Kemp Alderman was recruited by Ole Miss to be a two-way player and now is showing why

When Kemp Alderman was being recruited by Ole Miss it was to be an impact player out in the field, at the plate and on the mound. For the first two seasons of his college career the pitching aspect was put on hold, but this week he proved why he is a double threat.

For the first time in an Ole Miss uniform Alderman took the mound and showed off his skills as a pitcher. The junior outfielder struck out the side in the ninth inning of the Rebels 13-4 win over Alcorn State on Wednesday.

Not only did Alderman record three strikeouts, with a walk mixed in, in his debut inning as a pitcher he also provided a possible option for Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco to go back to him in a game with higher stakes as the season rolls on.

Alderman was a standout two-way player at Newton County Academy in Decatur, Mississippi for three years. What he did on Wednesday should not surprise anyone, but it did serve as a reminder.

From his sophomore through senior years Alderman had a career 2.46 earned run average at Newton County Academy and had a sub 2.00 ERA his senior season. He racked up 158 strikeouts and walked 63 opposing batters.

“I came in as a two-way (player) my freshman year. Didn’t pitch very well my freshman year that Fall so they kind of banged that,” Alderman said. “They said I had a lot on my platter and being a freshman I didn’t really handle it the right way trying to do both. Kind of was overwhelmed.”

Alderman waited and focused on his play at the plate and in the field, but the pitching itch got scratched again this week.

A text from pitching coach Carl Lafferty awaited Alderman on Monday instructing him he would be throwing a bullpen session. If the results were good then he would be making his pitching debut for Ole Miss two days later.

The session went according to plan and Alderman got the green light to return to the mound in a game for the first time since his senior season in 2020, which was cut short due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The sample size was small but for an Ole Miss pitching staff that is hurting due to injuries piling up and other players just not panning out as anticpated, Alderman’s outing was a positive.

Hunter Elliott is still out and looking to potentially return next week against No. 1 LSU. Reliever Riley Maddox is on track to return a week later against Georgia. But the pitching staff is down Josh Mallitz and added Mitch Parenteau to the list.

Mitch Murrell is currently dealing with back spasms causing him to be unavailable and Brayden Jones is set to become available again this weekend at Mississippi State after dealing with an arm injury.

“There’s something different when you go out there and you’re confident and you’ve been out on the big stage before,” Bianco said. “We just figured it’s going to be a lot better (with Alderman) second time around. Didn’t know it would be that impressive.

“Being able to throw it low 90s, mid-90s. A couple breaking balls, the changeup and throw it in the strike zone and look the part. Not just be the thrower but a guy who was a good pitcher in high school and travel ball. A guy that we thought might one day do that. I don’t know if we thought when we were looking at that last fall and we would have used him but where we are that’d be a nice piece if he could continue to do that.”