Game Notes: Ole Miss baseball takes on rival Mississippi State for fourth straight game

Ole Miss baseball game notes provided by Ole Miss Athletics Media Relations

LEADING OFF
• Ole Miss takes on rival Mississippi State for the fourth-straight game, taking on the Bulldogs at Trustmark Park in Pearl, Mississippi, for the Governor’s Cup.
• The Rebels and Bulldogs have not played for the Governor’s cup since 2019. The Bulldogs hold a slim 20-18 advantage in the series.
• Ole Miss is seeking its first Governor’s Cup victory over MSU since 2015.
• The Rebels took one of three games against MSU over the weekend at Swayze Field, earning a 4-2 win on Thursday.
• Making his third start, Dylan DeLucia was superb in Thursday’s win, delivering the Rebels’ first nine-inning complete game since Doug Nikhazy’s against MSU in 2021 and just the second since 2015. DeLucia struck out eight batters in the game, a career high.
• Jacob Gonzalez homered three times in the series, including a pair of big flies on Saturday.
• Gonzalez’s solo home run on Friday was bookended by one-run bombs from Justin Bench and Tim Elko. It was the second time this season that Ole Miss has hit back-to-back-to-back home runs and the forth time the Rebels have gone at least back-to-back.
• Elko is batting .366 in conference play, ranking sixth in the league. The slugger has driven in 24 runs in league games, the second most in the SEC. Elko has hammered nine home runs in SEC games, one behind the conference leader, teammate Jacob Gonzalez.
• Ole Miss has tallied 70 home runs this season, ranking fourth in the conference and 11th in the nation. The Rebels have hit multiple home runs in 21 games this season.

SATURDAYS ARE FOR THE BOMBS
Jacob Gonzalez has been on a tear on Saturdays over the last three weeks, hammering a total of six home runs. Gonzalez got things started with the first three-home run game by a Rebel since Jude Voltz in 1999 against Alabama, following up with a solo shot against South Carolina and cranking a pair of dingers against Mississippi State. Overall, the California native batted 7-for-14 in those games with 11 runs driven in.

LIGHTS OUT LOOSH
In his only three starts of the season, junior college product Dylan DeLucia has been nothing short of electric. In games at Kentucky, at South Carolina and against Mississippi State, DeLucia allowed just three earned runs over 23 innings of work.

The Port Orange, Florida, native was in particularly fine form against the Bulldogs, becoming the second Rebel since 2014 to throw a nine-inning complete game (Doug Nikhazy, 2021 vs. Mississippi State). DeLucia struck out eight in the performance, a career high.

DeLucia has been strong all season on the road, posting a 1.27 ERA with 20 strikeouts to just three walks in 21.1 innings.

REBS DIG THE LONG BALL
Ole Miss has been doing much of its damage this season by sending balls over the fence, ranking 11th in the nation with 70 home runs on the year. The Rebels have two double-digit home run hitters in SEC leader Tim Elko (16) and Jacob Gonzalez (14) and have had 13 different players go yard. The Rebels have hit back-to-back home runs four times this season, including launching three in a row twice.

SAC DADDIES
Peyton Chatagnier ranks eighth in the nation in sacrifice flies, pacing the SEC with six. Three of Chatagnier’s sacrifices came in the same game as the junior plated Reagan Burford three times in the Friday night win over VCU. Meanwhile, Burford ranks 27th in the country and fourth in the SEC with five sacrifice flies. Overall, Ole Miss’ 23 sac flies are the 17th most in college baseball, second in the SEC.

PACK SWAYZE
Ole Miss ranks fourth in the nation in both total and average attendance this season. In the 22 home games available in the most recent data, 218,848 total fans have packed the stands at Swayze Field, good for an average of 9,948 per game.

That number will only go up, with the Rebel faithful setting a single game (12,503) and series (35,055) attendance record against Mississippi State.

#MLBREBS
Ole Miss has four former players currently on MLB rosters in Chris Ellis (Baltimore Orioles), Lance Lynn (Chicago White Sox), Mike Mayers (Los Angeles Angels) and Drew Pomeranz (San Diego Padres).

