Ole Miss baseball ace Hunter Elliott to not pitch in Maryland series due to forearm tightness
The Ole Miss baseball team will be without its ace for at least one weekend and will hold its collective breath it is not longer than that.
Sophomore pitcher Hunter Elliott is effectively shut down until further notice, starting this weekend against No. 13 Maryland, due to experience forearm tightness, according to head coach Mike Bianco.
After his start last Friday in No. 4 Ole Miss’ 11-2 season-opening win over Delaware, Elliott felt some tightness in his forearm. He felt the soreness again on Sunday but still threw and felt “okay,” per Bianco.
Elliott then threw again on Monday and out of precaution took an MRI that afternoon.
“Still really don’t have the results yet. Sent the MRI off to several orthopedics and getting information over the next couple of days to kind of find out what the plan of attack is,” Bianco said following Tuesday’s win over Arkansas State.
Because of having the MRI done and the uncertainty of Elliott’s injury he will not make his regularly schedule Friday start this week against the Terrapins.
In Elliot’s outing last Friday he pitched five innings, giving up two runs off three hits while striking out nine and walking another Delaware batter.
Ole Miss is already dealing with the loss of Josh Mallitz this fall and still without Riley Maddox who is out recovering from his injury suffered towards the end of last season. The bullpen is in a lurch which put Jack Dougherty out of last weekend’s starting rotation and in the back end of the bullpen.
With Elliott now out of the rotation, Bianco is bringing Dougherty from the bullpen last weekend to the Friday night starter role this weekend.
Behind Dougherty the rotation remains intact from the Delaware series with freshman Grayson Saunier throwing on Saturday and Xavier Rivas pitching on Sunday.
Watch Bianco’s full postgame interview from Tuesday below. Video provided by The Ole Miss Spirit’s Jake Thompson.
