coach Mike Bianco on Rebel fans
Our Coach. pic.twitter.com/NK7P2KWTpH
— OleMissPix (@OleMissPix) June 23, 2022
Like Ben Van Cleve said, if you aren’t in Omaha, get here.
Book a flight, pack the car, air up your bike tires—whatever you gotta do. GET HERE! #OleMaha pic.twitter.com/GJjbF3U0on
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) June 21, 2022
Hotty Toddy!
Austin Eldridge
Austin has more than ten years in sports media, including sports talk radio, play-by-play broadcasting and journalism. He has followed Ole Miss athletics for his entire life and has covered the Rebels and the rest of the SEC while working in the Memphis media market. Outside of sports media, Austin is a musician and outdoorsman. Before a serious accident forced him to be medically discharged, he was a multi-media journalist with the Mississippi National Guard.