CAP’N CRUSH
Tim Elko has slugged 16 home runs this season, tying for the SEC lead and ranking 10th in the nation. The 16 home runs are as many as Elko had in 49 games in 2021, tied for the seventh most in a single season in program-history. The Lutz, Florida, product has hammered 38 homers in his career, moving into sole possession of fifth place on Ole Miss’ all-time list.

WE LOVE FREE BASES
Ole Miss has shown patience at the plate and has made it pay off. The Rebels have received 215 free passes via walks and HBPs, with 96 of those runners coming around to score.

SHOW STOPPER
Senior right-handed reliever Brandon Johnson is one of 66 players tabbed to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Watch List. Johnson is one of nine SEC players and one of four from the SEC West named to the watch list.

CONSISTENCY IS KEY
Ole Miss is one of five programs to host at least 10 NCAA Regional appearances since 2004, joining Florida State, Florida, LSU and North Carolina. The Rebels are also one of eight programs to earn at least five regional hosting bids since 2014, being joined by Florida State, Florida, LSU, Louisville, TCU, Vanderbilt and Texas Tech.

THE BOYS ARE BACK!
Ole Miss returns nearly the entirety of its potent offense from the 2021 season with eight of nine positional starters returning to the Rebel lineup, Ole Miss is poised once again to put up gawdy numbers on the scoreboard.

Percentage Return from 2021
• Games Started – 88.6%
• Runs – 88.5%
• Hits – 91.8%
• Doubles – 91.7%
• Triples – 100%
• Home Runs – 90.6%
• RBIs – 91.3%
• Walks – 85.1%

WHO’S NUMBER ONE?
Despite being picked to tie for second in the SEC West, Ole Miss was also projected as SEC Champions with the most first place votes in the 2022 SEC Preseason Poll, voted on by the league’s head coaches. Ole Miss is seeking its first regular season conference title since 2009.

SEC PRESEASON COACHES POLL
East (Championship Votes)
1. Vanderbilt (2)
2. Florida (2)
3. Georgia
4. Tennessee
5. South Carolina
6. Kentucky
7. Missouri

West (Championship Votes)
1. Arkansas (3)
2. Ole Miss (4)
2. Mississippi State (2)
4. LSU (1)
5. Alabama
6. Texas A&M
7. Auburn

JUCO PRODUCTS
Ole Miss has nine junior college products on the 2022 roster, five of which are new additions. Four of the five JUCO players come from schools within the Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference.

THAT’S GOLD, JERRY
Ole Miss’ Hayden Dunhurst and Jacob Gonzalez were two of 55 players named to the 2022 Golden Spikes Award Preseason watch list, announced by USA Baseball. The Rebels are one of just eight teams with multiple players on the list, joining LSU, Arizona State, Arkansas, California, Florida, Texas and Vanderbilt.

STARS AND STRIPES
Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco has been tapped as the manager for the 2022 USA Collegiate National Team for this upcoming summer, marking the Rebel skipper’s managerial debut for the Red, White and Blue. It will be the second time donning a Team USA uniform for Bianco, who served as the pitching coach for the Collegiate National Team in 2013. Under Bianco’s guidance, the USA posted a 1.87 ERA, a 20-3 record and 222 strikeouts. The remaining 2022 Collegiate National Team staff, as well as more information about the 2022 Collegiate National Team schedule, will be announced at a later date.

MISSISSIPPI MADE
Of the 41 players on the Ole Miss roster, 11 hail from the state of Mississippi. The 11 local products are tied for the most for the Rebels since 2017.

SWAYZE CRAZIES
Ole Miss led the nation in attendance in 2021 with 303,859 fans entering the gates at Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field across 40 games. The Rebels’ average attendance of 7,596 also ranked first in college baseball, with Ole Miss ranking as one of just three schools to average more than 4,000 fans per game. During the season, Ole Miss welcomed four of the top-10 single game crowds and two of the top-three series crowds ever seen in Oxford, setting the record in the three-game set against Arkansas.

