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Dylan DeLucia to start for Ole Miss against Arizona in regional opener

11by:Jake Thompson•05/31/22•

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Dylan DeLucia
Dylan DeLucia

There is no shock or drama or controversy here, but Ole Miss announced that Dylan DeLucia will indeed be getting the ball against Arizona on Friday to start the Coral Gables Regional.

The junior right-hander has been Ole Miss’ lead ace on the mound the back half of the season and has earned the opportunity to kickoff the regional.

For the first time since prior to his start against LSU – that lasted two days – on May 14 DeLucia will have a full amount of rest between starts.

DeLucia worked on four days rest between the Tigers, Texas A&M and Ole Miss’ SEC Tournament game against Vanderbilt last Tuesday.

Rest or no rest, DeLucia wants “to be that guy” and has said so over and over again.

“I really don’t think about it. I want to be that guy, at the end of the day,” DeLucia said prior to the Vanderbilt game. “I want to be the one people goes up to and give the ball every chance he can. If my arm’s up for it I’m going to.”

Friday will be the first postseason experience for DeLucia at the Division I in his career, who spent his first two seasons playing at Northwest Florida State College.

In fact, the top two arms in Ole Miss’ weekend rotation will be playing NCAA Tournament baseball for the first time as this weekend will be all new for freshman Hunter Elliott as well.

Sometimes lack of experience is a negative or sometimes a positive. For both DeLucia and Elliott they have proven to be able to excel in hostile enviornments on the road in the Southeastern Conference all season.

The pair shined in their starts in Baum-Walker Stadium at Arkansas and Alex Box Stadium at LSU earlier this month.

“I don’t know if there’s an emphasis, said head coach Mike Bianco on Monday. “You want them to perform like they’re capable of performing and have that mindset. One of the good things about our league is that it prepares you more than any other conference… It’s nothing they haven’t seen. It’ll be a good baseball environment against some good teams, but if we can get them to be themselves and do what they’ve done, they had a lot of success.”

Past DeLucia and Elliott the starter for game three of the regional for Ole Miss, if there is one, might be an interesting choice for Bianco to make.

All of the arms in Ole Miss’ bullpen will be rested having not thrown any competitive pitches in nearly two weeks once the regional begins.

Derek Diamond could be the game three guy, and more than likely will, but the Rebels sitting at 2-0 or 1-1 could dictate the route Bianco chooses to go down.

Ole Miss and Arizona will play at 6 p.m. CT on Friday and will air on ESPNU.

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