Top-10 Single-Game Crowds
4. April 10 vs. Arkansas – 11,857
5. April 23 vs. LSU – 11,788
7. April 24 vs. LSU – 11,653
8. April 10 vs. Arkansas – 11,524

Top-3 Series Crowds
1. April 10-11 vs. Arkansas – 33,423
3. April 22-24 vs. LSU – 32,476

STARS IN THE MAKING
Ole Miss has six players ranked in D1Baseball’s Top 2022 MLB Draft College Prospect Rankings. All six Rebels are ranked inside the top-150, tied for the most in the top-150 in the nation. Additionally, a pair of Rebs find themself in the top-100 for the 2023 rankings.

Rebels in the Top 2022 MLB Draft Prospect Rankings
• Hayden Dunhurst – No. 27
• TJ McCants* – No. 49
• Derek Diamond – No. 63
• Jack Washburn – No. 101
• Kevin Graham – No. 124
• Drew McDaniel – No. 133

Rebels in the Top 2023 MLB Draft Prospect Rankings
• Jacob Gonzalez – No. 2
• Jack Dougherty – No. 55

* – Draft eligible sophomore

STUDS AROUND THE DIAMOND
When D1Baseball released its top-50 position power rankings this offseason, Ole Miss was well represented, landing at least one player at every single position. The Rebels’ full rankings can be found below:

Rebels in the Top-50 Position Rankings
• Jacob Gonzalez – No. 2 shortstop
• Hayden Dunhurst – No. 4 catcher
• Tim Elko – No. 5 first baseman
• Peyton Chatagnier – No. 13 second baseman
• Justin Bench – No. 25 third baseman
• Kevin Graham – No. 16 outfielder
• TJ McCants – No. 32 outfielder
• Derek Diamond – No. 40 starting pitcher
• Brandon Johnson – No. 41 relief pitcher
• Jack Dougherty – No. 62 relief pitcher
• Jack Washburn – No. 75 starting pitcher
• John Gaddis – No. 76 starting pitcher
• Drew McDaniel – No. 115 starting pitcher

HELLO FROM THE OTHER SIDE
Ole Miss has bolstered the roster with three new lefties in transfer John Gaddis and true freshmen Hunter Elliott and Luke Ellis. Relief arm Jackson Kimbrell also returns to the Rebel roster.

RESPECT FROM THEIR PEERS
Ole Miss landed a league-high five players on the Preseason All-SEC team, having a player recognized at four of five infield positions.

Ole Miss Preseason All-SEC Selections
• Jacob Gonzalez – Shortstop – First Team
• Hayden Dunhurst – Catcher – Second Team
• Tim Elko – First Base – Second Team
• Peyton Chatagnier – Second Team
• Kevin Graham – Second Team

YOU’RE GONZO GO FAR, KID
Bursting onto the scene last season with one of the greatest true freshmen seasons ever in a Rebel uniform, shortstop Jacob Gonzalez quickly established himself as one of the nation’s elite young talents. In addition to being named D1Baseball’s National Freshman of the Year, the California native joined Stephen Head as the only Rebs ever to be named an All-American as a freshman, earning the honor from both D1Baseball and the NCBWA. Starting all 67 games at short, Gonzalez led all true freshmen in hits and runs scored. Poised for another big season, the sophomore has reeled in a myriad of preseason honors for 2022.

Gonzalez’ Preseason Honor Round Up
• Preseason All-America (Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball, D1Baseball, NCBWA, Perfect
Game)
• First Team Preseason All-SEC
• D1Baseball No. 2 ’23 College Draft Prospect
• D1Baseball No. 3 ’23 College Draft SEC Prospect
• D1Baseball No. 2 ranked shortstop

COME TO THE SIP
With a pair of electric arms departing for the Major League Baseball Draft in Gunnar Hoglund and Doug Nikhazy, Ole Miss utilized the transfer portal to bring in some talent on the mound in Division I transfers John Gaddis and Jack Washburn. Both bring quality experience to the Rebel roster, with Gaddis pitching four seasons at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Washburn moving to Oxford after two seasons at Oregon State.

The Gaddis File
• 2021 All-Southland Second Team
• 13 appearances with 10 starts in 2021
• Won five games with a team-low 2.25 ERA
• 72 strikeouts in 64.0 innings of work
• 7.0 or more innings in 6-of-last-7 starts

The Washburn File
• Son of former MLB star Jarrod Washburn
• 21 appearances with five starts in 2021
• 3.12 ERA with 43 strikeouts in 34.2 innings